Terrified families are facing the “ridiculous” prospect of having to fork out £500 a year just to get their child to school.

It comes as Kent County Council (KCC) confirmed cuts to free school travel for teens with special educational needs will go ahead in the next school year.

This change, which will impact 939 students who currently receive post-16 transport, is part of the local authority’s attempt to balance the books as it faces a “severe and growing” set of financial pressures.

But families have criticised the changes, which will mean from September parents will have to pay for the taxis and minibuses their children have been taking to attend class.

Mum Mandy Swords, from Sheppey, has two children with special needs, Teagan and Kaitlyn, who currently use the cost-free transport service to get to school in Canterbury.

Mandy told KentOnline: “It’s ridiculous. I have no choice but to apply for KCC’s transport because we live on an island. My daughter’s got ADHD, autism and anxiety.

“She wants to go to Canterbury College because the special educational needs department is really good, and she wants to go there.”

Mandy, who works as a carer, does not want to stop her daughter from going to her desired school which offers a performing arts course not available on the island.

She added: “I don’t want to stop her from going there but for her to get to Canterbury she would have to walk from our house to Sheerness train station, from there she would need to get the train to Sittingbourne, Sittingbourne to Canterbury, then walk down to the college.

“That is the only way we can do it, but she won’t be able to do it because of her needs.”

Mandy stressed the important of the taxi service due to her and her husband’s work commitments.

She explained: “This service is very important to my family because I work and my husband works, so we can’t get her to and from college because my husband’s a docker so he works very weird hours and I work as a carer from nine till three so I can be home for the girls when they get home from school.

“I’m not happy but I have no choice.”

Under the new transport policy, parents who have children with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), who are continuing their education, have been told to apply for a KCC 16+ travel card which costs £500 for the year ,or £510 if paid in instalments.

The new policy also includes the introduction of standard drop-off and collection times around the academic day, and the introduction of qualifying criteria for learners seeking transport for new education courses starting after their 19th birthday.

Students who have not accessed public transport previously, are also expected to engage with Kent’s travel training team which helps people with special needs learn how to travel to school or college by public transport.

However, KCC say if the travel saver option is not suitable - because the young adult has mobility problems or disabilities which inhibit their ability to access public transport – parents can approach KCC for subsidised support.

For students aged 16 to 19 the contribution for the academic year 2024 to 2025 is £500 which can be paid in three termly instalments, but there is no contribution for Post 19 students.

KCC have said these changes will ensure available resources are targeted to pupils with the highest need and entitlement, while also ensuring statutory duties are met.

Charlotte, 16, who lives in a rural area close to Herne Bay, is reliant on the cost-free taxi service to take her to her place of education.

Charlotte told the Local Democracy Service: “How am I meant to get to my education, I am already so far behind and that is my future.

“I want to go to university, I want to do something, I just want to live my life and they are preventing me.”

Charlotte’s mother Amanda told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) she had fought hard to get her the free taxi service as getting a bus is out of the question because Charlotte has anxiety and autism.

She said: “Charlotte’s already had a lot of uncertainty, she was without a school or education for two years so to get to this stage to have this package which is brilliant and then suddenly have another level of uncertainty thrown in about how she’s going to access it. It’s just terrifying really.”

Leader of KCC Cllr Roger Gough (Con) said: “We are coming in line with what many other local authorities have already done.

“We are under regrettably unsustainable financial pressure, and we have to continue to look not just this year but, in the years, to follow at all the services we provide, the terms of which we do so, to ensure a sustainable future.”

However, the Labour group told the LDRS they would not have gone as far if they were in charge.

Cllr Alister Brady (Lab) said: “We’d look to see how we could do this differently, but we wouldn’t have the same cuts as the administration because we don’t think there should be a barrier to education.

“Everybody should be able to, between the ages of 16 and 25, so that includes SEN, to be able to have an education instead of having transport as a barrier.”

The council has confirmed this new policy will be in place from the new academic year, this September.

A KCC spokesperson said: “KCC spends about £10 million annually on post-16 Special Educational Needs transport to schools and further education providers.

“The revised scheme remains generous and will still provide an average subsidy of 94% of the total cost of transport for all affected pupils and 97% for families from low-income backgrounds.”

The Local Government Association has warned that almost one in five English local authorities could be forced to issue a section 114 notice – an effective declaration it cannot balance its books – this year.

Post-16 transport for children with special educational needs typically involves taxis or minibuses for learners who cannot travel by public transport on their own or with a guardian.

Councils can opt to fund such transport arrangements as they do not have a legal footing to provide free or subsidised travel to learners over school leaving age.