School hit by cut in free bus travel for students

FREE bus travel for students travelling from Reading to a secondary school in Sonning Common is to be cut.

Reading Borough Council has axed free transport entitlement for a significant number of pupils travelling to Maiden Erelgh Chiltern Edge in Reades Lane.

The cuts are part of cost-saving measures being undertaken by the council to reduce the number of buses it pays for over the next three years.

The school, which is run by the Maiden Erlegh Trust, raised concerns in February that the withdrawal of the service would pose significant challenges for families and students travelling from north Reading and Caversham who depend on the service.

The school has a cohort of more than 200 pupils who live in Reading borough, where until now the local authority paid for buses taking them to and from school.

Free transport entitlement for pupils attending the school will be removed but transitional protection for currently eligible students will remain for the next three academic years, including for those starting next month. Currently, four buses travel between the RG4 postcode in Caversham to Sonning Common.

The buses were originally funded by South Oxfordshire District Council but the contract for bus services was awarded to Reading Buses in 2022.

The company was contracted to provide a fourth bus in 2023 to 2024 to take 260 pupils to and from school.

But the council wanted to change the policy to provide school transport to the new River Academy, a secondary school in Richfield Avenue, Caversham, which will open next month.

The new school is also run by the Maiden Erlegh Trust, which took over Chiltern Edge in 2018. It is set to have an impact on students numbers at Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge, which are already below average.

The number of Reading pupils attending the school is set to fall from 260 in 2023/2024 to 164 in 2026/2027.

Jonathon Peck, head of the trust, has said that low students numbers are affecting the Sonning Common school and it is losing out on an estimated £1 million a year in government funding because it has only about 450 pupils when it should have 600.

The decision was made at the borough council’s adult social care, children’s service and education committee following a consultation with parents and the trust.

The expected reduction in demand for buses to the school in Sonning Common will save the council £90,000 per year from September 2025.

In an open letter to the council in May, Mr Peck said while he recognised the strain on budgets, he urged it to explore alternatives.

He said: “While some of our parent community might be able to afford additional transport costs, there is a significant number who won’t be able to.

“The immediate removal of funded transport would be especially harsh and, in our view, egregiously unfair.

“Access to reliable and affordable transportation is essential for students to attend school regularly and participate fully in their education.

“By withdrawing funded bus travel, the proposed policy risks creating significant barriers to education for some of our most vulnerable students.”

Brian Grady, director of education at the council, said there had been a “substantive engagement” with parents in the decision-making
process.

He said: “For me it showed the importance of comprehensive engagement because the more we engaged and consulted with parents and the more we understood their lived experience, the more we understood that our policy is robust enough to protect those parents in terms of their entitlement.”

The policy states travel assistance will be provided free of charge for pupils that qualify.

The council has a statutory duty to assist pupils aged five to 16 to get to school.

Students are normally required to use public transport and will therefore be provided with a free bus pass.

The council will only provide travel other than a bus in exceptional circumstances, such as disability or when a child’s education, health and care plan stipulates that they should be provided with alternative transport.