Extended rights grant allocations financial year 2024 to 2025: explanatory note on methodology
Updated 29 February 2024
Applies to England
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Background
The extended rights grant is paid to local authorities as a contribution towards the cost of arranging extended rights home-to-school travel for children eligible on the grounds of low-income. This funding is not ringfenced so that local authorities can make the best decisions for their local area.
The eligibility criteria for extended rights home-to-school travel can be found in the travel to school for children of compulsory school age statutory guidance.
Most central government funding for home-to-school transport is provided through the Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) administered by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
The final local government settlement for the financial year 2024 to 2025 has information about the overall settlement.
Overview of methodology for extended rights grant
The Department for Education calculates local authorities’ extended rights grant allocations each year by multiplying a per pupil amount by the estimated number of pupils eligible for extended rights home-to-school travel.
There are separate per pupil amounts for rural authorities, urban authorities and London authorities.
Local authorities are categorised according to the percentage of their population living in rural settings:
| % population living in rural settings | Extended rights classification | Per pupil amount 2024 to 2025 | Adjustment for straight-line distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| More than 20% | Predominantly rural | £908.56 | Yes |
| 15% to 20% | Semi-rural | £908.56 | No |
| Less than 15% | Urban | £544.39 | No |
| N/A, London local authorities | London | £181.46 | No |
The per pupil amounts were originally taken from the Association of Transport Coordinators (ATCO) Passenger Transport Survey 2016. They were increased for the financial year 2021 to 2022 to account for several years of flat rates. They have increased each year since then to take account of inflation.
Calculating the number of eligible pupils
The number of pupils eligible for extended rights home-to-school transport is estimated using the latest available school census data and is based on straight line distances, using pupils’ addresses combined with school addresses. For the financial year 2024 to 2025 we have used January 2023 census data.
As eligibility for extended rights is based on distances measured by the shortest travelling route, which will exceed the straight line routes used in the estimate, estimated pupil numbers for local authorities classified as predominantly rural are increased by 38%. This is based on distance analysis of a sample of pupils in years 7 to 11, it is only applied to rural local authorities as these are affected more than urban ones by our use of straight line distance.
The number of eligible pupils is adjusted to account for changes we expect to see in the number of pupils receiving free school meals (FSM) in the 2024 to 2025 financial year. This includes children who will maintain their FSM eligibility due to the transitional protections which mean that any child who was eligible for FSM on 31 March 2018, or gained eligibility from 1 April 2018 will continue to receive FSM until at least Summer 2025.
The estimated number of eligible pupils is then multiplied by the relevant per pupil amount and the total funding is rounded to the nearest £100.