1 Overview
You may be eligible to county council help with transport costs to school, sixth form college or college of further education if you:
- are a young adult learner aged 19 to 25 with special educational needs or disabilities
- live in West Sussex
- are enrolled on a further education course, or comparable course, or a course appropriate to the level of needs, at the nearest appropriate school or college to the young adult learners home address (regardless of county boundaries)
- the course is full-time
- the shortest available walking route from home to school or college is three miles or more
- the student has lived in the United Kingdom, for reasons other than education, throughout the three years ending 31 August 2024 and has settled status in the United Kingdom
- have an individual assessment of their needs to determine what arrangement the council considers necessary
For post-19 students starting a new course, you must evidence why it is necessary for the council and not the student to make travel arrangements.
In considering the eligibility of the adult learner to receive an offer and what offer should be made, the officer will consider the following and/or any other relevant factors listed in Section 5 of our travel assistance policy for post-19-year-olds with an Education, Health and Care plan (EHC plan).
The county council does not normally offer help with transport for young adult learners aged 19 to 25 who do not have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
For full information, read our travel assistance policy for post-19-year-olds with an Education, Health and Care plan (EHC plan).
2 Apply for support
So that we can assess whether you are eligible for transport assistance, you will need to complete our online form.
Post-19 transport assistance form for students with SEND (external link)This form is for transport for the current academic year 2025 to 2026 only.
This form will be updated in May 2026 for applications for the next academic year, 2026 to 2027. If you have a specific query and need early advice as to whether your student may be eligible for transport assistance from September 2025, especially if they are moving to a new sixth form or college, email post19travel@westsussex.gov.uk.
You will not be guaranteed any form of transport assistance for September 2025 at this stage.
Check your Spam inbox and add donotreply@westsussex.gov.uk and post19travel@westsussex.gov.uk to the Safe Senders list so you do not miss any emails.
Notes
- It can take up to 4 weeks for us to respond to your application.
- If we require further information in order to assess your application we will contact you to let you know.
- If your application is unsuccessful we will write to you explaining why.
- If your application is successful we will contact you with more information about what happens next.
- Do not contact us about specific transport routes, passenger assistants or drivers, as we will not know the details at this stage. If there are going to be changes to your current transport, we will confirm them in writing.
3 Contact our team
4 Supporting documents
5 Appeals
Applicants have the right to appeal if they disagree with the initial eligibility decision. The council operates a two-stage appeal process.
Stage 1 appeal
A stage 1 appeal form needs to be completed to make an appeal.
All stage 1 appeals will be considered by the Assistant Director for Education & Skills who will then consider the appeal form, any information provided in support of the appeal, the application form, supporting information provided with the application and any other correspondence used by the officer to reach a decision.
We shall aim to provide you with a decision from your stage 1 appeal within 20 working days of receipt of the application. You will receive an email with the detailed reasoning for the decision. We will also inform you how to escalate your appeal to the next stage if you disagree with the outcome.
Stage 2 appeal
A stage 2 appeal form needs to be completed to make a stage 2 appeal.
All stage 2 appeals will be considered by the Transport Appeal Panel. This is made up of three elected county councillors who are independent of officers and the stage 1 appeal process. The Appeal Panel will consider the original application and the appeal forms together with any supporting documents or information provided to WSCC in relation to the application or the appeal.
The Appeal Panel will also consider all verbal information made by the learner, parent or carer (such as via phone calls) where it is provided before the deadline for the meeting. They may have questions during a hearing and in that situation, they may ask for the supporting officer to seek clarification by making a telephone call to the learner, parent or carer.
The Appeal Panel will meet within 40 working days of receipt of the application. Within 5 working days of the meeting, you will be informed of their decision with the detailed reasoning in writing. We will also inform you how to escalate your complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) if you consider that there was a failure to comply with the procedural rules or if there were any other irregularities in the way the appeal has been handled.
If the Appeal Panel is not satisfied it has enough information to reach a decision, it may send a letter containing its provisional view on a stage 2 appeal and/or requesting further information. This is called a ‘minded to’ letter. Where necessary, this letter will be sent within 5 working days of the Appeal Panel meeting.
A minded to letter is an opportunity for the appellant to comment on the Appeal Panel’s provisional view of the stage 2 appeal, to answer any questions or points of clarification raised in the letter and to provide any further information requested. The letter will set out how long you have to respond to it, but this is usually 7 days. The Appeal Panel will then meet to finally determine your stage 2 appeal considering any response to its minded to letter.
More information about the appeals process, as well as the appeal forms can be requested by emailing Post19Travel@westsussex.gov.uk.