Winning council school transport contracts: how the tenders work

School transport tenders are how councils buy taxi and minibus work for children who qualify for free travel. The rules for those tenders changed in February 2025, and plenty of pages still describe the old system. This guide explains how councils buy home to school transport now, where the tenders are published, how to register, what councils ask of operators and how routes are won.

How do councils buy school transport?

Councils buy it from transport operators under contract, route by route. Under the Education Act 1996, a council must arrange free travel for an eligible child of compulsory school age, and the Department for Education's statutory guidance (updated 26 May 2026) sets out who qualifies.

The basic distance rule is simple. A child under 8 qualifies for free travel to their nearest suitable school if it's more than 2 miles from home, and a child aged 8 or over if it's more than 3 miles. A child who couldn't reasonably be expected to walk to school because of special educational needs, a disability or a mobility problem qualifies for free travel to their nearest suitable school whatever the distance. Many of those journeys need a small vehicle, a passenger assistant or a direct route, which is where taxi and private hire firms come in.

The sums are large. Kent County Council's officers reported an annual budget of £83.9 million for special educational needs home to school transport in 2025/26. Kent's taxi arrangement covers vehicles with 8 seats or fewer and is open to hackney carriage, private hire, school-only private hire and specialist bus operators.

What changed with the Procurement Act 2023?

The Procurement Act 2023 came into force on 24 February 2025. Procurements a council started before that date carry on under the old rules, the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Anything new is run under the Act.

The biggest change for taxi firms is the end of the dynamic purchasing system. A council can't set up a new one. The government's transitional guidance says any dynamic purchasing system set up under the old rules must end by 23 February 2029 at the latest, and could only be extended in the first 12 months after the Act started. In their place the Act offers dynamic markets and open frameworks.

Councils are choosing different routes, so read your own council's notice:

• South Tyneside Council extended its passenger transport dynamic purchasing system to 23 February 2029, and says contracts under it are likely to run for 1 to 3 years.
• Kent County Council's officers proposed in September 2025 extending Kent's taxi dynamic purchasing system from 31 October 2026 to 23 February 2029, saying the Act has no like-for-like replacement.
• North Northamptonshire Council's officers reported in September 2026 that most of its school transport contracts fall below the threshold for using a dynamic market, so they planned an open framework of 4 years with two 2-year extensions, with an estimated maximum value of £350 million over eight years and about 12 months to set it up.

Where are school transport tenders advertised?

On Find a Tender, the government's central digital platform, and on each council's own tendering portal. Under the Act, councils publish their notices on the central digital platform, including notices for smaller contracts.

Two thresholds decide which rules apply. A council contract for goods or services comes under the full rules from £207,720, the threshold from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027. Below that, a council contract becomes "notifiable" at £30,000, and the notice still goes on the central digital platform. Both figures count VAT in. Contracts Finder carries notices from procurements started under the old rules, so search it too while those are still running.

Councils also run tenders through their own e-tendering portals. Buckinghamshire Council, for example, set up a new dynamic purchasing system for transport in January 2025 and asks operators to register on the In-tend portal and request to join it. Find your own council's portal on its "selling to the council" or procurement page.

Set up email alerts on Find a Tender once you have an account, so new transport notices come to you.

How do you register to bid for school transport?

Register your firm on the central digital platform, then on your council's portal. The government's guide sets out the platform steps, and the platform is free to use:

1. Create a GOV.UK One Login with a work email address and a mobile phone for security codes.
2. Sign in to the central digital platform, agree the privacy policy and enter your name.
3. Register your organisation as a supplier, using your Companies House number if you have one, and confirm your name and address.
4. Note the unique identifier the platform gives you. You share it with the council before a contract is awarded.
5. Keep your core details on the platform up to date, so you don't retype them for every bid.
6. Register on the council's own portal and ask to join its framework, dynamic market or dynamic purchasing system.

What do councils require from school transport operators?

Councils require licensed drivers and vehicles, checked and trained staff, and the right insurance, and each council sets its own detail. The Department for Education's guidance asks councils to make sure of the following on dedicated school transport:

• An enhanced DBS check, with a check of the children's barred list, for drivers and passenger assistants.
• Safeguarding training, and training to manage children's behaviour and meet any special needs, decided by the council from its risk assessments.
• Drivers and passenger assistants who know how to report a concern about a child.

Councils should also pass any concern about a taxi or private hire driver to the authority that licensed them. The same guidance notes that the Department for Transport's statutory standards recommend licensing authorities carry out an enhanced DBS check with both barred lists on every taxi and private hire driver, and that licensed drivers sign up to the DBS Update Service so they can be checked every 6 months.

Passenger assistants, sometimes called escorts, are part of many routes. Some councils license them separately: Leeds City Council lists an escort application at £25, a £70 DBS check, £10 safeguarding awareness training and a £30 admin fee.

The guidance also gives councils a general guide for journey times: 45 minutes each way for a primary school child and 75 minutes for a secondary school child. That limits how many children you can collect on one route.

Our guides to DBS checks for taxi operators and safeguarding for taxi firms cover the checks in more detail.

How are school transport routes won and priced?

Read the award criteria in every tender, because they decide what wins. The Act lets a council award a contract to the "most advantageous tender", judged against the criteria it publishes, which can include quality as well as price. On Kent's taxi dynamic purchasing system, its officers reported that every tender is seen by every supplier on it, the lowest compliant tender on price wins, and there's no automatic annual inflation uplift on contracts.

So cost each route properly before you bid. Count:

1. The driver's paid time, including the run to the first pickup and back from the school.
2. The passenger assistant's wages, if the route needs one and the council doesn't supply them.
3. Fuel and wear for the whole day's mileage, not just the loaded miles.
4. Cover: a spare car and driver for the days someone is ill, because the route still has to run.
5. Rises in fuel and wages over the length of the contract, if the price is fixed.

The Act helps with cash flow. On a contract under the Act, a council must pay a valid invoice within 30 days, and for below-threshold contracts the Act says a valid invoice needs your name, a description of the work, the sum due and a unique identification number.

Is school transport worth it for a taxi firm?

School transport can be steady weekday income in term time, from a customer that has to pay within 30 days. The trade-offs are real, though. School runs tie up cars and drivers in the busiest hours of the morning and mid-afternoon, there's no work in the holidays, every driver needs extra checks and training, and a fixed price over 1 to 3 years leaves you carrying any rise in costs.

Contract routes are planned weeks ahead. The town work around them still comes in on the phone, and 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.

If you're starting a firm around this work, read our guide to starting a school transport business, and for private sector contracts see winning corporate accounts.