Parents face £800 bill over school bus changes

Lainey, 11, pictured with mum Cathee, is due to start studying at Ripon Grammar School next week

Parents have said they will have to pay out over £800 a year after a council stopped funding free buses to one of its schools, while still paying for journeys to another one directly opposite.

Secondary school pupils are entitled to free transport if they live over three miles (5km) from the nearest school, and North Yorkshire Council previously funded free buses for eligible pupils to Ripon's Outwood Academy and Ripon Grammar School.

But after a decision last year, the council wrote to parents in villages south of Ripon, saying as the Academy was 194ft (59m) closer than the Grammar, it had no obligation to take pupils to the latter for free.

One parent described the situation as "ludicrous".

The two state secondary schools in the cathedral city are located opposite each other, and pupils from both sites use the same buses, which pick up and and drop off at the same places and at the same times.

But in 2024, North Yorkshire Council changed its home to school transport policy in a bid to save more than £4m and now only funds transport to the closest school, rather than any school in a catchment area.

After measurements showed Ripon Grammar School was 194ft further away than Outwood Academy for pupils travelling from villages south of Ripon, parents were told by the authority that it would no longer fund free bus journeys to and from there.

The council has said it could not afford a "more generous policy" due to financial constraints.

The two schools in Ripon are located directly opposite each other

Cathee, who lives in Bishop Monkton, four miles from Ripon, said her son already had a free bus pass to get to and from Ripon Grammar.

However, she explained that Lainey, her 11-year-old daughter, who was about to start attending the same school next week, would not be allowed a free pass due to the new policy.

Cathee said that as a result the family would have to find more than £800 a year to pay for a bus pass for Lainey.

"It completely came out of the blue," Cathee said.

"The schools are equidistant: they are opposite each other. So the fact they have said one is closer than another is ludicrous.

"The bus pass is over £800 a year, so we have five years of that, which is £4,000. That's a lot, especially when you haven't budgeted for that."

Lainey said while she was excited and nervous to start secondary school, the situation with the school bus had affected her summer holidays.

"When my mum and dad found out, they spent most of their time upstairs on the computer figuring out what they are going to do to let me have a bus pass," she said.

"It caused a lot of stress in the family."

Martha passed her 11-plus exam and will be attending Ripon Grammar School from September

Primary school-aged pupils in the Ripon schools catchment area are invited to take an 11-plus exam to assess academic potential.

Those who "pass" are eligible to attend Ripon Grammar, which is one of the top-performing state schools in the north of England.

Martha, 11, who also lives in Bishop Monkton, passed her exam and will follow in the footsteps of her two older siblings by starting at the Grammar next week.

But while they had free bus passes, Martha's parents will have to pay for hers.

Ripon Grammar School is one of the top-performing state schools in the north of England

Martha's mum, Rebecca, said: "Both children going to Ripon Grammar School and Outwood Academy, they get on the same bus and it picks up at the same stops and drops at a shared bus park between the two schools in the morning.

"To me, I couldn't see there was any difference in distance from our house to either school."

Meanwhile, Martha said the situation made her "feel angry".

"I have seen the schools and they are literally opposite each other," she said.

North Yorkshire Council has measured that Outwood Academy Ripon is about 190ft closer for pupils living in villages south of Ripon

Amanda Fielding, assistant director for inclusion at North Yorkshire Council, said the change in policy over home to school transport had proved unavoidable.

"Our home to school transport policy is designed to be fair and consistent for families across North Yorkshire," she said.

"We are one of the highest spending local authorities in the country on home to school transport.

"If we had done nothing, the rising cost of home to school travel could have a crippling effect on the other services we must deliver by law.

"The previous eligibility under the 'catchment' criteria was a discretionary provision.

"Unfortunately, we simply cannot afford to operate a more generous policy due to the acute financial position we are in.

"We have a responsibility to arrange transport for pupils who are eligible for free home to school travel. Therefore, we will put in place the most cost-effective and appropriate transport options for them.

"In the same way as previous years, this may result in spaces being available to buy for parents of children who are not eligible for free travel to and from school."

Those pupils who had historically been allocated free bus passes would not be affected by the change in policy, the council said.

Pupils living north of Ripon are not affected and can get a free bus to either school.

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