Key points

Primary School

  • For main mode of travel, 61% of pupils were driven to/from school by car and 26% usually walked. A further 10% took a bus and 1% cycled to and/or from school.

  • Of those who walked to school, 94% of primary school pupils walked all of the way to/from school. Thirty-five percent spent 10 minutes or less walking to and from school and 52% spent 11-20 minutes.

  • Fifty-one percent of primary school pupils live a mile or less from school and of these, 48% were driven to school by car and 46% walked to school.

Post Primary School

  • Amongst post-primary school pupils, 41% travelled to/from school by bus as their main mode of travel while 42% travelled to/from school by car. A further 15% pupils walked to/from school.

  • Of those who walked to school, 81% of post primary school pupils walked all of the way to/from school. Twenty-four percent of post-primary school pupils spent 10 minutes or less walking to and from school, 50% spent 11-20 minutes and 16% spent 21-30 minutes.

  • For post-primary school pupils, 51% lived 4 or more miles from their school. While only 19% of post primary school pupils lived less than 1 mile from their school and of those 56% walked to school.

Infographic displaying key findings from the report

Introduction

How we travel has a really important impact on our physical and mental health and wellbeing – whether through social exclusion, poor air quality or the fact that we are not active enough. By increasing activity and reducing reliance on the private car for some shorter everyday journeys, active travel can contribute to sustainability, reducing the cost of travel, providing children with a better and healthier start in life, and helping to improve air quality while reducing our carbon footprint. The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) has responsibility for the development of sustainable travel throughout Northern Ireland and there is significant potential to increase the number of children walking, wheeling, and cycling to school.

Please note: The above introductory comments were provided by DfI policy colleagues and were not written by the NISRA statisticians who compiled the rest of this report.

Uses of the data

This 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. This information will be used to monitor the overall effect of the initiatives that are aimed at increasing the proportion of children who travel actively to school. As the data presented in this report are calculated from a representative sample of the Northern Ireland population, confidence intervals must be calculated to estimate the level of uncertainty in the sample estimate. These confidence intervals can be found in Appendix C of this report.

1 Throughout the report ‘parent’ is used to refer to parent, guardian or caregiver.

2 Throughout the report ‘car’ is used to refer to travel by car, van or taxi.

Methodology changes due to COVID-19

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, data collection for the 2020/21 survey moved from face-to-face interviewing to telephone mode with a reduction in the number of questions. Telephone interviewing has remained in place for the 2021/22 survey; therefore caution should be used when interpreting trend data due to methodology and content changes during the 2020/21 survey period. In 2020/21, the output from the survey, in terms of the range and depth of topics covered, was reduced from that of previous years, with the subsequent capacity for detailed analysis constrained.

The Travel to school report was particularly impacted in 2020/21 with only one question on main mode of travel asked of parents. In 2021/22, the sample size for the CHS returned to normal and while the survey content was slightly impacted by the move to telephone interviewing, the usual number of questions were asked for this module. No comparisons have been made to the Pandemic Year 2020/21 as the achieved sample was smaller than usual.

More information is available on the NISRA website.

Part 1: MAIN MODES OF TRAVEL TO AND FROM SCHOOL

Respondents to the Northern Ireland Continuous Household Survey (CHS) were asked if children in the household attended primary school or post primary school. Parents were then asked a set of questions on behalf of their children. These parents had a total of 1,024 children but some did not attend school at the time of interview. Of those children who did attend school, 464 attended primary and 432 attended post-primary school. The results of these questions are presented in this report. Respondents were asked to consider the main mode of travel their child used to travel to and from school, that is, the mode of travel used for the longest part of the journey.

a. Primary School

Table 1: Main mode of travel to and from primary school 2013/14 – 2022/23

Infographic displaying main modes of transport ot primary school since 2013/14

*Equal refers to those who use different modes of travel to/from school for equal amounts of time/distance.

**Due to changes as a result of the pandemic, comparisons are not being made to 2020/21.

- Denotes significance testing was not applied.

Urban/Rural

Primary school pupils living in urban areas (40%) were more likely to walk to and/or from school than those living in rural areas (9%). Conversely, 74% of primary school pupils living in rural areas were driven to/from school by car and 16% by bus, which is significantly higher compared to those living in urban areas (53% by car; 5% by bus).

b. Post-Primary School

Figure 2: Main mode of travel trends to/from post-primary school 2013/14 to 2023/24(%)

Base = 432

Among post-primary school pupils 41% travelled to/from school by bus as their main mode of travel in 2023/24, while 42% travelled to/from school by car and fifteen percent of pupils walked to/from school.

