Persons of sixth form age

There is no automatic entitlement to free home to school or college transport once a student is over 16.  However, the Council has a power to determine what travel assistance and provision is necessary to facilitate a young person’s participation in education and training but there is no obligation to fund the travel assistance arrangements. In determining what travel assistance is necessary, the Council will take into account the following:

  • The needs of those for whom it would not be reasonably practicable to attend a particular establishment to receive education or training if no arrangements were made;
  • The need to ensure that young people in the area have reasonable opportunities to choose between different establishments at which education and training is provided;
  • The distance from the student’s home to establishments of education and training;
  • The journey time to access different establishments;
  • The cost of travel assistance to the establishment in question;
  • The degree to which the young person would benefit from encouragement to travel as independently as possible.
  • Any alternative means of facilitating the student’s attendance at establishments;

For a student to be eligible to apply they must:-

  • live in the Trafford  Council area;
  • be under 19 years of age at 31 August 2016;
  • attend a full-time course;
  • have applied for and been refused bursary funding from/through their education setting.  Evidence of this will be required.

Where students do not qualify for the Council’s Post-16 travel assistance they will need to make their own arrangements for travel to and from the educational establishment in question.

To find out more about the eligibility criteria and travel options available for the current academic year please see All age travel assistance policy for 2021-22

You can also view All Age Travel Assistance Policy 2020-21 - Young People.

To apply for travel assistance please, complete, the online travel assistance application form.

Students aged 16-19 years in Mainstream Provision

Eligibility for travel assistance for those students without an Education, Health and Care Plan or Learning Disability Assessment will be considered under this section. 

 Students must in the first instance apply to their school or college for bursary funding to assist with their travel costs. For many students this is discretionary and schools/colleges may assist in different ways.  Please see the section on page 18 of the All Age Travel Assistance Policy on concessionary fares, discounts and subsidies.

If a student is refused assistance by the school or college, the Council will consider applications for assistance on the basis of financial hardship. Travel assistance will be provided by the Council where the student’s application proves financial hardship because the student’s parent or carer is in receipt of one of the following benefits:

  • Income Support
  • Child Tax Credit but NOT entitled to Working Tax Credit and the household income does not exceed £16,190
  • Income-based Job Seekers Allowance (IBJSA)
  • Employment Support Allowance (Income Related)
  • Guaranteed Element of State Pension Credit
  • Support under Part VI of the Immigration & Asylum Act 1999

Where assistance is provided on this basis it will be subject to a charge of £100 a term payable by the student.