The cost of transporting pupils to school in England has soared by 70 per cent over the past eight years, reaching £2.3 billion in 2023–24, according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO).
The sharp rise is largely driven by a surge in the number of children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), which outline the support required for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The number of EHCPs increased by 166 per cent between January 2015 and January 2025.
The NAO urged the Department for Education (DfE) to ensure its forthcoming reforms to the SEND system, now delayed until early 2026, take account of the growing pressures on transport provision. The watchdog said these reforms “should consider implications for transport, so the whole system works better for children and their families.”
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “For the children and young people that rely on local authority-provided transport to get them to school and college each day, it is an invaluable service. Without it, many may struggle to continue with their education.”
He added that while councils are making savings to meet their statutory duties, they are looking to the government’s reforms to ensure the long-term sustainability of home-to-school transport.
Between 2023 and 2024, the average annual cost of transporting a child with SEND was £8,116, compared with £1,526 for pupils without special educational needs. Rising fuel prices, increased wages, and a reduction in public transport—especially in rural areas—have compounded the problem, forcing greater reliance on local authority transport.
The NAO spoke to ten local authorities that had reduced or withdrawn free or subsidised transport for certain groups, including sixth-form students, children below compulsory school age, or those not attending their nearest suitable school. In some cases, this resulted in children missing school, while some parents had to cut working hours or leave their jobs entirely to take their children to school.
Overall, councils are spending around five times more on transporting SEND pupils than on other children, the report found.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, warned: “We are concerned that the national conversation about children with special educational needs and disabilities has increasingly become focused on cost. We expect the Government’s forthcoming reforms to focus on supporting more children with SEND in mainstream schools.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the school leaders’ union NAHT, added: “It is not fair or sustainable for councils to have to go over-budget or artificially restrict transport that families rely upon. Doing so could harm school attendance and learning or plunge families deeper into poverty, with all the damage that can do to children’s learning.”
The County Councils Network (CCN), representing England’s largest councils, recently warned that local authorities face potential financial disaster, with £6 billion in SEND-related deficits expected to appear on balance sheets by March 2026.
In a letter to Helen Hayes, chair of the Commons Education Select Committee, following the delay to SEND reforms, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “We will test policy options being considered and seek views through listening sessions in every region of the country, and fortnightly ministerial meetings with key parent and expert groups. We will publicise these events clearly across the department’s channels to ensure that we reach as many people as possible.”
