Open petition: Make duty for schools to prioritise admission to children within 30-minute walk

Created by Jodie Edmundson-Palmer
Closes on 7 November 2026

We call on the Government to place a duty on schools & local authorities to ensure no child is allocated a school more than 30-minutes walk from home, otherwise transport must be provided. Academies & all state-funded schools must be required to expand capacity where local provision is insufficient

We believe long school journeys raise serious safety concerns, particularly in areas such as London (where knife crime/gang violence is high), and can require parental collection, which is not feasible for many working families. Travelling further limits access to extracurricular activities that build cultural capital and development. It also increases tiredness and reduces study time, negatively affecting attainment. As a result, we feel that children travelling long distances do not have equal access to education.

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