with Rachel Dixon, Research, Policy and Public Affairs Officer, Contact
We’ve covered the perils of SEND school transport a number of times before. Today we’d like to help promote a survey about the difficulties families are experiencing in 2024, by the disabled children’s charity, Contact.
Rachel Dixon, Research, Policy and Public Affairs Officer at Contact is here to tell us more about it. Please participate if your child uses, or needs to use, SEND school transport..
Tell Contact about your SEND transport experiences by Rachel Dixon, Contact
School transport is no different to the rest of the education system for disabled children; it is facing huge challenges due to funding cuts, causing families undue stress and difficulty. The transport provided to get disabled children to school or college is often the glue that holds families together. Council decisions to change or cut school transport arrangements can leave children out of education, force parents to give up work, leave brothers and sisters with a shortened school day and can often push families into financial hardship.
As a parent I know this firsthand. My son is 20 and has been travelling, first to school, and now college, on a school bus since he was 11. It’s a lifeline – allowing him a rare little bit of independence and allowing me to get on with other things in my life, such as work. Going on the school bus gives my son a bit of space from his family, it gives him time with other trusted adults, offers the routine he needs, and gives him a community to be part of. But I know that not everyone gets the transport they need.
Contact hears many stories of crises in SEND transport
At Contact, we are increasingly hearing about the difficulties families are facing with school and college transport, as local councils deal with budget crises and squeeze their services. You may also have heard about issues for families of children under five and 16-18-year-olds, where there is no statutory duty to provide transport. With the whole system under pressure, those families are being hit hard.
It is not fair that families of disabled children should bear the brunt of a funding crisis. Increasingly, our children have no choice but to travel longer distances to get the education they are entitled to. Unlike their non-disabled peers, they are often unable to travel independently or use public transport. At Contact, we want disabled children to be able to get to school and college without facing injustice, financial hardship or stress.
During our recent Facebook Q&A our Helpline team answered a record number of questions from families facing issues with transport eligibility, problems with the safety and suitability of the transport provided, lots of issues for post-16 students, and many more challenging situations that are having a real impact on people’s lives. If you need information and advice get in touch with our Contact helpline or call 0808 808 3555.
Help our SEND school transport campaign
We have started a school transport campaign, thanks to funding from the Motability Foundation, to ensure local authorities and decision-makers understand the importance of school transport to disabled children, young people and their families. Transport is so much more than a free bus journey; it’s often the difference between coping and crisis, which can lead to far higher costs for councils. Our campaign is informed by parent voices and will continue to work alongside families to raise awareness and lobby for change.
Please take our Transport Matters survey aims to find out exactly how transport to education is going for families. It asks about what sort of transport is being provided, whether it feels safe and reliable, whether it has changed or been refused and what impact this is having on families. The deadline is Monday 18 November at 10am.
How we hope our survey will make a difference
I’m a busy parent with a disabled child and there’s never a quiet moment. So, if I spend time answering a survey, or giving my feedback, I need to know it’s going to mean something. I need to know it will reach decision-makers and have a real impact, and won’t just sit in an inbox or on a shelf.
We are ready to put the results of this survey to good use. We will be reporting on this in the media and to parliament, using the results to raise awareness and fight for change so that disabled children can get the transport support they deserve. Your responses will help us build a strong body of evidence to show what is really happening for families with disabled children – the very real impact of cutting or removing travel options.
So, this really matters! Help us by filling in the survey and sharing it with your friends and networks.
If you need information and advice around your child’s transport to education have a look at our online transport information pages or get in touch with our Contact helpline.
Also read:
- An epidemic of SEND school transport failings leaves disabled children at risk and missing school
- School transport guidance update: How has your disabled child or young person been impacted?
- SEND Transport costs driven by ‘increased parental expectations’ claims councils’ group, and “something has to give”. Disabled children’s safety, perhaps?
- Kent’s beleaguered SEND leaders distort parent carer views with positive spin in DfE feedback
- “Lack of stigma” blamed for rising SEND? We will NEVER be ashamed of our disabled children
- Inside Surrey’s SEND Crisis: Case officers reveal the inner workings of a broken system
- “The curriculum belongs to the nation” Let them know that includes children with special educational needs
- Four practical tips for enforcing the ‘absolute duty’ to secure special educational provision in EHCPs
- Does the SEND Tribunal have to pay attention to the views, wishes and feelings of the child?
- SNJ in Conversation with Brian Lamb OBE: Building good parental relationships is the key to fixing SEND
The Unacceptable Truth: 20 SEND legal rights at risk from the Government’s SEND reformsSeptember 9, 2026
Dear Secretary of State for Education, Lucy Powell: an Open Letter from Special Needs Jungle and SEND legal charity SOS!SENAugust 4, 2026
Mainstream SEND Funding: A simple explainer, another consultation, and why it really mattersJuly 22, 2026
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