Statistical Press Release - Travel to and from School by Pupils in Northern Ireland 2022/23 report

The Travel to and from School by Pupils in Northern Ireland 2022/23 report has been published today.

This report, produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), presents findings from the 2022/23 Continuous Household Survey (CHS).

The publication is available on the new Active Travel and Public Transport webpage.

Key Points

Primary School

• For main mode of travel, 62% of pupils were driven to/from school by car and 30% usually walked. A further 7% took a bus and 1% cycled to and/or from school. 
• Of those who walked to school, 95% of primary school pupils walked all of the way to/from school. Thirty-nine percent spent 10 minutes or less walking to and from school and 39% spent 11-20 minutes.
• Forty-nine percent of primary school pupils live a mile or less from school and of these, 39% were driven to school by car and 56% walked to school.

Post Primary School

• Amongst post-primary school pupils, 42% travelled to/from school by bus as their main mode of travel while 36% travelled to/from school by car. A further 21% pupils walked to/from school, while 2% took the train.  
• Of those who walked to school, 81% of post primary school pupils walked all of the way to/from school. Thirty-one percent of post-primary school pupils spent 10 minutes or less walking to and from school, 39% spent 11-20 minutes and 14% spent 21-30 minutes.
• For post-primary school pupils, 51% lived 4 or more miles from their school. Of these pupils, 64% travelled by bus and 29% were driven by car.

Notes to editors: 

1. The information presented in this publication derives from the 2022/23 Continuous Household Survey (CHS) in relation to Travel to and from School. The CHS is considered to be a representative sample of the population at household level.
2. A total of 2,527 adults aged 16 and over were surveyed in 2022-23.
3. The report provides annual statistics on the main method of travel to/from school and the proportion of primary school and post primary school pupils who walk and cycle to school.
4. The information may be used by the Department to monitor the overall effect of the initiatives that are aimed at increasing the proportion of children who travel actively to school.
5. Note: Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, NISRA suspended all face-to-face household interviews in March 2020. In the reporting periods, April 2020 - March 2021 and April 2021 - March 2022, all interviews carried out on the Continuous Household Survey (CHS) were conducted by telephone. For this reporting year, April 2022 - March 2023, face to face interviewing was reinstated alongside telephone interviewing in July 2022, thus making the survey dual-modality. There are a number of factors. which users should take into consideration when interpreting the 2022-23 results and care should be taken when comparing these to previously published findings from the survey.

Official Statistics

6. The statistical report has been produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, complying with the pillars of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value. You can find further information about the Code of Practice on UK Statistics Authority website.

Additional Information

7. For more information relating to this publication, including alternative formats, please contact:

• Telephone: (028) 90255166         
• (Text relay prefix 18001)
• E-mail: asrb@nisra.gov.uk
• Website: DfI Statistics and research

8. All media queries should be directed to the Department for Infrastructure Press Office at: press.office@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk
9. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.
10. Follow the Department on X @deptinfra on Facebook @DepartmentforInfrastructure and on LinkedIn at DfILinkedIn.

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