Written question asked by Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 2 July 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 6 July 2009. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Tuesday, 14 July 2009 on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Pupils: Travel

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number and percentage of children aged 16 years of age and under who (a) walked and (b) cycled to school in each year since 1997.

Answer

Information on pupils' mode of travel to school has been collected only since 2007. The available information is shown in the table.

Maintained primary¹, state-funded secondary¹, ² and special schools³: pupils4, 5 16 and under who walked or cycled to school, as at January each year, England
	Pupils who walk to school	Pupils who cycle to school	Pupils for whom travel data were supplied7
	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage
2007	2,531,370	50.0	94,230	1.9	5,065,810	69.0
2008	3,100,510	50.2	120,190	1.9	6,172,180	84.8
20098	3,502,890	50.9	131,300	1.9	6,887,060	95.1
¹ Includes middle schools as deemed. ² Includes CTCs and academies. ³ Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools. 4 Pupils aged 16 and under as at 31 August in the previous year. 5 Excludes boarders. 6 Expressed as a percentage of those pupils for whom travel data were supplied. 7 The collection of mode of travel to school data are only mandatory at pupil level for schools with an approved school travel plan. 8 Provisional Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census.

Secondary information