Home to school transport consultation

What we're proposing

To make sure the service continues to be available to those who need it, we're proposing to make changes to:

  1. Post 16 home to college and sixth form transport
  2. Pick up points

Post 16 transport for college and sixth form

We're proposing a contribution from families towards post 16 transport which will be based on household income.

For those paying the charge, this would be based on the cost of a Network One annual student travel pass.

The average cost to the Council of transport for a post 16 student is £6,100 per year. We are asking for a contribution of £1,069 which is the current cost of an annual student travel pass.

In July 2024, 24.6% of the school population in South Tyneside claimed free school meals. Pupils who are eligible for free school meals will automatically be exempt from a making a contribution towards the cost of post 16 transport. For information on other support available, see Other financial support available.

If approved, the charge will apply to all those eligible in year 12 and above in September 2025.

Introducing charges for post 16 pupils will not remove any entitlement to help with transport. Taxi or minibus transport will be still offered if eligibility criteria is met.

We will continue to review all cases regularly. If your circumstances change, then the support available may change.

Pick up points

Currently, all children and young people who use home to School transport are picked up in the morning and dropped off after school from their home address.

We are proposing to introduce a number of pick up points across the borough in instances where lots of young people are travelling to the same school or college from the same area who can be collected together.

We would make sure that:

  • all pick up points are in safe and well lit areas, after discussions with road safety, schools and parents or carers
  • all pick up points are no more than 1 mile walking distance from home
  • where appropriate, parents or carers would be requested to accompany children and young people to / from the pick up point

For those young people who are able to travel alone, we will also have Independant Travel Trainers who can:

  • assess whether children are able to travel alone
  • assess the safety and risks of pick up points
  • teach road safety
  • teach how to read timetables
  • teach money use and problem solving 
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