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News Release

21 August 2002

SCHOOL TRANSPORT, 2001/02

A Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication

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The results of the Scottish Executive survey on education authority funded free school transport, 2001/2002 are released today, and are published here together with data showing the overall picture of school transport taken from the Scottish Household Survey.

Provision of Free School Transport by Education Authorities

These statistics have been calculated using information from the annual survey of free school transport provided by education authorities, conducted in April 2002.

The main points are:

• At April 2002, a total of 146,518 pupils received education authority funded transport to school. This represented 19.7 per cent of all pupils in education authority schools.
• In primary, 10.3 per cent of pupils received education authority funded transport in April 2002, very similar to the proportion in each of the previous 4 years. In secondary, 28.4 per cent of pupils received free transport in 2002, similar to the proportion in previous years. (As there are fewer secondary schools than primary schools, on average pupils have to travel further to secondary school, and so more of them qualify for free transport).
• At April 2002, the proportion of these journeys provided by contract buses or minibuses was 58.4 per cent as compared with 26.4 per cent for public bus services. The use of contract taxis or hire cars accounted for 10.0 per cent of journeys.
• The proportion of pupils receiving education authority funded transport varied considerably between education authorities, and was naturally highest in rural areas.

• In primary schools the highest proportions were in Eilean Siar (57.9 per cent), Orkney Islands (47.3 per cent), Argyll & Bute (35.5 per cent) and Shetland Islands (26.6 per cent).
• and the lowest proportions were in City of Edinburgh (0.8 per cent), Aberdeen City (2.0 per cent), and Dundee City (2.1 per cent).
• In secondary schools, the highest proportions were in Eilean Siar (89.6 per cent), Shetland Islands (79.1 per cent) and Orkney Islands (55.1 per cent)
• and the lowest proportions were in Dundee City (1.5 per cent), Aberdeen City (6.4 per cent) and City of Edinburgh (11.0 per cent).

School Transport - all pupils

The following points, from the Scottish Household Survey, are based on a sample of all school pupils in Scotland (including those receiving free school transport).

The main points are:

• A greater proportion of primary pupils (57 per cent) walk to school than secondary pupils (46 per cent). This is probably because on average pupils have to travel further to secondary schools.
• Thirty-seven per cent of secondary pupils travel to school by school bus compared to 15 per cent of primary pupils.
• More primary children (27 per cent) receive a lift to or from school in a car or van, than secondary children (12 per cent). This may be because of the age of the children but also the proximity of primary schools.
• The proportion of all pupils travelling to school by bicycle or rail is negligable. One per cent of all pupils cycle to school; only 1 per cent of secondary pupils, and virtually no primary pupils, travel to school by train.
• The results in the six urban/rural classifications show that fewer pupils living in rural areas walk to school, compared with the corresponding proportions for pupils who live in urban areas or small towns.
• A larger proportion of pupils who live in rural areas travel to school by school bus than in urban areas.

TABLES

Table 1 - Education authority school pupils receiving free transport; Number and percentage of pupils by sector.

Table 2 - Education authority school pupils receiving free transport; Number and percentage of pupil journeys by transport type, April 2002.

Chart 1 - Mode of education authority funded transport used by pupils.

Table 3 - Education authority primary and secondary school pupils receiving free transport; Number and percentage of pupils by education authority and sector, April 2002.

Chart 2 - Mode of transport to school.

Table 4 - Usual main method of travel to school from samples of all pupils, 2001

NOTES TO NEWS EDITORS

1. A survey of school transport provided by education authorities has been carried out annually since 1983/84. Up to 1999/2000, the information was collected in September as part of the School Census. Following a review carried out by the Executive, in consultation with the School Education Information Advisory Group, it was decided to collect the data from education authorities as a separate exercise with effect from 2001.

2. Under the terms of section 50, as read with section 51, of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, education authorities have a duty to provide free transport or transport facilities for children who live outwith the statutory walking distance to school. This is defined in section 42(4) of the 1980 Act as being two miles for any pupil under the age of 8 years and three miles for any other pupil. The Education (Scotland) Act 1996 amended section 51 of the 1980 Act to require education authorities to have regard to the safety of pupils when considering whether to make arrangements for the provision of school transport. Authorities also have a more general duty to make such arrangements as they consider necessary for provision of transport or transport facilities, with or without charge, to enable pupils to attend school. This gives them a wide discretion to decide what transport or transport facilities, if any, should be provided taking account of circumstances of individual cases. This duty does not apply where the pupil attends, as a result of a placing request, a school other than that designated for him or her by the education authority, although in these circumstances the education authority may provide assistance at their discretion.

3. Under section 51(2) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, education authorities are required to offer any vacant seats on a school bus free of charge to pupils who would otherwise not be entitled. If the number of such non-entitled pupils exceeds the number of vacant places then it is for the authority to select those pupils to whom the vacant places are to be given.

4. In consultation with external stakeholders through the Schools Education Information Advisory Group (SEIAG) we are considering whether the figures on free transport might be collected less frequently in future, possibly as an ad-hoc survey rather than an annual collection. We aim to provide recommendations to Ministers by mid-November 2002.

5. The Scottish Household Survey, which started in 1999, collects a wide range of information from a sample of about 15,000 households per year across Scotland. As with all such surveys, factors such as sampling variability and non-response bias may affect the results. In the SHS "urban / rural" classification, "large urban areas" are settlements with a population of over 125,000, "other urban areas" are other settlements of over 10,000 population, "small towns" are settlements with a population of between 3,000 and 10,000, and "rural areas" include settlements of under 3,000 population. The term "accessible" is used in cases where a small town or rural area is within a 30 minute drive of a settlement of more than 10,000 population. A hyperlink to the latest news release is incorporated below:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/pages/news/2002/07/sesj040.aspx

6. This is a National Statistics publication. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.

7. Public enquiries (non-media) about the information contained in this News Release should be addressed to Mal Cooke, Statistician, Scottish Executive Education Department, 1-A, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ. Telephone 0131 244 1689 or e-mail ea.stats@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Contact: Fiona Locke, tel. 0131 244 2530

21 August 2002

Table 1

Education authority school pupils receiving free transport : Number and percentage of pupils by sector. (Numbers of pupils)

⁽¹⁾ Includes pupils in special schools.
⁽²⁾ The "percentage of school roll" figures have been amended since last year's news release, to take account of finalised school roll data.

Table 2

Education authority school pupils receiving free transport: number and percentage of pupil journeys by transport type, April 2002

(Numbers of journeys ¹)

⁽¹⁾ Pupils are counted once for each method of transport used.

Chart 1: Mode of education authority funded transport used by pupils

Table 3

Education authority primary and secondary school pupils receiving free transport : number and percentage of pupils by education authority and sector, April 2002

(Numbers of pupils)

⁽¹⁾ Includes pupils in special schools

Chart 2 : Mode of Transport to School

Table 4: Usual main method of travel to school from samples of all pupils ¹, 2001

Per cent

1. For those who are in full time education at school. The main method of transport is recorded if the journey involves more than one method.
2. Including those who were said to travel by "private bus", and a few who went by "works bus".
3. Including the Glasgow Underground.
4. e.g. motorcycle, lorry, taxi, ferry, etc.
5. The unweighted number of school children about whom the information was collected.

Source of Table 4 : Scottish Household Survey