The Travel to and from School by Pupils in Northern Ireland 2024/25 published
Topics:
Date published:
The Travel to and from School by Pupils in Northern Ireland 2024/25, has been published today.
The publication includes active and sustainable travel statistics for travel to and from school by pupils in 2024/2025.
The publication is available on the Department for Infrastructure website.
Key Points:
Primary School
- For main mode of travel, almost two-thirds of pupils (64%) were driven to/from school by car, 27% usually walked or cycled and a further 9% took a bus.
- Of those primary school pupils who walked to/from school, 90% walked all the way. Three-fifths (61%) spent 10 minutes or less walking to and from school and a quarter (25%) spent 11-20 minutes.
- Almost half (49%) of primary school pupils lived a mile or less from school and of these, 52% were driven to school by car and 48% walked or cycled to school.
Post-Primary School
- Amongst post-primary school pupils, almost half (47%) travelled to/from school by bus as their main mode of travel, while 31% travelled by car. A further 18% of pupils walked or cycled to/from school.
- Of those post-primary school pupils who walked to/from school, 90% walked all the way. One-third (33%) spent 10 minutes or less walking to and from school, 31% spent 11-20 minutes and 36% spent more than 20 minutes.
- Half of post-primary school pupils (50%) lived 4 or more miles from their school. Under a quarter (23%) lived less than 1 mile from their school and, of those, 63% walked or cycled to/from school.
Notes to editors:
- 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.
- This report, produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), presents findings from the 2024/25 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.
- In 2024/25, 3,790 households took part in the survey. Within those 3,790 households, a total of 4,584 individuals took part in the survey.
- 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.
- The information presented in this publication may be used by the Department to inform and understand the story behind current trends and to assist in any future policy discussion and development.
- 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 2024 - March 2025, face to face interviewing was the preferred method of data collecting however telephone interviewing was an option, thus making the survey dual-modality. There are a number of factors which users should take into consideration when interpreting the 2020-21 results and care should be taken when comparing these to previously published findings from the survey.
- For more information relating to this publication, including additional analysis, breakdowns of data, or alternative formats please contact:
Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch,
First Floor,
James House,
Cromac Avenue,
Belfast,
BT7 2JB
Telephone: (028) 9034 6270
E-mail: asrb@nisra.gov.uk
Website: https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/topics/dfi-statistics-and-research
- All media queries should be directed to the Department for Infrastructure Press Office.
- 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.
- Follow the Department on social media: X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Bluesky.