If your child is not eligible for free home to school transport, you may be able to hire a spare seat on contract coaches, taxis or minibuses at a concessionary rate. A concessionary seat:
- is not guaranteed; and can be withdrawn at very short notice if needed for a pupil entitled to a free seat or the service is discontinued as no longer needed for eligible pupils. So 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arrangements in place to get your child to and from school if we cannot offer a concessionary seat, or if a seat is withdrawn.
- can only be sold if there are spare seats left after all eligible children have been allocated transport.
Apply for a concessionary seat
Apply by completing a concessionary seat application form (PDF).
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.
If you are applying for a coach seat, you must apply by 31 July
- We aim to let you know if you have a coach seat by mid-August. If we are not able to offer a concessionary seat we will add your child's name to a waiting list.
- Applications received after 31 July may not be processed before the October half-term.
- Please also be aware that we are restricted to the number of seats that we can sell on coaches due to the Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 2000
If you are applying for a taxi or minibus seat you must apply by 30 September
- Applications will be processed during October half term at the earliest, as all transport for entitled pupils has to be in place before we can assess the availability of spare seats.
- You will therefore need to plan to get your child to and from school until at least that time. Be aware that spare seats on these services are limited.
To see how we use your personal data, please read our privacy notice.
Paying for a concessionary seat
If you are given a concessionary seat, we will send you an invoice with the details. Payments can be made online.
Pay for a concessionary seat online
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 document at bottom of page for details.
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.
- 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)
Files available to download
-
Concessionary seat application form (PDF)
Use this form to apply for a concessionary seat.