Okay, let’s break down the “School Travel (Pupils with Dual Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2025” (SI 2025/632), published on June 3, 2025. While I can’t predict the exact details of the legislation as I don’t have access to the full text beyond its title and making date, I can provide a comprehensive explanation of what the title suggests it’s likely to address, the background context, and potential implications. I’ll base this on existing laws and common issues surrounding school transport in England.
Article: Understanding the School Travel (Pupils with Dual Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2025
A new piece of legislation, the “School Travel (Pupils with Dual Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2025,” was published on June 3, 2025. While the specifics are contained within the full text of the regulations, the title gives us a strong indication of its purpose: to amend existing rules regarding school travel for pupils who are registered at two schools. Let’s unpack what that means.
What is “Dual Registration”?
Dual registration refers to situations where a child is formally registered as a student at two different schools. This is generally uncommon but can occur in specific circumstances, such as:
- Shared Education/Split Placement: Where a pupil attends two schools for different purposes, for example, a mainstream school part-time and a specialist school for particular learning needs or talents for the other part of the time.
- Separated Parents/Complex Custody Arrangements: If parents live in different local authority areas, or have difficult family dynamics and one parent would like their child registered at a different school for reasons of personal safety.
- Transition Periods: A student might be dual-registered temporarily during the process of moving schools, although is unlikely to occur in most cases.
Why is School Travel for Dual-Registered Pupils a Special Case?
The standard rules regarding school transport eligibility (typically free or subsidized transport) are usually based on factors like:
- Distance: How far the pupil lives from the school.
- Age: Different age groups have different distance thresholds.
- Special Educational Needs (SEN): Pupils with SEN who cannot reasonably walk to school, even if it’s under the standard distance threshold, may be eligible.
- Low Income: Families receiving certain benefits might qualify for assistance.
When a pupil is dual-registered, it creates complexities:
- Which School is the “Primary” School? The legislation likely aims to define how to determine which school is considered the main school for transport purposes. This could be based on the number of days/hours spent at each school, the curriculum offered, or other factors.
- Multiple Homes/Addresses: The pupil effectively has two “home” addresses – making the distance calculation more challenging. Which address is used to determine eligibility? The parent’s home may be different.
- Financial Responsibility: Who is responsible for funding the transport – especially if the two schools are in different local authority districts?
What Issues Might the Amendment Regulations Address?
Given the context, here are some likely areas the amendment regulations could cover:
- Clarifying Eligibility Criteria: Providing a clear definition of how eligibility for school transport is determined for dual-registered pupils. This might include:
- Specifying which home address is used for distance calculations.
- Defining “primary” vs. “secondary” school for transport purposes.
- Addressing situations where one school is within the eligibility distance, but the other is not.
- Funding and Responsibility: Determining which local authority (if the schools are in different areas) is responsible for funding transport. This could involve a formula for splitting costs.
- Type of Transport: Specifying the type of transport that may be available. This might include dedicated school buses, public transport passes, or allowances for parents to transport their children.
- SEN Considerations: Addressing how SEN needs are factored into transport arrangements for dual-registered pupils. This is particularly important if one school is a specialist setting.
- Safeguarding: Ensuring that transport arrangements are safe and appropriate for the pupil, especially if they are travelling between two different locations.
- Appeals Process: Providing a clear appeals process for parents who are unhappy with the transport arrangements offered.
Potential Implications
- For Local Authorities: The regulations could require local authorities to review their existing policies on school transport and make adjustments to accommodate dual-registered pupils. This may require them to have a more streamlined inter-authority collaboration.
- For Schools: Schools may need to work together more closely to coordinate transport arrangements for dual-registered pupils.
- For Parents: The regulations could provide clarity and guidance for parents on their rights and responsibilities regarding school transport for their children. It may simplify the application process or provide access to transport that was previously unavailable. However, depending on the specifics, it could also introduce new restrictions or limitations.
- For Pupils: Easier and more reliable school transport can obviously improve the educational experience and well-being for these pupils, giving them easier access to needed support and improving their punctuality and attendance.
Where to Find More Information
The best way to understand the full impact of these regulations is to read the full text of Statutory Instrument 2025/632 on the legislation.gov.uk website. You can also contact your local authority’s school transport department for guidance.
Disclaimer: This article provides a general overview based on the title of the legislation and common issues related to school transport. It should not be considered legal advice. The specific details and implications of the regulations will depend on the full text of the document.
The School Travel (Pupils with Dual Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2025
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The following question was used to generate the response from Google Gemini:
At 2025-06-03 15:16, ‘The School Travel (Pupils with Dual Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2025’ was published according to UK New Legislation. Please write a detailed article with related information in an easy-to-understand manner. Please answer in English.
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