Northumberland County Council wants to stop free transport to faith schools for pupils starting from September 2028. It costs almost £977,000 a year for 425 pupils. Have your say by 30 November.
Northumberland County Council is proposing to end free school transport for children who travel to a faith school because of their religion. The change would apply to pupils who join a Catholic or Church of England school from September 2028.
425 pupils aged 4 to 16 get the free transport now. It costs the council almost £977,000 a year. The council says ending it would save around £500,000.
Parents have until 23:59 on Monday 30 November to respond to the consultation. The council’s Cabinet is due to decide on 9 February 2027.
What is being proposed
At present the council goes further than the law requires. A child aged 4 to 16 can get free transport to their nearest faith school if it is beyond the statutory walking distance and the family can show documentary evidence that they practise that faith. The council calls this a discretionary benefit: it is not part of its legal duty.
The consultation document sets out a phased end to it:
- Pupils who already get it keep it while they stay at that school. At a high or secondary faith school, that means until Year 11.
- Pupils at a first, primary or middle faith school keep it until the end of that phase, but not when they move up to the next school.
- Pupils joining Reception, Year 5, Year 7 or Year 9 at a faith school from September 2028 would not get it.
- Younger brothers and sisters who start at the same school from September 2028 would not get it either, even if an older sibling still does.
- Faith school sixth forms: the free post-16 transport would also end for students joining from September 2028.
One exception stays. Under the national “extended rights” rules, a child aged 11 to 16 from a low-income family can still get free transport to a faith school between 2 and 15 miles from home. Those pupils would continue to qualify.
The document is not entirely consistent on timing. Its main section lists Reception, Year 5, Year 7 and Year 9 joiners from September 2028. Its final page says implementation would start “with the new Year 5 intake at that point”. The council’s own news release says the change would apply to “new applicants from September 2028”. Parents with a child in any of those years may want to ask the council directly at a drop-in.
Why the council wants to change it
The council spends £26.4 million a year taking 7,374 pupils to school, including children with special educational needs. It says the cost of transport for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities has more than doubled in five years.
The 425 faith school pupils are about 6% of the children the council transports. Their transport takes about 4% of the budget. That works out at roughly £2,300 a pupil a year.
The document gives an “actual saving” of around £500,000, about half of the current cost. It does not explain the gap. The likely reasons are pupils who would still qualify under the extended rights rules or the ordinary distance rules, but the council does not say so.
Councillor Guy Renner-Thompson, the Cabinet member for children and young people, said:
“We are currently one of the only local authorities to still provide free transport to school for children based on faith.”
He said the cost of school transport had “increased significantly in recent years, particularly for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)”.
How neighbouring councils do it
The consultation document compares Northumberland with its two most similar rural neighbours:
| Council | Transport to a faith school |
|---|---|
| Northumberland (now) | Free to the nearest faith school, ages 4 to 16, with proof of faith |
| Cumberland | Extended rights for ages 11 to 16, plus transport to the nearest preferred faith school for £655 a year |
| Durham | Only where the extended rights criteria are met |
The document does not propose a paid option like Cumberland’s. It does invite “alternative proposal(s)”, so a charged seat is something parents could suggest in their responses.
What it means for you
If your child already gets free transport to a faith school, nothing changes while they stay at that school. The catch is the move between schools. A child in a Catholic first or primary school would lose free transport when they move up to a middle or high school after September 2028.
If you are choosing a school for a child who starts in September 2028, this affects you. That is roughly:
- a child starting Reception in September 2028, who is in nursery or pre-school now
- a child in Year 3 now, who would join a middle school in Year 5
- a child in Year 5 now, who would join a secondary school in Year 7
- a child in Year 7 now, who would join a high school in Year 9
If the plan goes ahead, the council would only take your child to a faith school if they qualify anyway: the nearest suitable school by distance, special educational needs, an unsafe walking route, or the low-income extended rights rule.
The statutory distances are more than 2 miles for a child under 8 and more than 3 miles for a child aged 8 or over, measured along the shortest safe walking route to the nearest appropriate school. Full rules are in the council’s school transport policy.
How to have your say
- Online: the consultation questionnaire, open until 23:59 on 30 November.
- On paper: email Educationconsultation@northumberland.gov.uk for a printed form.
- In person: council officers will be at three drop-in sessions, all 4pm to 7pm:
- Thursday 5 November: Wentworth Leisure Centre, Wentworth Place, Hexham, NE46 3PD
- Tuesday 10 November: Willowburn Sports and Leisure Centre, Willowburn Avenue, Alnwick, NE66 2JH
- Tuesday 17 November: Ashington Leisure Centre, Lintonville Terrace, Ashington, NE63 9JY
The council is writing to parents of every child on a Northumberland school roll, schools and governors, academy trusts and the Roman Catholic and Church of England dioceses. It says the consultation “is not a referendum”, but that all views will be considered by the Cabinet.
School term dates for the year ahead are on our Northumberland term dates page.
Sources
- Northumberland County Council: Home to School Transport consultation, opened 19 October 2026, for the closing date, who is consulted and the response routes.
- Consultation document: Review of free transport on the grounds of religion or belief, for the 425 pupils, the £977,000 cost, the £500,000 saving, the £26.4m budget and 7,374 pupils, the phased plan, the Cumberland and Durham comparison, the drop-in events and the 9 February 2027 Cabinet date.
- Northumberland County Council news release, 19 October 2026, for Councillor Renner-Thompson’s comments.
- School Transport Policy for Children of Compulsory School Age, May 2026, for the current eligibility rules.
The per-pupil cost and the shares of pupils and budget are our own calculations from the council’s figures.
Have your say