Luton Borough Council

Travel assistance

Schools and colleges

All children between the ages of 5 and 16 may qualify for free school travel assistance if they go to their nearest suitable school and live at least:

2 miles from the school, if they are under the age of 8 years old
3 miles from the school, if they are 8 years old or older

Should a non-compulsory school aged child be approved for travel assistance using our discretionary powers they would always be offered a Personal Transport Budget (PTB) or mileage reimbursement. The only exception to this would be following a discussion with the assessment officer and that evidence based on your exceptional circumstance is provided.

Parents and carers have a legal duty to ensure that their statutory school-aged children (age 5 to 16) attend school regularly.

A child becomes of compulsory school age at the start of term after their fifth birthday and ceases to be compulsory school age on the last day of the academic year in which they are in year 11. This applies to both children with and without an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

There are four core categories of eligible children set out in law:

children living beyond the statutory walking distance from school
children who cannot reasonably be expected to walk to school due to unsafe walking routes
children who cannot reasonably be expected to walk to school due to special educational needs, disability, and mobility problems
children from low-income families who have extended rights to travel assistance (for more information on eligibility, please visit our free school meals page)

In accordance with the Council’s statutory duty, children under the age of 5 will not be entitled to travel assistance between their home and school. Where circumstances exist where the Council determines that travel assistance is necessary it may exceptionally apply its discretionary powers on a case-by-case basis.

Please complete all relevant sections of this application. Any missing or incorrect information may delay the processing and/or qualification for travel assistance.

Travel assistance comes in many forms such as:

personal transport budget (ptb)
bus pass/ticket or funding for travel on public transport
training to travel independently (walking and using public transport)
mileage reimbursement
provision of a walking escort
provision of a vehicle (minibus, car, taxi)

The travel assessment officers will determine the most suitable form of travel assistance based upon the information provided along with a fully completed application form.

By completing this application form you’re giving us permission to discuss the child it applies to with:

the school
Special Educational Needs Assessment Team (for those with an EHCP)
any other relevant department that may hold information required in the assessment of this application

Please review the below sections, taking note of the requirements for each application form before starting the online applications

How do I apply?

Open all

Mainstream travel assistance (non-EHCP)

This application is for those children without an EHCP

Please complete the online application form below, review the Travel assistance policy and upload with all necessary supporting evidence. Your application can not be submitted until evidence has been provided.

If you experience any difficulty completing the form online, you can download the Mainstream and post 16 application for travel assistance document below. Save the completed form and email to [email protected]

Alternatively, you can post it (with supporting documentation) to:

Mainstream Travel Assistance team

Planning and Admissions

Luton Council, Town Hall

Luton

LU1 2BQ

01582 548227

Apply for mainstream travel assistance

SEND travel assistance (with EHCP)

This application is for those children and young people with an EHCP

If you experience any difficulty completing the form online, you can download the SEND application for travel assistance document below. Save the completed form and email to [email protected]

Alternatively, you can post it (with supporting documentation) to:

SEND Travel Assistance team

Luton Council, Town Hall

Luton

LU1 2BQ

01582 548098

Apply for SEND travel assistance

Post 16 (non-EHCP)

This application is for young people who do not have an EHCP

(Those Post 16 and 19+ young people need to apply using the SEND travel assistance (with EHCP) application form)

Luton Council do not have a statutory duty to provide travel assistance to pupils over 16 years old.

There are exceptional circumstances where travel assistance may be provided, please see our Travel assistance policy.

Young people meeting all of the following criteria are eligible to receive assistance with travel costs from Luton Council:

from low income* families and learners in local authority care or those that have recently left local authority care
must be resident in Luton throughout the duration of the course
must be over compulsory school age but not aged 19, or over, on 31 August in the year in which their course of study began
must live further than three miles (walking route) from the nearest institution to offer their chosen course
where a young people opts to attend an institution other than their nearest college the chosen course must differ by at least 50% to that offered by nearer institutions. for example, a young people may be studying 4 A levels and 2 of these may not be available at nearer colleges. in this case assistance with travel costs will be provided. however, if 3 of the A levels are available at a more local institution then assistance will not be provided
enrolled on and attending a full-time course engaged with learning or training at:

a further education institution (e.g. Luton Sixth Form college, Barnfield college, Central Bedfordshire college)
a school or academy (e.g. Cardinal Newman Catholic school)
a local authority maintained or assisted institution providing higher or further education
at any establishment (not falling within the above categories) at which the authority secures the provision of education or training under section 15za of the education act 1996.

*Low income is defined as young people whose parents meet the criteria used for assessing eligibility for free school meals (the current criteria is set out below) or where their parents (with whom the child lives) receive maximum working tax credit:

Income Support
Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
Universal Credit (provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400, as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods)

The Council will provide eligible students with half termly payments direct into their bank account.

The Council will pay half (50%) of the cost of a weekly bus ticket up to a maximum value of £7.50 per week. For example, if a weekly bus ticket costs £10 the Council will provide £5 towards these costs. If the weekly ticket costs £17 the Council will provide a subsidy of £7.50 and the student will need to contribute the remaining £9.50.

Further information:

applications will not be approved when a place in a nearer college was not offered due to late application or missed interviews
applications for transport assistance must be received by 16 September 2025 to qualify for financial assistance in the first half of the autumn term
half termly cash payments will only be made if the young person’s attendance is 95% or above

Alternatively, you can post it (with supporting documentation) to:

Mainstream Travel Assistance team

Planning and Admissions

Luton Council, Town Hall

Luton

LU1 2BQ

01582 548227

Apply for post 16 travel assistance

Downloads

Travel Assistance Policy for 0–25 year-olds in Education