When we look at the chaos and congestion that surrounds the school run, looking at school driving rates as an indicator of how much traffic is being generated is an obvious place to start. But what percent is a high or low driving rate? What does good actually look like? Without any context or comparatives it can be hard to know.
There is a lack of publicly available, transparent data on school run driving rates nationally. We called this out as an issue in our general election campaign last year and we will be trying to progress this issue in 2025. In the meantime, we have provided some national & London level context below, and we also specifically review some of the Dulwich school driving rates.
Geography | Primary | Secondary | Primary & Secondary* | Notes |
England | 40% | 26% | 34% | 2022 National Travel Survey |
London | 28% | 10% | 20% | 2022 National Travel Survey** |
Dulwich locality | ||||
Catchment schools | 16% | 7% | 11% | Rosendale primary, Dulwich wood primary & Dunraven secondary |
Non-catchment schools: | ||||
Dulwich Prep | 43% | 43% vs 16% = 168% higher than Dulwich locality catchment schools | ||
Dulwich College | 17% | 17% vs 11% is 54% higher than Dulwich locality catchment schools | ||
JAGS | 19% | 19% vs 11% is 72% higher than Dulwich locality catchment schools |
*This is a blended average taking into account the number pupils in each age group and the associated driving rates of each age group.
** Analysis of the 2022 National Travel Survey (NTS) for London can be found here: https://www.solvetheschoolrun.org/post/london-school-travel-key-insights-from-the-national-travel-survey
We have used 2022 National Travel Survey so that it is consistent with our London NTS analysis which is currently only available for 2022.
What does the data show us?
At a national level, the 2022 National Travel Survey shows that 40% of primary school children will be driven to school, and 26% of secondary school children are driven. Secondary school driving rates are lower than primary rates mainly because secondary pupils are able to travel independently of their parents. Taking into account pupil numbers in these categories, that equates to a 34% national driving rate across both age groups.
These figures are different for London, which is more densely populated and has a high relative level of public transport and cycling infrastructure. Our analysis of the National Travel Survey for London shows that 28% of primary school children are driven, and 10% of secondary school pupils are driven. Taking into account pupil numbers in these categories that equates to a 20% London driving rate across both age groups.
Dulwich locality
These numbers are lower still in the Dulwich area.
Catchment schools, which admit pupils based on pupil proximity to school, report a 16% driving rate in the primary sector and a 7% driving rate in the secondary sector. Taking into account pupil numbers in this category this equates to a 11% driving rate across primary and secondary pupils in the Dulwich locality.
Against this context, Dulwich prep, a non-catchment predominantly primary school reports a 43% driving rate in their latest travel plan. This is 169% higher than the 16% reported from Dulwich catchment primary schools. It is also 54% higher than the 28% London average for primary pupils.
Dulwich College & JAGS, all through schools, report driving rates of 17% and 19% respectively. These are 54% and 72% higher than the age equivalent all-through school rate of 11% reported from Dulwich locality catchment schools.
When comparing Dulwich College & JAGS to the age equivalent London average driving rate of 20%, JAGS is 5% lower than the London average (19% relative to 20%) and Dulwich College is 15% lower (17% relative to 20%). In the context of being non-catchment schools and pupils having longer distances to travel, having driving rates better than the London average is an impressive accomplishment. This is no doubt achieved by leading efforts from Dulwich College on optimising and maintaining a coach service and enabling safe cycling through measures such as the recent updates to Huntslip Road.
However, in the context of traffic in the Dulwich locality, these rates show that non-catchment schools continue to have the highest driving rates and therefore the highest proportionate impact on traffic in the area.
To improve school run driving rates, a junior school bus service that caters specifically for the needs of young pupils, as well as infrastructure to enable cargo bikes could both offer sustainable travel choices for parents with young children with longer school runs.
After more context?
Our primary school travel dashboard is designed to give comparative insights on how pupils are travelling to London schools. You can select your school, ward or borough.
However please be aware that this is a data model, based on pupil travel distances & London averages. We modelled the data precisely because in many cases it doesn't exist, or isn't publicly available. However, we recommend reading the methodology & caveats of the model.
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