Contents

1. Summary

There is no statutory duty on local authorities to provide a formal universal post-16 travel scheme although there is a duty to consider whether support is essential to facilitate continued participation in education. There is no automatic entitlement to home to college transport after the age of 16.

Councils have a duty to publish a transport policy for Post 16 transport setting out their transport arrangements and the financial help available for learners of sixth form age (16-18 or after 18 if they started the course before their 19th birthday).

They have discretion to set out our own arrangements but must have regard to various factors including:

  • the needs of those who could not access education if no arrangements were made
  • the need for young people to have reasonable opportunities to choose between courses
  • the distance and journey time of the place of study
  • it is for officers to decide whether a course of study represents a new course
  • there are some programmes of study which mean that each year a student achieves a qualification, certificate or training outcome but do not lead to a final overall qualification at the end of the programme or study or course. An example of this is a ‘skills for living’ type course which does not lead to a final qualification and consists of individual certificates or training outcomes. Where a student undertakes a new qualification or certificate or training outcome this will be considered a new course even though the student will not have changed their programme of study.

This document sets out what support and schemes are available to students. This includes commercially available discounts, financial assistance to help plan the journey to school/college and, in exceptional circumstances, where the council will make arrangements. This is usually for students with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND.)

Local Authorities do not have to provide free (or subsidised) post-16 travel support.

They have a duty to prepare and publish an annual transport policy statement specifying the support that Torbay Council considers necessary to facilitate the attendance of post-16 learners receiving education or training. This is written in accordance with section 509 of the Education Act 1996.

This policy statement also includes relevant young adult learners (19+) with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Travel support for young people carrying on their education post-16 does not automatically continue.

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2. What is the purpose of this policy statement?

Torbay has an established public transport network that enables students to access post-16 provision in and around Torbay. This statement explains the circumstances when the council and post-16 sixth forms/colleges will provide assistance with the cost of accessing this network, and the assistance available for students who are not able to access public transport due to a learning difficulty or disability. It also directs students to other assistance that may be available directly from sixth forms/colleges.

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3. How can students get to and from school or college without LA assistance?

Before the LA will consider providing travel assistance to the nearest appropriate college, it will require the parent to evidence that all other options have been explored and that no other arrangements or sources of support are available.

This includes whether the student could:

  • walk to and from college
  • use a bicycle
  • use a motorcycle or moped
  • use a car provided by family or friends
  • access public transport
  • make other arrangements

In many cases, the student will be able to walk to and from college or travel using public transport. Where this is the case, there is no need for the LA to assist.

The LA expects that travel by public transport will be funded either by the family, with or without the support of the college bursary scheme. If, after approaching the college, the parent can evidence that there remains a genuine hardship acting as a barrier to accessing or remaining in education, the LA will assist. Students must attend their nearest appropriate college to be entitled to LA transport assistance.

Individual Colleges and Schools exercise discretion to assist with students facing hardship where assistance is not available from the LA. Contact the individual schools or colleges for further information.

 A yearly bursary is available to young people in any of four defined vulnerable groups, which include:

  • Young people in care
  • Care leavers
  • Those on Income Support or Universal Credit because they are supporting themselves or themselves and a dependent e.g. a child
  • Young people receiving Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payments in their own right as well as Employment Support Allowance or Universal Credit in their own right.

Institutions are responsible for verifying that young people meet the criteria for vulnerable student bursaries. Applications should be made through your school or college. More information is available at 16 to 19 Bursary Fund.

Schools and colleges are also allocated funding from which they can make discretionary awards to young people. Discretionary awards are for any students who are facing genuine financial barriers to participating. Schools/colleges determine eligibility criteria and the frequency and conditions of payments. These bursaries can be used to help towards transport costs. Support available from individual schools and colleges in the area can be found by following the links:

Independent travel training may be available from Combe Pafford School and South Devon College. Torbay Council also offer travel training and details of how parents/young people can apply can be found at Independent Travel Training.

Care to Learn (C2L) can help pay for childcare and travel costs for learners. Further details are available at www.gov.uk/care-to-learn. You can get Care to Learn if:

  • Young people in care.
  • You are a parent under 20 at the start of your course.
  • You are the main carer for your child.
  • You live in England.
  • You are either a British citizen or a national of a European Economic Area (EEA) country.
  • Your course qualifies.
  • Your childcare provider qualifies.

​3.1 Public Transport Operators

  • Public transport operators, Stagecoach Devon and Great Western Railway offer a range of discounted multi-journey fare deals, monthly and season tickets. Visit their websites for further information bus pass can be purchased through Stagecoach in Torbay, the price for 2025/2026 is £936.00 but this may increase for the next academic year.  

