Accredited official statistics

NTS 2023: Travel to and from school

Published 28 August 2024

Applies to England

About this release

The National Travel Survey (NTS) is a household survey of personal travel by residents of England travelling within Great Britain, from data collected via interviews and a 7-day travel diary, which enables analysis of patterns and trends. Please see our latest technical report for more details. This release covers travel to and from school from these travel behaviours during 2023. During 2023, there were no longer any restrictions due to the pandemic, therefore these trends offer an insight into how personal travel compared to 2019.

These are accredited official statistics and were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in September 2018. For more information, see the background information section.

Trips to and from school by main mode

Chart 38: Trips to and from school by main mode and age: England, 2002 to 2023 (NTS0613)

Aged 5 to 10

In 2023, 47% of trips to and from school were made by walking by children aged 5 to 10, and 45% by car. Pre-pandemic (2019), the proportion of trips to and from school made by children aged 5 to 10 by walking was at an all-time low of 46%, this proportion increased in recent years, although reducing in 2023. The opposite is true for the proportion of car trips which have reduced in recent years, although increasing in 2023. In 2023, 2% of children aged 5 to 10 travelled to and from school by local bus.

Aged 11 to 16

Children aged 11 to 16 made 44% of trips to and from school by walking, and 28% by car in 2023. These proportions are the same as during the pandemic in 2020. Around 14% of trips to and from school were made by local bus by this age group, and before the pandemic in 2019 this proportion was 23%. Children aged 11 to 16 tend to cycle to school slightly more than younger children, with 3% of such trips made by pedal cycle in 2023.

Chart 39: Trips to and from school by main mode, trip length and age: England, 2002 to 2023 (NTS0614)^{[footnote 1]}

Aged 5 to 10

For children aged 5 to 10 most trips of less than a mile to and from school were made by walking, with 80% walked in 2023. This proportion has increased in recent years, but reduced in 2023. The car is used most often for longer trips to and from school for this age group, with 71% for trip length 1 to 2 miles, 84% for trip length 2 to under 5 miles and 69% for trip length 5 miles and over in 2023. The proportion of trips to and from school by bus reduced in 2023 compared to the previous year for trip length 2 to under 5 miles to 11%, but the proportion of trips to and from school by bus increased for trip length 5 miles and over to 15%.

Aged 11 to 16

Most trips to and from school by children aged 11 to 16 were made by walking for trip length under 1 mile (89%) and trip length 1 to under 2 miles (53%) in 2023. Motorised transport is used more often for longer school trips, with 50% by car and 35% by bus for trip length 2 to under 5 miles, and 30% by car and 47% by bus for trip length 5 miles and over in 2023. Around 7% of trips to and from school were made by cycling for trip length 1 to under 2 miles by this age group.

Chart 40: Trips to and from school by main mode and rural-urban areas of residence: England 2002 to 2023 (NTS9908)^{[footnote 2]}

Around 53% of trips to and from school were made by walking by children aged 5 to 16 living in urban conurbation areas, 28% by car and 10% by local bus in 2023. Children living in urban cities and towns made a lower proportion of trips by walking with 44%, 42% by car, 5% by local bus and 3% by cycling.

Around 9% of trips to and from school by children living in rural towns and fringes were made by local bus and 8% by private bus in 2023. Children living in rural villages, hamlets and isolated dwelling made the highest proportion of their trips to and from school by car with 63% in 2023, followed by local bus with 13% and private bus with 12%.

Barriers and encouragements to walking to school

Chart 41: Main reason for not walking to school more often: England, 2023 (NTS0809)^{[footnote 3]}

The latest statistics for 2023 show that 39% of individuals who say that their children do not walk to school report the school being too far, followed by it takes too long (15%) and children are too young (10%).

Chart 42: What would encourage walking to school more often: England, 2023 (NTS0809)^{[footnote 4]}

This chart demonstrates responses to the question: “what would encourage you the most to walk to school more often?”, asked of parents with children who do not currently walk to school. The latest statistics for 2023 show that 54% of individuals report that nothing would encourage them. The most popular encouragements were safer roads, for example with slower speeds, less traffic, more considerate driving (22%) and more safer crossing points (9%).

Background information

The 2023 NTS is the latest in a series of household surveys of personal travel by residents of England travelling within Great Britain, from data collected via interviews and a 7-day travel diary. The NTS is part of a continuous survey that began in 1988, following ad-hoc surveys from the 1960s, which enables analysis of patterns and trends.

Some key uses of the data include describing patterns, for example, how different groups of people travel, monitoring trends in travel, including sustainable modes, assessing the potential equality impacts of different groups, and contributing to the evaluation of policies.

We always welcome feedback to help ensure that the survey meets the needs of users, and any feedback provided will help inform the future design and development of the survey. If you have any feedback, please email [email protected].

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in September 2018. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and are labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

Further information is available, including:

• data tables

• notes and definitions

• guidance and quality information

• future developments

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Contact details

National Travel Survey statistics

Email [email protected]

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1. The relatively small number of trips to and from school by main mode, trip length and age in the sample may explain some of the variation observed over time, and therefore care should be taken when interpreting this data and comparing to other years. ↩

2. These statistics are usually presented as 2 years combined; however, these statistics are presented as single years for 2020 to 2023. This is due to changes in the methodology of data collection, changes in travel behaviour and a reduction of data collected during 2020 to 2022, as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Such changes prevent combining data for 2020 to 2022 with another year to create a 2-year figure. Care should be taken when interpreting this data and comparing to other years, due to the small sample sizes. ↩

3. Statistics on the main reason for not walking to school more often are collected every odd year within the NTS from 2019. This question is asked of parents of school aged children who do not walk to school. ↩

4. Statistics on the encouragements to walking to school more often are collected every odd year within the NTS from 2019. This question is asked of parents of school aged children who do not walk to school. ↩