What is a school travel plan and Modeshift STARS

School travel plans and Modeshift STARS

Launched in 2008, Modeshift STARS is the centre of excellence for the delivery of effective travel plans. It's an accreditation scheme which recognises and rewards schools that show ongoing excellence in supporting active and sustainable travel to school, across their school communities.

If a school chooses to develop a travel plan, this needs to be completed on the nationally recognised Modeshift STARS travel plan model, which is supported by the Department for Transport. With more than 12,000 schools taking part, the scheme recognises and rewards schools that promote walking, cycling and other sustainable forms of travel.
The Modeshift STARS framework provides schools with a clear and effective way to create, deliver and review a travel plan. Through the online portal, schools can access templates and guidance, monitor progress, and evaluate outcomes over time using a secure login.
Schools can also work towards nationally recognised accreditation awards, providing an opportunity to celebrate achievements and showcase their commitment to sustainable travel.

Why it's useful to develop a school travel plan

A school travel plan can support wider school goals, such as improving pupil health and safety, encouraging active lifestyles, and helping to improve local air quality. It sets out the actions a school will take to promote safer, more sustainable travel and reduce the number of car journeys to and from the school site.

The travel plan provides a clear roadmap for the school, showing what activities will take place, why they are needed, and when they will happen. This helps schools plan travel initiatives across different year groups and focus on the issues that matter most in their local area.
Travel plans are also often required as part of the planning process when schools are expanding, changing their site, or constructing new buildings. They can help schools work with local residents and the wider community, while supporting decisions on issues such as traffic and congestion around the school.

Some schools choose to make travel planning a key part of their values and culture. In these schools, the travel plan supports environmental goals and helps the whole school community work together to encourage greener, healthier travel choices.
As of the end of the academic year 2025/2026, 102 Surrey schools had completed their travel plan. 26% of these were secondary schools and 74% were primary schools.

Travel plans are public-facing documents that can be called upon by any member of the public, or within the direct school community. Once created, this document can be downloaded as a PDF, and we encourage this to be visible and available on a school's website.

Levels of accreditation

Modeshift STARS offers five levels of accreditation, from Approved (Green) to Outstanding (Platinum). Each level recognises a school's progress in promoting sustainable travel and requires additional evidence of achievement.

Approved accreditation is the starting level. At this stage, a school has planned its travel activities but has not yet completed them. To achieve Approved status, the travel plan must include:

An introduction
Aims and objectives
Site Audit section
Defining the issues
Setting the two targets
Inputting the 10 planned travel initiatives
Inputting the 5 planned supporting initiatives
Inputting the 2 planned consultations

Good (Bronze) is the next level. Schools must complete pupil and staff travel surveys to understand how people currently travel to school and how they would prefer to travel. Survey response rates must be at least:

80% of pupils in primary schools
70% of pupils in secondary schools
50% of staff

Schools must also complete, rather than simply plan, the required travel, supporting and consultation initiatives. This is the accreditation level recognised by our Transport Planning team for schools preparing a travel plan as part of a planning application.

Very Good (Silver) requires further evidence of progress. Schools must:

Set up a travel plan working group and record its actions
Complete at least two pupil and staff travel surveys within the previous four years, including the current year
Show a reduction in car travel to school compared with the average over the previous four academic year

Schools need to complete:

20 travel initiatives
10 supporting initiatives
7 consultation initiatives

Schools must provide evidence for all completed activities, such as photographs, newsletters, presentations or meeting notes. Any photographs should not identify pupils.

Excellent (Gold) builds on the Silver standard. Schools must show a five percentage point reduction in pupils travelling to school by car compared with the average over the previous four academic year

They must also complete:

25 travel initiatives
15 supporting initiatives
10 consultation initiatives

Schools need to provide a written statement explaining how the school has gone beyond expectations in promoting active travel, road safety, air quality or related themes. This can be written by the school's travel plan champion or headteacher.

Outstanding (Platinum) is the highest accreditation level. To achieve it, schools must:

Complete at least three pupil and staff travel surveys within the previous four years, including one in the current academic year
Show an increase of at least five percentage points in active travel, such as walking, cycling or scooting, compared with the previous four academic years
These accreditation levels provide a clear pathway for schools to develop, improve and demonstrate their commitment to sustainable and active travel.

Accreditation Timescales

We would advise that a travel plan can be created from the start, obtaining sign off to good-level, in one single term, or roughly 6-8 hours. This would allow plenty of time to fulfil all criteria, gain internal support as well as liaising with the Safer Travel team to obtain feedback and sign off.

If a school did wish to complete a good travel plan quicker than this, it could be obtained in a half-term if there is continued dialogue with the Safer Travel team, and feedback from the Safer Travel Team is actioned efficiently and effectively.

An accreditation lasts for 12 months. Schools will need to monitor and update their travel plan over the 12 months after accreditation to submit for reaccreditation and gain a further 12 months.

Achieving the right level

We recognise Good-level as being an acceptable level for schools to complete their travel plan to. This level also provides schools the ability to start collecting survey data which they can continue to analyse on an annual basis.

It takes time to progress through the different levels of accreditation. Schools cannot skip doing the Approved or Good levels, and move straight to Very Good or above. In the first year the highest a school can achieve is Good. Very Good and Excellent requires surveys across two school years to compare progress and schools need surveys across at least 3 school years for Outstanding.

Staff Roles and Responsibilities

Every school should appoint a Travel Plan Champion to lead the development and delivery of its travel plan. This person is responsible for managing the day-to-day work, coordinating activities, and uploading information to the Modeshift STARS portal.

While one member of staff can manage the process, travel planning works best when it involves the wider school community. Additional staff members and key stakeholders can be given access to the portal so they can contribute to the travel plan.

The Senior Leadership Team and governing body should also play an active role in shaping the travel plan. They can help identify the school's travel challenges, agree priorities, set targets, and support decisions about the activities and initiatives the school will deliver.
By involving a range of staff and stakeholders, schools can create a travel plan that reflects local needs, supports school priorities, and is more successful in achieving its goals.

Registering:

The Safer Travel Team will set up a login to Modeshift STARS once the initial introduction to the scheme and system has taken place, and when a school Travel Plan Champion has been nominated. To arrange this initial meeting via Microsoft Teams, please email: schooltravelplans@surreycc.gov.uk.

How we can help

Our Safer Travel Team leads the delivery of Modeshift STARS travel plans across Surrey's schools. The team provides free training, advice and ongoing support to help schools create and manage their travel plans.

Schools interested in joining the scheme are first offered a short online introduction through Microsoft Teams. This provides an overview of Modeshift STARS and how the system works. Schools that choose to take part are then given access to the online portal and invited to attend a training session. Training courses are usually held once or twice a month, with additional sessions arranged when there is demand.

Throughout the travel plan process, the Safer Travel Team offers guidance and practical support. Schools can also attend regular online drop-in sessions to ask questions and receive advice while developing their travel plan.

Schools that are developing, or have already achieved, a Modeshift STARS travel plan are also given priority access to our road safety and sustainable travel programmes and initiatives.

Contact us

E-mail: safertravelteam@surreycc.gov.uk