3.2 South Devon College

You will be eligible for a free travel pass if you are:

  • Aged 16 to 18
  • Studying a full-time course at the college (not apprenticeship)
  • Living with an earned household income of less than £25,000

Students attending South Devon College requiring specialist transport should apply in the first instance to the college. 

Additional support may be available for students attending South Devon College who pay a contribution to specialist transport. Please contact the college for details.

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4. What are the criteria for assistance?

4.1 Assistance from the local authority

There is no universal entitlement to free transport from the LA for post-16 students – those young people who are above statutory school age.

Under limited circumstances, the LA will provide assistance with travel so that a young person can continue in education. Parents or young people themselves can request assistance. All requests for assistance are considered on a case by case basis.

Assistance may exceptionally be made available for post-16 young people who:

  • are under 19 on 31st August immediately preceding the start of the academic year
  • attend the nearest appropriate college for their post-16 education
  • live more than 3 miles from the college
  • are in full-time4 education

Where they provide satisfactory evidence to the LA:

  • that they have applied to their education setting for financial assistance, with details of the level of support offered
  • of the cost to them if they were to make the necessary travel arrangements
  • of a medical condition or other circumstance that would prevent the parent making the necessary travel arrangements
  • of their financial circumstances e.g. proof of receipt of means tested benefit
  • that transport is an insurmountable obstacle to attendance

 Where the LA is satisfied that there is a need for travel assistance to be provided, that assistance will be chargeable in all cases. This will be a contribution towards the costs incurred by the LA For all students from a low-income household, the parent will be expected to have sought financial support from the college bursary scheme to pay towards that contribution.

Where a student is on low income and has applied for and been refused bursary assistance, if there are exceptional circumstances they may appeal to the local authority for support.

The LA will determine the most appropriate travel arrangements. There will be a presumption in favour of shared travel arrangements. It will not be the LA’s responsibility to get a student to a pick up point.

The type of assistance that may be provided will be the most cost effective for the LA and will be open to review:

  • provision of a vacant seat on a LA contract vehicle
  • petrol allowance to assist parents to take a young person to college – the amount to be determined by the LA
  • Independent Travel Training

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5. How do students apply for travel assistance?

5.1 Local Authority Post 16 Transport

All requests for assistance will be considered on a case-by-case basis. While they may be challenging for parents, the LA does not consider that the following circumstances are likely to be exceptional on their own:

  • parents’ work hours or child-care arrangements not fitting in with public service times or college times
  • parent’s need to get other children to and from school
  • the convenience of using a family vehicle (including Mobility vehicle provided for the student) for other purposes
  • an unavailable route, assessed by the LA(1)

Applications should be completed via the Torbay Transport Team on line Portal, applications should be submitted by, following submission a panel of professionals that may include representatives from SEND, Schools, or colleges, and a travel trainer will consider the application.

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6. When should learners start to apply for transport support?

For requests for assistance from the local authority, applications can be made via the Council’s website

  • Application submitted after 24 of July 2025 may take several weeks to process and you may need to pay for your own transport for the first weeks of the Autumn Term, even if you are entitled to financial support)

You will be notified in writing about the outcome of your application, if you have not received a letter by 25 August, please contact the Transport Team.

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7. What help is available for post-16 students with SEND?

The transport needs of young people with Special Education Needs & Disability (SEND) will be reassessed when they move to post-16 education. There is no automatic entitlement to free post-16 transport. Student needs are assessed on an individual basis.

  • Where a student requires specialist transport, the mode of transport will be determined by the Council and will still be chargeable. The contribution towards the cost of this transport for 2025/2026 is £936.00. Where a fuel allowance is paid, this will be at a rate of 40 pence per mile. The financial contribution will still apply.

The LA will assess the needs of each young person who requests transport assistance. This will include how the young person’s needs can be best met so that transport can be arranged at the lowest possible cost commensurate with meeting the those needs.

  • Students who believe they are eligible for travel assistance Post 16 should complete a Transport application form
  • Where a request is being made for specialist transport, appropriate evidence must be provided to demonstrate the need for the transport.
  • Transport assistance will normally only be given to the post-16 setting named on a student’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

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8. Payment methods for transport assistance

8.1 Local Authority

Contributions to specialist transport can be made by the following options:

  • Annually - one invoice will be issued.
  • Monthly Instalments - one invoice will be issued with a payment plan set up.

Payment can be made by the following methods:

  • Credit/Debit Card
  • Direct Debit (monthly only)
  • Monthly instalments through the Post Office
  • Torbay Council online payment system
  • Torbay Council automated payments line

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9. How do I appeal against a decision to refuse transport assistance?

