Key Findings | Solve the School Run

Key Findings

Below are some of our key findings from our London primary school travel model, based on pupil travel distances and National Travel Survey [NTS] average London driving rates. Please read our Methodology to fully understand key findings below.

1.0 Most school journeys under a mile, made by London primary pupils, are walked or cycled.

560,000 primary pupils travel under a mile to get to school (70% of all primary pupils).
520,000 of them (93%) travel sustainably.

Only 7% (42,000) of those travelling under a mile to school are driven. In our model, this equates to 21% of the total primary pupils who are driven to school in London.

Solutions: Families with less than a mile journey to school need safer cycling and walking networks of local routes to help them feel safe when travelling sustainably. This should also include enforcing (through design or speed cameras) 20mph speed limits. These measures may also enable pupils to walk or cycle without their parents from an earlier age, which could additionally help reduce school run driving rates where parents drive because they have time sensitive work commitments or further journeys onto work. Where adult supervision is necessary, chaperoned pupil walking lines or cycle buses could provide adult supervision, but mean not every parent has to go on every journey.

2.0 Most school journeys over a mile, made by London primary pupils, are driven.

240,000 primary pupils are estimated to travel over a mile to school (29% of all primary pupils).
150,000 of them (65%) are driven to school.

At distances of over 1 mile the NTS London driving rate increases from 7% (under a mile) to an average of 65%. This equates to an estimated 150,000 pupils being driven to school; 79% of the total, according to our model.

Solutions: Distances of over a mile are more time consuming for young pupils walking & cycling to make & since parents are mostly accompanying these journeys, the time it takes is doubtless one of the reasons why driving rates are high in this range. We therefore think a range of appropriate travel solutions beyond pupil active travel is needed if we are going to reduce school run car-use (65% in this range). Public transport, cargo bikes which carry children, school buses, and a systemic approach to journey sharing should all be in the mix to provide sustainable yet convenient ways for families to travel these longer distances to school. Additionally, the more that pupils can travel without their parents on these journeys - e.g. staffed walking buses or cycle groups, or chaperoned, dedicated school buses to independent schools - the higher the likelihood of reducing school run car use.

Examples of specific policy measures that would support reducing school run car-use for distances over 1 mile include:

Trialling staffed, chaperoned walking & cycling groups for primary pupils that parents do not have to join.
Enabling cargo-bike parking on residential streets & around schools, it should be safe, easy and accessible to store cargo bikes near your home and at school drop off and pick up.
Enabling safe cycling routes for parents and pupils cycling these journeys.
Enabling bus-priority, particularly during school run hours to improve speed and reliability of bus journeys at this time.
Encouraging independent schools to invest in subsidised mini-bus services for their pupils, this has been achieved by Wandsworth councils by making it a condition of planning approval.
Building more of a culture of school run journey-sharing. Sharing the school run can happen across all travel modes & it saves parents time versus each of them making the journey themselves. Inclusion of more activities on this in the TFL Travel for Life program could be a good place to start.

Primary pupils modelled driving rate: In total, across all distance bands our model shows an estimated 200,000 primary pupils are driven to school and 600,000 pupils travelling sustainably - a modelled driving rate of 25%.

Our The School Run page outlines why distance is such an important determinant of pupil travel mode.
Our Take Action page provides further information on convenient & sustainable school travel for varying distances.

3.0 Types of school affect how far primary pupils travel, and this affects driving rates.

Catchment primary schools account for 57% of pupils driven to school.
State non-catchment schools account for 23% of pupils driven to school.
Independent schools account for 20% of pupils driven to school.

Catchment primary schools (which admit pupils based on how close they live to school) in London have 79% of pupils living under a mile from school, and 21% living over a mile, according to our model. With a school run driving rate of 7% at under a mile, and 65% over a mile, this results in a modelled driving rate of 20% for London catchment schools. This primary school type accounts for 71% of pupils and 57% of pupils driven to school.

State non-catchment primary schools (faith schools such as Roman Catholic & Church of England schools) do use distance from school in their pupil admission criteria but also prioritise other factors such as faith. The number of pupils travelling under a mile from school reduces to 62% of pupils and the modelled driving rate is 29%. These school types make up 19% of primary pupils and 23% of primary pupils driven to school.

Independent primary schools generally don’t use distance from school in their pupils' admission policies and therefore have the widest pupil distribution in our model, with just 28% travelling under 1 mile from their school and 72% travelling over one mile. Due to London school run driving rates jumping from 7% (under a mile) to 65% (over a mile) this results in a modelled driving rate of 49%. In our model, independent pupils therefore make up 10% of primary pupils and 20% of primary pupils driven to school in London.

Solutions: school types where there are higher numbers of pupils with longer journeys to school, need a range of travel solutions in addition to pupil walking and cycling to reduce school run car use. Cargo bikes, investment in school buses from independent schools, journey sharing and public transport should all be options here to reduce school run car-use. Specific policy examples are outlined in section 2.0.

Our Take Action page provides further information here on convenient & sustainable school travel for varying distances.

Our The School Run page explains school catchment admission policies & how these impact pupil distances from school in more detail.

