How long does it take your DC to get to school?

My daughter starts in September and she will have a 5 minute walk. Most kids walk/bikeride to school.

Our local secondary puts on buses for those outside a 3 mile radius of the school so it’s a 5/10 min drive.
To use public transport would take 15/20 mins but the only bus that goes by the school leaves at 7.52 so that’s not an option for most kids! Some jump on the 8.52 if they miss the school bus but that obviously makes them late.
To walk would be at least an hour. Not necessarily unmanageable, or they could bike, but it’s not deemed a safe route which was why our village fought (and won) the fight to keep our school buses. There are two possible routes- one is a country road with no kerb in parts and the other involves a super busy road with a dangerous bend and only a very narrow kerb on one side.

Secondary age SEND children are expected to travel 75 minutes; however, that is just a guideline and many travel far further. (For primary aged SEND children it’s 45 minutes, but many will be forced to go over the hour mark. Our LA tried to send my son (6) to one 55 minutes away!

About 20-30 minutes or so, depending on pace and whether they stop for sweets. They chose the school cos all their mates were going. It's not the best school, but they're happy enough.

They're not keen on the winter or when it rains, but they've managed for 4/2 years so far. But it does mean they can stay for after school stuff because they're not reliant on lifts- because we'd never be home in time to pick them up.

Will there be others doing similar journey too? I'm sure he can be resilient about the travel and more so if he has company and it's within the range of the norm? We're facing a longer commute for secondary but I'm less worried about the time/distance, than if we will be able to find companions on the route and friends local enough to socialise with outside school. Either way please don't feel you're failing him- it sounds like you're doing the right thing

5 min walk to the train station, 5 min train journey then 5 min walk to school.

It works great until there's train strikes or "leaves on the line" then it's a mad scramble to drive him to school then try to get to work on time in the opposite direction.

30/40 minutes for my 3.

Ours is a 10 min bike ride or 15-20 minute walk. It's the best school in the town (and a very good one) we were hugely relieved to get it because it's extremely difficult to get in (they don't have a catchment, they randomly select from the whole town), so if you live on this side of town and don't get a space, you get the double whammy of a crap school with a traffic heavy commute. The schools the other side of town don't even have bus services.

An hour door to door. I don't think sitting on a train or bus for a full hour would be good.

Round here (Kent/London borders) it is totally normal to do an hour on public transport to school, and many parents (including me) consider it worthwhile for the right school, without moving house.

It has pros and cons of course but a short walk to a school where your child isn't happy or can't study the subjects they want, isn't great either.

DD does a lot of homework on the train...

An hour and fifteen minutes. Two buses. Can be close to an hour and forty five, if there is a delayed or missed bus.

30 min walk each way for my DC but it is the nearest school and they all meet friends on route and walk with them. I offer a lift if I'm free and the weather is especially bad but generally only the littlest one accepts, the others prefer the walk despite the weather

15 minutes in the car, 45-60 minutes walking depending on how desperate they are to get home.
They go by car in the morning and then walk home in the afternoon unless it’s absolutely chucking it down

My son leaves the house at 6.25 to get to school for 7.45
he goes to a grammar school though and he agrees it’s worth it. I do feel sorry for him in winter when it’s dark and miserable though!

10 minute walk for us.

Feels like about 3 years to get them all into the car. Then it's a 5 minute drive. Is about 20 minutes walk by myself with the pram, 30 mins with the older kids (5 years old) and about 45 minutes if the 2 year old is there. I would always pick the closest school unless it was truly terrible. I've never known anyone to do otherwise.

50 minutes by public transport, on a day with no disruptions (various route options).

There are advantages - train friends, really savvy on public transport, not tied to coach times so can go early or stay late as needed - but I think it does make them more tired by the end of term. And it makes playing big musical instruments impractical, as they couldn’t manage them on the journey.

We never drive them, when we go to school for concerts etc we use public transport, too. London traffic means it would take longer, unless it was the middle of the night.

I had a long commute to school and it was a complete ball ache. Really tiring and also socially isolating.

We chose the school that was best for the children rather than the one that was nearest. But it also had to be one that they could travel to independently because my husband and I both had long train commutes to work in London and couldn't take them.

They walked about 8 minutes to the railway station and then caught two trains and walked about 2 minutes at the other end. It always took over 30 minutes and sometimes more like 45, depending on a) whether it was a fast or slow train and b) the wait between trains.

I don't regret it. There were other children doing the same journey and it became part of their social life.

Ages! We moved my daughter at the end of year 8, she’s now in year 9. She was at a dreadful school where there was a lot of disruption and she just wasn’t learning anything and totally miserable. She now goes to a brilliant school but has to use public transport so she leaves at 7.30 and gets two buses. She’s usually home for about 4.30. Her old school was a 15 min walk so quite a difference however she’s so much happier. Lots of her friends get the bus so she’s got people to sit with and she actually quite enjoys the commute (apart from when it’s cold and the buses don’t turn up).

Secondary - 90 minutes each way. Two trains, short walk at either end and a platform switch in the middle.

She's been doing it since primary, so 10 years now, but DH or I commuted with her till secondary.

No problems at all with it - gets a seat and wifi on the trains, does a lot of her homework or watches movies downloaded onto her ipad.

She stays late a couple of days a week for afterschool clubs or extra curriculars.

If she wants to see friends at the weekend she just gets the train into London to meet up.

Her commute next year will be about 5 minutes longer, and train plus tubes rather than 2 trains.

My children wealk 45 minutes each way. It's fine, the exercise does them good!

40-50 minutes walk

20 min walk. DC love it