Students may appeal against the council’s decision not to assist with transport if they feel there are exceptional circumstances. Find out more about appealing against a decision.

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10. What support is available for apprenticeships and traineeships?

If a young person is seeing to engage with an apprenticeship or traineeship, they should talk to the learning provider who will be able to inform them of any transport assistance that may be available. Employers and learning providers should consider a young person’s transport arrangements when planning any job training, particularly outside of normal working hours.

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11. What times during the day can learners access travel assistance?

Any assistance offered will be to the college start and finish times, based on one inward and one outward journey each day.

Travel assistance will not be tailored to meet individual timetables, i.e. where contract vehicle timetables are not in line with that of the student. In such circumstances parents are expected to make suitable adjustments to travel arrangements.

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12. What support is given to students over the age of 19 with SEND?

Students up to age 25 continuing in education may be provided with free transport if they are unable, because of a special educational need or a disability, to walk or travel by bus to their education setting.

Transport will be provided if the setting is

  • Maintained or assisted by the authority and providing further and/or higher education,
  • An institution within the further education sector or
  • An institution outside the further and higher education sectors where both education/training and boarding accommodation are provided, where the student has an Education, Health and Care Plan and has been placed there by the local authority.
  • In full time education
  • Have an EHCP

Young people will be expected to apply annually for transport which is necessary to establish if the LA must provide transport under the duty imposed by Section 508F

 Any transport provision will be by the most cost-effective means appropriate for the learner and may include independent travel training.

Where the LA does not consider assistance to be necessary under this duty, it may make a further assessment for assistance under the Care Act 2014, for which a contribution towards may be charged.

The Chair of Transport Panel / Appeals panel will refer cases to the relevant social care officers where appropriate.

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13. Further education beyond daily travelling distance

Exceptionally, consideration will be given to additional support to students where the journey is unreasonably long i.e. over 75 minutes. This time will not normally include walking time from home to public transport.

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14. Courses outside of Torbay

Students must attend a School/College outside the Torbay Area but within daily travelling distance and have a compelling reason as to why they must study at this School/College i.e. they cannot find suitable courses within Torbay.

It is not normal for the Council to support students to attend establishments outside Torbay since a full range of courses are available at local 6th forms and South Devon College. The student wishing to travel outside Torbay would need to demonstrate a compelling reason why they need to study a particular course at an alternative establishment.

In reaching a decision, the Council will take into account the availability of alternative and equivalent courses locally, whether the course is key to the student’s future career or study plans, whether the chosen course is an entry requirement to subsequent course(s), the cost of the transport arrangements and the length of the journey. The Council will not normally agree to arrangements that appear to be a simple expression of preference for one establishment over another, are excessively expensive, or require the student to travel for more than 75 minutes in any direction. Schools and Colleges outside the Local Authority sometimes offer transport schemes to students from Torbay who do not qualify for support with transport.

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15. Specialist education beyond daily travelling distance

The Local Authority does not normally support learners who attend an institution outside normal daily travel distance. Rare exceptions are made for some students with learning difficulties who need to access specialist colleges, or courses.
Some specialist Colleges and Schools have boarding facilities and schemes to offer assistance to students facing hardship. Contact the college/school directly for more information.

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16. Points of contact for learners seeking transport support

Children’s Services Transport Team (for advice on Local Authority's scheme of assistance, students with special requirements and contact details for schools)

Stagecoach Devon (main public transport operator)

GWR (local rail operator)

South Devon College

GOV.UK (government information)

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17. How do I complain?

If you believe your request for transport from the Local Authority has not been properly handled, or if you have a problem with the transport that has been provided, please approach Children’s Services Transport Team informally in the first instance. If this does not resolve your concern, you can complain using Torbay Council’s complaints policy. This can be found at Torbay Council - Complaints and Compliments
If you are not satisfied with the outcome you can complain to the Secretary of State.

For complaints against individual education institutions, please contact the institution concerned for advice in the first instance and ask for a copy of their complaints policy.

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18. Consultation

If there are any changes to the council’s charging policy (beyond an annual review of charges to keep them in line with operator charges) a formal consultation will be undertaken. This will be advertised on the council’s web site www.torbay.gov.uk and will be communicated via schools. Meanwhile, you are invited to give any feedback you wish on the content of this document, and it will be considered when the statement for next year is being drawn up. Feedback should be emailed to cstransport@torbay.gov.uk

Where you have been directed to web sites for information within this document, if you would like a hard copy of information sent to you through the post, please phone 01803 207688 to request this.

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