If your child is not eligible for free home to school transport, you may be able to hire a spare seat on a contract coach, taxi or minibus at a concessionary rate.
A concessionary seat is not guaranteed and can be withdrawn at short notice. This can happen if it's needed for a pupil entitled to a free seat, or the service is discontinued when it's no longer needed for eligible pupils. Concessionary seats can only be sold if there are spare seats left after all eligible children have been allocated transport.
You will need to make sure that you have alternative arrangements in place to get your child to and from school if we cannot offer a concessionary seat, or if a seat is withdrawn.
Apply for a concessionary seat
The annual cost of a concessionary seat from September 2023 is:
- Under 16 years: £634.89 payable in 3 instalments (£211.63 per term)
- 16 to 19 years: £875.58 payable in 3 instalments (£291.86 autumn term, £291.86 for the spring and summer term)
You must commit to, and pay for, at least half a term of travel – changes to travel arrangements within that period will not be considered or refunded.
Concessionary seat application form (PDF)
To see how we use your personal data, please read our privacy notice.
How we prioritise applications for concessionary seats
Applications for full-time travel (5 days per week) will be considered above those who have applied for part-time travel.
If there are more applications for full-time concessionary seats than there are seats available, we will prioritise applicants for full-time travel in strict priority order – please see below for details:
- Surrey statutory school age children with a brother or sister who are eligible for free home to school transport and already travel on the vehicle.
- Surrey post-16 students with a brother or sister who are eligible for free home to school travel and already travel on the vehicle.
- Surrey statutory school age children for whom there is no other public transport available to travel to school.
- Surrey post-16 students for whom there is no other public transport available to travel to school.
- Surrey statutory school age children who live furthest from the school (based on the straight-line distance from their home address to the school).
- Surrey post-16 students who live furthest from the school (based on the straight-line distance from their home address to the school).
- Out-of-county statutory school age children with a brother or sister who are eligible for free home to school travel and already travel on the vehicle.
- Out-of-county post-16 students with a brother or sister who are eligible for free home to school travel and already travel on the vehicle.
- Out-of-county statutory school age children for whom there is no other public transport available to travel to school.
- Out-of-county post-16 students for whom there is no other public transport available to travel to school.
- Out-of-county statutory school age children who live furthest from the school (based on the straight-line distance from their home address to the school).
- Out-of-county post-16 students who live furthest from the school (based on the straight-line distance from their home address to the school).
Your application for a concessionary seat is reconsidered each year, alongside any new applications that have been received. If there are more children with a higher priority, or fewer spare seats available, your child's seat may be withdrawn.
If you are given a concessionary seat, we will send you an invoice with the details. Payments can be made online.
