Rushcliffe parents are facing thousands of pounds’ worth of travel costs to get their children to school.
Parents living in Ruddington say they’re having to “fight” with a “silly” recurring home-to-school transport policy at Nottinghamshire County Council that has meant requests for free transport have been denied by the authority.
The authority has various transport policies for eligible children and families, covering school distances and low-income circumstances.
Its current policy for secondary-aged children, aged between 11 and 16, is that they are entitled to free transport to their “nearest suitable school” if the school is three miles or more from their home.
For low-income families, this policy alters slightly if the school is between two and six miles from their home and if there are not three or more suitable schools nearer.
The council says ‘suitability’ relates to whether a school is capable of providing an appropriate education for a child, rather than whether a family considers it to be the preferred educational, social or pastoral fit – but this choice of word appears to be misleading parents.
Claire Nicholson lives in Ruddington, and her daughter is due to start The South Wolds Academy in Keyworth in September 2026, a school that is more than three miles from their home.
The application for free home-to-school transport for her daughter was recently refused by the council, with the reason given that her daughter was not attending the nearest or catchment school – a refusal she is currently appealing.
Ms Nicholson says the council gave her the option to buy a season bus pass for her daughter, costing £720 per academic year – approximately £3,600 for the duration of secondary school.
She said: “The main thing is where we live in Ruddington, there are no secondary schools she can walk to at all. South Wolds is always put forward as a school you can choose in catchment.
“Rushcliffe Spencer Academy is nearer by about 0.2 of a mile, which is so small. It’s not like this is a school she can walk to, it isn’t, it’s every year people are having this fight.
“It’s the fact in the policy it says most ‘suitable’ school – I have chosen what I believe is the most suitable for my child, I have evidence to back this up.”
Ms Nicholson explained her daughter experienced anxiety in larger groups and responded better to smaller, calmer educational environments.
Rushcliffe Spencer Academy has a higher pupil number, for example, and staff at her daughter’s current school, St Peter’s C of E Junior School, advised the family that South Wolds would be “most appropriate”.
Speaking about the £3,600 bus pass cost she could be faced with, Ms Nicholson said: “It’s just another cost of living [issue], another cost I’d have to try to find.
“She’ll still go to South Wolds, it may be I’m going to have to drive her there and pick her up – you want your child to go to secondary school and be a bit more independent.”
Fellow Ruddington mum Gemma Fox is in a similar position to Ms Nicholson, with her daughter due to start South Wolds in September – she too has appealed the council’s rejection.
She also feels South Wolds would support her daughter’s wellbeing needs better.
She said: “It’s unfair. You’re given two secondary schools as an option but really, there’s only one.
“In comparison to an NCT bus pass, the school’s bus pass is double the price, but there isn’t an NCT bus that takes them there – in comparison, it doesn’t feel like a fair price. There are lots of flaws in the process.
“It’s the financial impact. We’ve even looked at weighing up whether moving to Keyworth is a better option than a bus pass – I don’t know what we’ll do, we’ll figure it out.”
Ms Nicholson called the council’s policy “silly”, with both mums pointing out that if they had chosen Rushcliffe Spencer Academy as their daughters’ first choice but they had not got in, South Wolds would be the second choice and, under these circumstances, the council would have paid for the transport to South Wolds.
Joanne Pearson, also from Ruddington, experienced the same problems before her daughter started The South Wolds Academy in September 2024.
It has been confirmed by the council that it ultimately decided that that cohort of children would be given free transport due to capacity problems at Rushcliffe Spencer Academy at the time.
She said: “People]might as well put their child down for [Rushcliffe Spencer Academy] and hope for a rejection.
“People cannot afford it, a standard working parent cannot afford that – it’s ridiculous. It’s in catchment, if it wasn’t I’d understand the charge… It shouldn’t matter which school a child picks.”
Ms Pearson said the goal for impacted parents now was for the council to approve free transport for both secondary schools; otherwise, it faces getting “bombarded” with emails from parents.
On South Wolds’ website, its catchment area map includes Ruddington within the boundary, and this is reflected on the County Council’s School Search website page.
Responding to the parents’ concerns and confusion, Councillor John Semens, Deputy Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment at Nottinghamshire County Council, said in a statement: “In Nottinghamshire, the entitlement to school transport assistance is based on young people attending their nearest school.
“This means if parents choose to enrol their children at an alternative school which is not the nearest, they will not be entitled to travel assistance.”
Cllr Semens noted the capacity problems at Rushcliffe Spencer Academy in recent years, which meant some pupils were offered a place at South Wolds Academy, but this school now has increased space for new pupils.
He said: “While South Wolds Academy is not their nearest school, it was deemed to be in this case due to capacity issues at Rushcliffe Spencer and so these pupils were offered school travel assistance in line with our policy.
“Rushcliffe Spencer Academy now has increased capacity for new pupils and while we recognise the situation in recent years may have caused confusion for parents in Ruddington about school travel policies, travel assistance will not be offered if parents have chosen to enrol their children at South Wolds Academy if a place was offered at Rushcliffe Spencer Academy, as this is the nearest school.”
The council has confirmed “there are no plans” to make changes to the policy on the back of parents’ concerns.
By Lauren Monaghan, Local Democracy Reporter
