Post-16 and college transport for students with SEND

1 Overview

You may be eligible to County Council help with transport costs to school, sixth form college or college of further education if you:

are a student of sixth form age with special educational needs and/or disabilities
live in West Sussex.

Normally this will mean that you will have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan.

The County Council does not normally offer help with transport for Post-16 students who do not have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

For full information, read our Transport Policy.

The contribution for academic year 2023/24 is £770. This can be paid by direct debit over 7 months from October. This is waived for families who are assessed as being on a low income.

2 Apply for support

So that we can decide whether or not you are eligible for financial support towards your transport costs to sixth form or college you will need to complete our online form.

This form is for the academic year 2023/24 only. The deadline for applications was 30 June 2023. However, you can still apply but you will need to make your own transport arrangements for the start of term in September.

Online application form (external link)

Please check your Spam inbox and add donotreply@westsussex.gov.uk and Post16Travel@westsussex.gov.uk to the Safe Senders list so you do not miss any emails.

Notes

It can take up to 4 weeks for us to respond to your application.
If we require further information in order to assess your application we will contact you to let you know.
If your application is unsuccessful we will write to you explaining why.
If your application is successful we will contact you with more information about what happens next.
Please do not contact us about specific transport routes, passenger assistants or drivers, as we will not know the details at this stage. If there are going to be changes to your current transport then we will confirm them in writing.

3 If you aren't eligible for help

16-19 Bursary Fund

You may be able to apply for help through your establishment's 16-19 Bursary Fund if we cannot help. More details about this are available from your school or college.

Bus and rail discounts

Please see the Travel discounts page on Your Space for details. You can get discounts on most rail travel, including peak time journeys and season tickets with the 16-17 Saver, though if you travel on the south coast line - especially if a you have a longer journey - you may find the Unizone ticket cheaper.

4 Contact our team

5 Supporting documents

Please note that the following documents will be updated for the academic year 2023/24 by 31 May.

6 Complaints

If you are not happy with the decision made regarding your eligibility for assistance with transport, you should, in the first instance, email post16travel@westsussex.gov.uk. Any new information can then be taken into account or the decision reviewed.

If you are still not satisfied, an appeal may be made to:

Director of Education and Skills
County Hall
Chichester
PO19 1RF

Every effort will be made to resolve complaints but in some cases it may be necessary to refer the matter to a panel of elected members.