It is the responsibility of the South West of Scotland Transport Partnership (SWestrans) to secure the provision of public transport services with consideration of public transport requirements that would not otherwise be met by the open commercial market. It is the council’s responsibility to provide free home-to-school transport to pupils who meet certain criteria, primarily based on distance from their designated school.
New local bus contracts commenced on 7 August 2025 following the reprocurement of the regional bus network. This ensured the future of the home-to-school and local (subsidised) bus network through longer term contracts (up to 7 years).
Significant pressure was placed on the 246 commercial bus service operated by McCall’s Coaches once the new school term began on 21 August 2025, due to high numbers of non‑catchment pupils using public buses to access WHA – and some pupils were unable to access the bus to attend school. As the 246 service is a commercial route, it is the bus operators’ decision on how they allocate resources.
Although not responsible for commercial services such as the 246, the council and SWestrans stepped in to temporarily introduce an additional bus on the 246 service to prevent immediate disruption to pupils’ education. The additional bus service has since been operating on the 246 service at a cost of £1,150 per week – totalling £44,440 across the academic year.
Dumfries and Galloway Council is required, by law, to arrange transport for pupils living out with a specified statutory distance from their catchment school. Pupils who are non-catchment have no entitlement to free school transport.
There is no requirement on the council to provide transport for pupils who have been granted a placing request to attend a school other than the school in whose catchment area they reside. If a parent/carer chooses to make a placing request for their child, or if a young person makes such a request, then they do so on the basis that they are not entitled to free transport to that school and it is the responsibility of the parent/carer to get that young person to and from school safely.
Currently, the number of non-catchment pupils attending Wallace Hall Academy is 226 (out of a total roll of 572), with 33 pupils attending from Sanquhar Academy catchment and 178 from Dumfries Burgh catchment schools.
At its meeting on 30 January 2026, the SWestrans Board agreed that this is an unsustainable position, due to the significant cost across the academic year and the precedent this sets in the provision of transport for non-catchment pupils. As such, on the 1 July 2026, the provision of an additional bus for all non-catchment pupils travelling to and from Wallace Hall Academy will cease.
We appreciate the significance of the withdrawal of this additional bus and recognise that this may have implications for the education of some pupil’s. The council has informed affected parents and carers so they can either ensure effective transition for their child(ren) should they decide for them to move schools, or to consider alternative travel arrangements for the start of the new academic year, should their choice be for their child(ren) to remain at Wallace Hall Academy.
Please note, this does not affect those pupils who are entitled to home-to-school transport. Council officers will work with the WHA leadership team, families and key stakeholders to support the transition ahead of the new academic year.