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Independent Travel Training

Consultation 10th July to 24th September 2025

Please note that between 10th July and 24th September 2025 we are consulting about proposed changes to the Post-16 parental contribution for SEN home to school transport.

Find out more and Have Your Say: Post-16 SEN Home to School Transport Parental Contribution consultation | Have Your Say Sheffield

Travel training helps children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) learn how to travel on their own.

Benefits of Travel Training:

  • Builds confidence and self-esteem
  • Increases independence in other areas
  • Opens up more opportunities for socialising, education, and jobs
  • Helps prepare for adulthood

Watch this video

The Children's Society, along with Camden Council, have made a video.  This will give you an idea what independent travel training is and how it helps.

Travel Trainers

Our Travel Trainers work one-on-one with children and young people. They give all the support and information needed. The training includes:

  • Road safety
  • Personal safety
  • Stranger awareness
  • Using timetables and buying tickets
  • What to do if things go wrong (like if the bus is late)
  • How and where to ask for help

"It helped our son become more independent and confident in getting to school and other places. It also gave us the confidence to let him do it.”

What does travel training involve?

You will get a travel plan made just for you. It helps you get to and from school or college using public transport. Your plan is made with a Travel Assessment Training Officer based on your needs.

Steps of the training:

  • Home visit: The officer visits your home to learn about you and your travel needs. They answer any questions and complete any paperwork.
  • Route assessment: The officer checks the travel route to make sure it is safe. They do a risk assessment and note anything important.
  • Training: You get one-on-one training with your officer.
  • Practice: You get lots of chances to practice your travel route.
  • Training stages: The officer gradually lets you take the lead on your journey.
  • Shadowing: Once you are confident, the officer follows you from a distance.
  • Reviews: Your parent or carer gets weekly updates. Review meetings happen at 6 and 12 weeks.
  • Sign off: When the officer is sure you are ready, they sign you off. You then travel on your own. The officer may check on you from a distance sometimes.

When moving schools or college

Top-up training is available to support young people when moving school or college. 

Find out more and apply

Travel training is free of charge for children and young people who qualify for travel support.

If you have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), this can be up to 25 years old.

Applications can be made by young people, parents, carers, schools, settings and other professionals. We encourage people to talk about this in EHC Plan reviews.

Find out more from the Travel Assessment and Training Team.

Email: indetravel@sheffield.gov.uk 

Phone: 0114 205 3542

A parent’s experience:

 “I would absolutely recommend travel training, as someone who has been on the receiving end as a parent, it brought our son’s independence forward and gave him the confidence to be able to navigate to school and also elsewhere as well. And it gave us the confidence to allow this as well.” 

Our son, who has Autism, did travel training before starting at secondary school. Our main concern was getting to school safely across a busy traffic junction. He was offered travel training, which happened over the summer holidays before school started. 

The trainer did a superb job – they worked with him over a number of sessions that gradually increased his independence. At the end of the training, he got a certificate which said he was safe to travel by himself.

This was reassuring for us as parents as much as for him.

The training helped him to be more independent, firstly to go to school and back and then to do other things like going to the shops to buy milk. Before he did the travel training, we were not confident to allow that. 

4 cartoon people. 1 is in a wheel chair. There is a yellow bus in the picture.

Last updated:
Previous SEN Transport - Transition Guide Next Other Travel Support and useful Apps - Transition Guide

In this section

  1. Introduction to the Transition Guide
  2. Preparing for Adulthood
  3. Sheffield's Local Offer
  4. What happens and when - Early Years (age 0-4)
  5. What happens and when - Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 (age 5-7)
  6. What happens and when - Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 (age 7-11)
  7. What happens and when - Year 7 and Year 8 (age 11-13)
  8. What happens and when - Year 9 (age 13-14)
  9. What happens and when - Year 10 (age 14-15)
  10. What happens and when - Year 11 (Age 15-16)
  11. What happens and when - Year 12 (age 16-17)
  12. What happens and when - Years 13 and 14 (Age 17-19)
  13. What happens and when - Age 19-25
  14. Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans - Transition Guide
  15. Education, Employment and Training - GCSEs and Help in Exams - Transition Guide
  16. Post 16 Education - Transition Guide
  17. A Guide to Qualifications at 16+ - Transition Guide
  18. Apprenticeships and Supported Internships - Transition Guide
  19. Things to do when not in college - Transition Guide
  20. University and Higher Education - Transition Guide
  21. Careers Advice - Transition Guide
  22. 1) Help with finding and keeping a job - Transition Guide
  23. 2) Help with finding and keeping a job - Transition Guide
  24. 3) Help with finding and keeping a job - Transition Guide
  25. Leisure - Transition Guide
  26. SEN Transport - Transition Guide
  27. Independent Travel Training
  28. Other Travel Support and useful Apps - Transition Guide
  29. Social Care Services - Transition Guide
  30. Moving from Children’s to Adult Social Care Services - Transition Guide
  31. Paying for adult social care - Transition Guide
  32. Getting a carer’s assessment for your parent/carer - Transition Guide
  33. Short Break Services - Transition Guide
  34. Direct payments for social care services - Transition Guide
  35. Housing - Transition Guide
  36. Decision making and mental capacity - Transition Guide
  37. Transitioning from Children’s Health to Adult Health Services - Transition Guide
  38. Annual Health Checks for people with a learning disability - Transition Guide
  39. Important Local NHS Health Services - Transition Guide
  40. Mental Health Services - Transition Guide
  41. 1) Finance and Benefits: Disability Living Allowance, Direct Payments and Appointeeship - Transition Guide
  42. 2) Finance and Benefits: Universal Credit - Transition Guide
  43. 3) Finance and Benefits: 16 to 19 Bursary Fund - Transition Guide
  44. 4) Finance and Benefits: Banking, Wills and Trusts and Child Benefit - Transition Guide
  45. Further help and support - Transition guide