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Service market

Home to school transport contracts

UK public sector · 1,529 contracts awarded in the 12 months to 6 October 2026

Covering 600+ buyer portals · 5 years of records · Updated 6 October 2026 · How we count

Contracts awarded
1,529
Last 12 months
Median contract
£48k
Recorded value
Recorded value
£630m
1,420 of 1,525 main-service contracts have a published value
Buyers
69
Suppliers
660

BidSkim assigns contracts to services from the notice text. How services are assigned

What stands out

  • The five suppliers that won the most home to school transport contracts took 15% of them (231 of 1,529).
  • Contracts awarded per quarter rose 141% from the first half of the period to the second.
  • The median contract, £48k, is 53% below the median across transport & logistics contracts (£101k).
  • East of England had the most contracts: 429, or 28% of the total.

Who buys home to school transport

By contracts awarded, the 12 months to 6 October 2026.

  1. 1Suffolk County Council434 contracts
  2. 2Leicester City Council207 contracts
  3. 3North Yorkshire Council194 contracts
  4. 4Surrey County Council168 contracts
  5. 5Leicestershire County Council161 contracts
  6. 6East Sussex County Council46 contracts
  7. 7West Sussex County Council36 contracts
  8. 8West Northamptonshire Council36 contracts
  9. 9Gloucestershire County Council31 contracts
  10. 10Buckinghamshire Council28 contracts

Top home to school transport contractors by contracts won

The 12 months to 6 October 2026.

  1. 124x7 Group63 contracts
  2. 2Hansom Taxis50 contracts
  3. 3Skyline Taxis40 contracts
  4. 4Hawk Express Cabs Ltd39 contracts
  5. 5Azoom Taxis39 contracts
  6. 6STL19 contracts
  7. 7Universal Cabs Ltd19 contracts
  8. 8All Day Cars19 contracts
  9. 9Nice Travel Solutions Limited18 contracts
  10. 10CITYRIDES LEICESTER LTD18 contracts

Latest and largest awards

Each links to the official notice.

Latest

Largest

Contracts awarded by quarter

263Q4 2025*281Q1 2026298Q2 2026677Q3 202610Q4 2026*
* part quarter

Where the contracts were awarded

England 1,487 · Scotland 29 · Wales 13

East of England429East Midlands218Yorkshire and The Humber213South East95West Midlands89London45South West41Scotland18Wales13North West9North East6UK-wide or not stated353

What is included

Contracted transport for pupils and students eligible for free travel to school or college where no special educational need is stated: dedicated school buses and coaches, minibus and taxi routes, usually term-time route contracts or call-offs from a council home-to-school DPS.

  • Dedicated school bus and coach routes
  • Mainstream taxi, MPV and minibus school routes
  • Home-to-college and post-16 student transport
  • Nursery and early years routes where no SEND need is stated
  • School-day pupil journeys bought through the school transport DPS, such as swimming lessons
  • Route call-offs and mini-competitions that say only 'home to school transport'
  • Term-time bus or coach hire with driver bought by a school or trust for pupils' daily journeys

What is not included

  • SEND, additional support needs, PRU and alternative provision routes, and pupil routes with a passenger assistant (trn.assist.send-home-to-school-transport)
  • Looked-after children and contact journeys (trn.assist.social-care-transport)
  • Route lots with no client group stated (trn.assist.passenger-transport-unspecified)
  • Public local bus routes (trn.bus.local-bus-services)
  • Ad hoc school trip coach hire (trn.bus.coach-and-minibus-hire)
  • Bulk pupil bus passes and season tickets (trn.travel.bulk-travel-passes)
  • Agency drivers directed by the buyer (rec.temp.agency-drivers)

Often bought by the same buyers