4.0 Inner London vs. Outer London dynamics.

Counter-intuitively, Outer London has around the same proportion of primary pupils (71%) travelling under a mile to school as Inner London (69%).
This reflects a higher proportion of non-catchment schools in Inner London, which widens pupil distributions and offsets the fact that Inner London is more densly popluated.

Inner London has an average of 69% of primary pupils travelling under a mile to school and a modelled driving rate of 25%. Outer London has a slightly higher number of pupils travelling under a mile to school, 71%, and a slightly lower associated modelled driving rate of 25%.

This may seem counterintuitive, as Outer London is less densely populated so you would expect pupils to live further from school. The explanation is that the difference in school mix. Inner London boroughs have 40% of primary pupils at non-catchment schools (Church of England, Roman Catholic, independent schools) which have wider pupil distributions, whereas only 25% of pupils attend schools of this nature in Outer London.

When we just look at catchment schools (which admit pupils purely based on distance) in Inner London, we see 83% of primary pupils travel to schools under a mile away. This leads to modelled driving rates of 17%. At Outer London schools, this number reduces to 77% of pupils travelling under a mile to their school and a modelled driving rate of 21%. This reflects the differences in population density between Inner and Outer London boroughs.

Our The School Run page explains population density and how this impacts pupil distance from school, in more detail.

5.0 Boroughs can have very different school run profiles, dependent on distances primary pupils live from school and modelled driving rates

Islington (Inner London) and Waltham Forest (Outer London) have high % primary pupils travelling under a mile and low modelled driving rates.
Kensington & Chelsea and Camden (Inner London) and Bromley (Outer London) have low % of primary pupils travelling under a mile to school and high modelled driving rates.

Inner London

Islington has high % of primary pupils travelling under a mile to school and low modelled driving rates.

80% of pupils travel under a mile to school. The borough has a 19% modelled driving rate.
By comparison, the Inner London average is 69% travel under a mile to primary school and the modelled driving rate is 25%.
In Islington, 70% of pupils attend catchment primaries and 30% of pupils attend non-catchment schools. This is average for Inner London, however the non-catchment schools in this borough are Roman Catholic & Church of England state primaries which have relatively tight catchments (in addition to faith admission criteria) compared to independent schools.
Significantly, there is a very low percentage of pupil at independent primary schools in Islington, just 4% vs an Inner London average of 18%. This school type has the widest distribution of pupils in our model, explaining why this borough has such a high % of pupils travelling less than one mile to school and associated low modelled driving rate.

Kensington & Chelsea- low % of primary pupils travelling under a mile to school and high modelled driving rates.

Just 50% of pupils travel under a mile to their school and the borough has an associated high modelled driving rate of 36%.
This compares to an Inner London average of 69% travelling under a mile to their school and a modelled driving rate of 25%.
It is the school mix in Kensington & Chelsea that is driving this.32% of pupils go to catchment schools and 68% go to non-catchment schools compared to the Inner London average of 60% at catchment schools and 40% at non catchment schools.
The majority of the primary pupils at non-catchment schools in Kensington & Chelsea are at independent schools – (47% of total primary pupils in the borough compared to 18% Inner London average), and this school type has the widest distributions of pupils in our model. This results in a high number of pupils travelling over a mile to their school and a high modelled driving rate.

Camden - also has a low % of primary pupils travelling under a mile to school and high modelled driving rates.

Just 63% of pupils travel under a mile to their school and the borough has an associated high modelled driving rate of 29%.
This compares to an Inner London average of 69% travelling under a mile to their school and a modelled driving rate of 25%.
Again it is the school mix in Camden that is driving this. Only 42% of primary pupils go to school catchment schools in Camden and 58% go to non-catchment schools, compared to the Inner London average of 60% at catchment schools and 40% at non-catchment schools.
The majority of the primary pupils at non-catchment schools in Camden are at independent schools - (35% of the total primary pupils in the borough compared to 18% Inner London average), and this school type has the widest distribution of pupils in our model. This results in a high number of pupils travelling over a mile to their school and a high modelled driving rate.

Outer London

Waltham Forest – high % of primary pupils living under a mile from school and low modelled driving rates.

81% of pupils travel under 1 mile to their primary school and this results in a low modelled driving rate of 18%.
This compares to an Outer London average of 71% of pupils travelling under a mile to their school and an associated higher modelled driving rate of 25%.
Waltham Forest has 87% of their pupils at catchment schools compared to an Outer London average of 71%.
Such a high number of pupils admitted to school based on their proximity to school as well as a high population density for an Outer London borough, results in high numbers of pupils living close to their school and low modelled driving rates.

Bromley – low % of pupils travelling under a mile to school and high modelled driving rates.

63% of pupils travel under a mile to their primary school in Bromley and this results in a higher modelled driving rate of 29%.
This compares to an average for Outer London of 71% living under a mile from their primary school and a 25% modelled driving rate.
It is not the catchment/non-catchment school mix that is resulting in Bromley having a higher than average distance from school, but the relatively low population density.
Bromley’s catchment schools has one of the highest rates of pupils travelling over a mile to school – 32%. We assume that this is because it is one of the least populated London boroughs and therefore pupils admitted on proximity to their school will be more dispersed than more densely populated boroughs. The higher proportion of pupils living further from school leads to higher modelled driving rates.

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