School & College Services

College Services

We are pleased to have been awarded the contract to operate all bus services into West Suffolk College/Abbeygate Sixth Form in Bury St Edmunds & One Sixth Form College in Ipswich for the academic year 2026-2027. Details are now available for these services on the links below.

	West Suffolk College & Abbeygate Sixth Form Timetables & ticketing information now available for these services.
	One Sixth Form College Timetables & ticketing information now available for these services.

School Services

We operate a significant number of bus services which serve schools and colleges across East Anglia. Over the past few years Flagfinders, Konectbus and Simonds have all been acquired and are now under the same ownership as Central Connect. As a result, work has been underway to merge the bus networks that each of these operators provide, and from September 2026 all of these operators' school bus routes will become part of the Central Connect bus network. We will be releasing timetable and ticketing information on this page for each school as soon as these details have been finalised. 

We operate three main types of school bus:

• Local bus network which serves schools - these are ordinary local bus services, which may serve schools at school times. They are open to the general public, and our full range of ticketing options is available. They are included in the £3 fare cap. You can buy tickets in advance via the Central Connect app, or on the bus.
• Open school bus network - these are local bus services which are open to the general public, but run only on schooldays and are specifically designed to serve one or more schools. They are excluded from the £3 fare cap and our normal range of tickets are not valid. Specific school bus network tickets are required for these routes. You can buy tickets in advance via the Central Connect app, or on the bus.
• Closed school bus network - these are school bus services which we operate under contract to other organisations (mainly the local authority, or sometimes the school itself). We do not sell tickets for these routes, and you cannot buy tickets on the bus. You will need to contact the relevant local authority / school to discuss ticketing arrangements for these routes.

On the individual schools pages, each route will clearly state which type of route it is, and which ticketing range applies.

Click here for answers to some frequently asked questions relating to school services, which may resolve your query.

Please do not contact our customer service team with queries for schools that do not currently have information on this page, they will be unable to assist as this information will not have been finalised at this stage. Thank you. 

	Hedingham School Timetables & ticketing information now available for these services.
	Honywood School Timetables & ticketing information now available for these services.
	Lift New Rickstones Timetables & ticketing information now available for these services.
	Lift Tendring Timetables & ticketing information now available for these services.
	Manningtree High School Timetables & ticketing information now available for these services.
	Notley High School Timetables & ticketing information now available for these services.
	Plume Academy Timetables & ticketing information now available for these services.
	Ramsey School Timetables & ticketing information now available for these services.
	Stanway School Timetables & ticketing information now available for these services.
	Thomas Lord Audley School Timetables & ticketing information now available for these services.
	Thurstable School Timetables & ticketing information now available for these services.
	Thomas Gainsborough School Timetables & ticketing information now available for these services.
	Debden Park High School Timetable & ticketing information coming soon.
	Lift Maltings Timetable & ticketing information coming soon.
	Forest Hall School Timetable & ticketing information coming soon.
	Great Easton Primary School Timetable & ticketing information coming soon.
	Epping St John's School Timetables & ticketing information now available for these services.
	St Helena School Timetables & ticketing information now available for these services.

Schools Services Questions & Answers:

How are ticket sales handled? Is it first come first served?

Yes. The number of bus passes available for each route is limited. To a certain extent we will allocate vehicles of different sizes to different routes based on demand, but this cannot be guaranteed. Bookings do not roll over from previous years, and there is no waiting list available. Please be aware that if the route your child travels on is registered as a local bus service and is open to the public, a seat is not guaranteed and your child may have to stand for all or part of their journey. We recommend that you purchase your child’s ticket in advance on the Central Connect app, to help us identify how many seats we need for each route.

What do I do if my child is eligible for free home to school transport?

If your child is eligible for free home to school transport you will be contacted by your local authority to confirm their entitlement. You need to apply for free home to school transport if you wish to access it. Each local authority has their own processes, and we cannot assist with this. If you are unsure who your local authority is, use this tool: https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council.

If you have been declined for home to school transport you need to contact your local authority. We cannot, and do not, get involved in local authority free transport entitlement assessment or appeals.

If your child is eligible for free home to school transport funded by Norfolk County Council, Suffolk County Council or Hertfordshire County Council, the COUNCIL issues the bus pass. We cannot help with bus pass queries for free home to school transport for these councils. In these cases the council also determine the route that your child is allocated to, the pick-up / drop-off point that they use and the timetable of their route.

If your child is eligible for free home to school transport funded by Essex County Council, WE issue the bus pass. Bus passes will be issued during August 2026. Please DO NOT contact us chasing your child's bus pass unless you have not received it by one week prior to your child's return to school. In this case we are responsible for setting the routes and timetables, and allocating your child to a transport route and pick-up point. We undertake this process in accordance with Department for Education guidance and we will not consider complaints where this guidance has been followed.

If your child is at primary school they may be scheduled to be onboard transport for up to 45 minutes. If your child is at secondary school they may be scheduled to be onboard transport for up to 75 minutes. These journey time limits apply irrespective of how close to your child’s school you live.

Transport is provided from the home address that you applied to your local authority with. If your child lives at more than one address, we will only provide transport from the address which you specified on your application to the local authority. Requests to change your pick up address will not be considered.

Your child may be required to walk for up to one mile to reach their designated pick-up point, as long as there is a safe walking route available for them. We are permitted to assume that there is an adult available to accompany them for this element of the journey when assessing whether a walking route is safe. A road without pavements is not automatically deemed an unsafe route. An assessment will be made based on prevailing traffic levels, sightlines and the availability of “step-off” points to allow pedestrians to safely leave the carriageway to allow vehicles to pass them.

Are your school bus routes available for use by the general public?

In some cases, yes. Further information on exactly which routes will be offered will be available under each school's page once details are released. Travelling on buses open to the general public does not pose any safeguarding risk, and is a fully compliant and frequently used method of transport, approved by local authorities for secondary school students.