We have some documents which will help you understand our home to school transport policy.

The documents entitled "A guide to home-to-school transport in Surrey for 2012" and "A guide to home-to-school transport in Surrey for 2013" sets out the Local Authority's policy on who will be entitled to free home-to-school transport.

The document "Home to school transport - Frequently asked questions" contains information that will help you deal with certain issues which arise from time to time with home-to-school transport. They are mainly to do with safety and you should discuss these matters with your child. These apply whenever a child receives free home to school transport or whenever a parent pays for a concessionary seat.

If you live in Surrey and have been allocated a school in the normal admission round (to start school in September in Years Reception, 3 or 7), there is no need to complete an application form. We will automatically assess these applications. If your child is eligible for free home to school transport you will receive notification from The Admissions and Transport Team.

Discretionary free transport to schools on denominational grounds has been withdrawn for new applicants from September 2012. However, if you are in receipt of the maximum Working Tax Credit or your child qualifies for free school meals then transport assistance can be awarded on religious or philosophical grounds to a specific school meeting your requirements where the distance is more than two miles (measured by the shortest walking route) and not more than 15 miles (measured by the shortest road route) from the home address. If you are not otherwise entitled to free transport you would need to complete a transport application form which must be submitted with evidence of the appropriate benefit and evidence that you had applied for the school on the basis of your religious or philosophical belief. If you wish to apply on this basis please complete the online application form and contact the Surrey Schools and Childcare Services on 0300 200 1004 for an ST02 form. 

If you are applying for transport at a time other than for the normal intake to a school, you must complete the online application form.

The following points are taken into account when assessing applications for free home to school transport for pupils aged under 16:

• If, at the time of application for admission you could have applied for a nearer school which had vacancies, but chose not to, and this school subsequently became full or had no vacancies, your child would not usually be eligible for free transport

• If you apply for a school place at a school that is not your nearest, you will be eligible for free transport only if any nearer schools are oversubscribed and you would not have been offered a place.

• If you are moving into the area, your nearest school will depend on the availability of school places at the time of your move

• You should be aware that if your child is granted transport to a school further away due to the lack of places at nearer schools, it will not necessarily follow that your younger children will also get transport to attend that school. This is because places may then be available at nearer schools for your younger children

• If your child is transferring to the junior stage of education, your nearest school with places may not necessarily be a Junior school. You should also check any nearer all-through Primary Schools that normally admit children into year 3

Requests for transport are not usually granted outside of the normal policy. Although there is no statutory right of appeal for transport assistance the Local Authority will consider written representation under its Transport Case Review procedure where parents feel that they have a further exceptional case for special consideration and can provide full documentary evidence to support their case. Please note that we reserve the right to verify any evidence received.