SEND Home to School Travel: Latest Update for September 2026

Oxfordshire County Council’s Home to School Travel Service has shared an update with OxPCF on preparations for the start of the new academic year.

We know that many parent carers are waiting to hear about their child or young person’s SEND home to school travel arrangements, and that this can be particularly worrying and stressful as the start of term gets closer.

The Transport team had aimed to contact all families who applied on time by 25 August. Although they haven’t quite reached this target, they expect around 9 in 10 families to have been contacted by the end of 27 August.

Have families been contacted?

The Transport team has been contacting families by email and post, with travel information currently being sent to around 1,700 SEND families.

If you’re expecting an email, please remember to check your junk/spam folder. If Transport doesn’t have an up-to-date email address for you, information may have been sent by post, so please allow a few extra days for this to arrive.

For many of the families who haven’t heard yet, transport has already been planned but the final arrangements with transport providers are still being confirmed.

The team will continue contacting families throughout this week and into next week as arrangements are finalised.

I applied on time but my transport isn't ready – what happens?

Transport currently expects that around 70–80 families who applied by the deadline may not have their arrangements finalised in time for the start of term.

If this applies to your family, the Transport team should contact you directly this week to explain what is happening and discuss the next steps.

They have advised that families in this position will be offered an interim Personal Travel Budget (PTB) while their transport arrangements are finalised.

A PTB provides funding to help families make their own travel arrangements temporarily.

What if I applied after 30 June?

There are currently over 400 applications that were received after the 30 June deadline.

Transport has started processing these applications, but priority has been given to families who applied on time.

Where possible, the team has already been able to accommodate some late applications, for example where there is space on an existing route. However, some applications will continue to be processed after the start of the academic year.

How quickly transport can be arranged will depend on when the application was received and whether suitable transport capacity is already available.

Have you been asked to complete a Travel Information Form?

There are currently just under 300 families who have been contacted and asked to complete a Travel Information Form (TIF) but haven’t yet returned it.

The TIF gives the Transport team information about your child or young person and their needs so they can identify suitable travel arrangements.

If you’ve been asked to complete a TIF and haven’t returned it yet, please do this as soon as possible. Transport cannot finalise arrangements until it has the information it needs.

If you’re not sure whether you’ve received one, check your email and junk/spam folder.

What about Post-16 transport?

There may be additional delays for some young people travelling to college or other Post-16 settings.

Transport has received very few timetables from colleges and education settings so far. They cannot finalise individual travel arrangements until they know the days and times a young person needs to travel.

Reminder communications are being sent to families and relevant teams.

If you have been asked to provide your young person’s timetable and you now have it, please send it to the Transport team as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, this does mean that some Post-16 transport arrangements may not be confirmed before the start of term.

What do I need to do?

If you’re waiting for information about your child or young person’s transport:

• Check your email regularly, including your junk/spam folder.

• Keep an eye on the post, particularly if Transport may not have a current email address for you.

• Complete and return your Travel Information Form (TIF) if you’ve been asked to do one.

• Provide your young person’s Post-16 timetable if this has been requested and you have received it.

• Make sure Transport has your current contact details.

• Let Transport know if your circumstances have changed since you applied.

If you applied on time but your transport will not be ready for the start of term, you should be contacted directly by the Transport team about what happens next.

Need to contact the School Travel team?

The team is particularly busy at the moment as they finalise arrangements for September, but if you need to contact them:

Phone: 01865 519800Email: SupportedTravel@oxfordshire.gov.ukWebsite: oxfordshire.gov.uk/school-travel

The service is currently arranging travel for more than 8,000 children and young people across Oxfordshire, and the position is changing daily as more routes and arrangements are confirmed.

OxPCF will continue to keep in close contact with the Home to School Travel Service and we expect to receive another update later this week. We’ll share any important information with parent carers as soon as we receive it.

Let us know how school transport is going for your family

Whether your experience of SEND home to school transport has been positive or there have been challenges, we’d really like to hear from you.

Your feedback helps us understand what’s working well, identify recurring themes and continue working with Oxfordshire County Council through the School Transport Advisory Group to improve the service for families.

While we can’t support individual cases, every piece of feedback helps us build a clearer picture of families’ experiences and inform future improvements.

You can share your feedback by:

Email: feedback@oxpcf.org.uk

Complete our Feedback Form

WhatsApp message or voice note: 07394 735666