Starting a school transport business: taxi contracts, checks and rules

Home-to-school transport is steady, contracted work for taxi and private hire firms, and some of it carries children with special educational needs, which shapes everything from the checks to the training. This guide explains the council duty behind the work, what the Department for Education's statutory guidance expects of the people who do it, the checks, the vehicles and how the tenders run. For pricing a route and writing a bid, read our guide to winning council school transport contracts.

Why do councils buy school transport from taxi firms?

Because councils in England must arrange free travel to school for eligible children, and a taxi is one of the ways the law lets them do it. The Department for Education's statutory guidance, Travel to school for children of compulsory school age (updated May 2026), says the arrangements must be free of charge to the parent, and that it's for the council to decide whether that means a bus pass, a dedicated school bus or a taxi.

Eligibility starts with the statutory walking distances. A child under 8 is eligible for free travel to their nearest suitable school if it's more than 2 miles from home. A child aged 8 or over is eligible if it's more than 3 miles. Children also qualify if the walking route is unsafe, if their special educational needs, disability or mobility problems mean they can't reasonably walk, or under the extended rights for low-income families.

For many children in that second group, a bus pass won't do. The guidance says some children's needs mean they must be collected from home, some need a passenger assistant, and some travel with a wheelchair or walking frame.

Expect routes to change. The guidance tells councils to offer independent travel training to children with special educational needs wherever possible, and one of its worked examples ends with the council withdrawing a taxi once the child can travel on the bus.

Do you need an operator licence for contract-only work?

Yes. School contracts are private hire work, and there's no exemption for contracts. TfL's operator licensing page names "operators who only do contract work, for example school runs for a local council" among the firms that must be licensed. Outside London, the old contract exemption in the 1976 Act was abolished by section 53 of the Road Safety Act 2006.

Councils check this at the door. Oxfordshire County Council, for example, asks applicants to its supported transport scheme for a relevant operator licence in the company name, or hackney carriage licences.

What does the DfE guidance expect of drivers and passenger assistants?

The guidance is written for councils, but its expectations reach you through the contract and the council's checks. The main ones:

The guidance also recommends that emergency training includes basic life support. It tells councils to share concerns about a taxi or private hire driver with the authority that licenses them, and to consider referring a driver to the DBS for barring.

The worked examples are worth reading as an operator. In one, a driver works out with a parent that the radio is what distresses a child, and keeps it off. In another, the driver and assistant visit a four-year-old at home before term so the child can sit in the seat they'll use. That's the standard councils are buying.

What checks do school transport drivers need?

An enhanced DBS check with a check of the children's barred list, for every driver and passenger assistant on dedicated school transport. The DfE guidance explains why: driving a vehicle used only to carry children and the people looking after them is regulated activity when it's part of the person's job and they do it once a week or more, or on more than 3 days in a 30-day period. Dedicated school transport will almost always meet that test.

It's a criminal offence for a barred person to work in regulated activity, and for an employer to knowingly employ one.

Your drivers will already have an enhanced check from their licence. The guidance leaves each council to decide whether to run its own second check or rely on the licensing one. Where the council arranging the transport is also the licensing authority, a second check shouldn't be needed. Licensing authorities are also expected to require drivers to stay on the DBS Update Service, so they can check for new information every 6 months.

Oxfordshire shows what a council scheme looks like in practice:

• an enhanced DBS for the child and adult workforce with both barred lists, or child workforce only for routes with no adult passengers;
• a subscription to the DBS Update Service before applying;
• a council travel badge for each approved driver and assistant;
• the council's safeguarding and disability awareness training, at £57.39 per booking;
• a fresh application every 3 years.

Bus and coach firms have a newer rule too. The DfE guidance notes that the Bus Services Act 2025 requires bus and coach operators to carry out enhanced criminal records checks on drivers of closed-door school services who drive them on more than three days in a 30-day period. More on checks for your office staff is in our guide to DBS checks for taxi operators.

When does a route need a passenger assistant?

When the council decides the child needs one. The DfE guidance gives the examples of a child who needs support on the journey and a child whose wheelchair or walking frame travels with them. The council's risk assessment covers things like medical needs, behaviour, boarding and getting out, and the safe loading and tethering of wheelchairs.

Read each specification to see who provides the passenger assistant, the council or you. If it's you, the assistant needs the same enhanced DBS check, the same training and, often, the same council badge as the driver. The assistant is the person who deals with a distressed child while the driver drives, so recruit for patience as much as paperwork. For the wider duties on carrying disabled passengers, see wheelchair-accessible taxis and the Equality Act, and for training, safeguarding for taxi firms.

What vehicles can you use for school contracts?

Licensed taxis and private hire vehicles with up to 8 passenger seats, or a PSV with a PSV operator licence for anything bigger. The DfE guidance says taxis and private hire vehicles must be inspected and licensed by a licensing authority, which may set extra requirements on roadworthiness, comfort, cleanliness and security.

Above 8 passenger seats the rules change. Gov.uk says you need a PSV operator licence to run a vehicle for hire or reward that can carry 9 or more passengers. The DfE guidance adds that bus and coach drivers need the right licence and an up-to-date Driver Certificate of Professional Competence, which means 35 hours of approved training every five years. All minibuses and coaches must have seatbelts, and a council can write seatbelt-only vehicles into its contracts.

Section 19 and section 22 permits under the Transport Act 1985 are for not-for-profit organisations, so a commercial taxi firm can't use them to avoid a PSV licence.

How do councils award school transport contracts?

Through tenders, often via a standing list of approved operators who bid for routes as they come up. Procurements started since 24 February 2025 run under the Procurement Act 2023.

The Act changed three things a small firm will notice. Opportunities are published on Find a Tender, the central digital platform, which is free to search and lets you store your company details for repeat bids. Public bodies must give bidders an assessment of their final tender. And 30-day payment terms apply across a broader range of public contracts.

Before you bid, have ready what Find a Tender asks for: your Companies House number if you have one, address and contact details, the last two years of accounts, anyone with significant control over the business, and details of any convictions.

Standing lists come in two names. The Act replaces dynamic purchasing systems with dynamic markets for new procurements, but schemes set up under the old rules are still running, and Oxfordshire's still calls its scheme a DPS:

Other councils run their own schemes on their own portals, so find your county council's transport procurement page and register there as well as on Find a Tender.

What does the work look like day to day?

Early starts, fixed times, the same children every day. The DfE guidance asks for consistency where possible, because some children find change distressing, so plan for the same driver and assistant on a route. Keep your booking records as usual, and check the contract for the council's own reporting rules.

School runs also tie up cars and drivers at exactly the hours your phone is busy with other work. Dispatch AI is booking and dispatch software for taxi and private hire firms. It answers your phone, WhatsApp, texts and emails, books the jobs at your prices and sends them to your drivers on your own app, so the rest of your bookings don't stall while the school runs are out.