Over the longer term period between 2013/14 and 2023/24, travel to and from school by car saw a statistically significant change in the proportion of pupils using this mode of transport, with an increase in car use observed from 30% in 2013/14 to 42% in 2023/24 whilst walking to school decreased significantly from 22% in 2013/14 to 15% in 2023/24 (Table 2).

Table 2: Main mode of travel to and from post-primary school 2013/14 – 2022/23

Infographic displaying main modes of transport ot primary school since 2013/14

*Equal refers to those who use different modes of travel to/from school for equal amounts of time/distance.

**Due to changes as a result of the pandemic, comparisons are not being made to 2020/21.

- Denotes significance testing was not applied.

Urban/Rural

In 2023/24, post-primary school pupils living in urban areas (26%) were more likely to walk to/from school than those from rural areas (2%). Post-primary pupils living in rural areas (51%) were more likely to travel to/from school by bus than those living in urban areas (31%).

Part 2: ALL MODES OF TRAVEL TO AND FROM SCHOOL

Respondents were asked to indicate all modes of travel their children normally used to travel to and from school (respondents could select more than one option). Please note that this question was not asked in 2020/21 due to a shortened questionnaire in response to the Covid Pandemic.

a. Primary School

b. Post-Primary School

Figure 4: All modes of travel trends to/from post-primary school 2013/14 to 2023/24(%)*

*Percentages may sum to more than 100 due to multiple responses

In 2023/24, 48% of post-primary school pupils used the bus to travel to and from school, 46% travelled by car, 17% walked all or part of the way to or from school, and 1% cycled all or part of the way.

Urban/Rural

In 2023/24, post-primary school pupils living in urban areas (29%) were more likely to walk to/from school than those living in rural areas (4%). Those living in rural areas (61%) were more likely to take the bus than those living in urban areas (35%).

Part 3: WALKING

Those who indicated that their child normally walked to/from school were subsequently asked whether their child walked all or part of the way, how long they spent walking, and how many days per week that they walked.

Walking all or part of the way to/from school

Figure 5: Proportion of pupils who walk all of the way to/from school (%)

Base: primary, 128; post-primary, 74

Of the primary school pupils who normally walked to school, 94% of these walked all of the way, which is similar to the proportion who walked all of the way to school in 2022/23 (95%). of the post-primary school pupils who normally walked to school 81% walked all of the way to/from school in 2023/24.

Time spent walking to/from school

Figure 6: Time spent walking to and from school per day

Base: primary, 128; post-primary, 74

Thirty-five percent of primary school pupils spent 10 minutes or less and 52% spent between 11 and 20 minutes walking to and from school, while 6% spent 21-30 minutes and 7% spent more than 30 minutes walking to and from school on a daily basis.

For post-primary school pupils, 24% spent 10 minutes or less walking to and from school, 50% spent 11-20 minutes, while 16% spent 21-30 minutes and 10% spent more than 30 minutes walking to and from school.

Days per week walking to/from school

Figure 7: Proportion of pupils who walked to and from school five days per week (%)

Base: Primary, 128; post-primary, 74

Of primary school pupils who walk to/from school, 81% walk to school five days per week, while 79% walk home from school five days per week. Similarly, of post-primary school pupils, 89% walk to school five days per week, while 88% walk home from school.

Part 4: DISTANCE FROM HOME TO SCHOOL

All parents and guardians were asked to estimate the distance from their home to their child’s school (to the nearest whole mile*).

Distance from pupils home to school

Figure 8: Distance from pupils home to school (to the nearest whole mile)

Infographic displaying main modes of transport ot primary school since 2013/14 Base: Primary, 462; post-primary, 432

Of primary school pupils, 51% lived 0-1 mile from their school, 31% lived between 2-3 miles and 18% lived 4 or more miles from their school. Of post primary school pupils 51% lived 4 or more miles away from their school, 31% lived just over a 2-3 miles away from their school and 19% lived between 0-1 miles away from home (Figure 8).

In 2023/2024, there were 787 primary schools and 192 post-primary schools in Northern Ireland3. Therefore, it is likely that children will live closer to primary schools than post-primary schools and these results are not unexpected. Older children may also be more likely to travel further to attend a post-primary school of their choice.

Main Mode of travel to and from school (by distance)

a. Primary School

Figure 9: Main mode of transport used by distance from pupils’ home to primary school (%)

(0-1 miles) Base: 237 (2-3 miles) Base: 143

Of those primary school pupils who lived between 0-1 miles from their school 48% were taken to school by car, while 46% walked and 3% travelled by bus.

Of those who lived between 2-3 miles from their school, 79% travelled by car, while 12% travelled by bus and 9% walked.

b. Post-Primary School

Figure 10: Main mode of transport used by distance from pupils’ home to post-primary school (%)

(0-1 miles) Base: 81 (2-3 miles) Base: 134

For post-primary school pupils who lived 0-1 miles from school 56% walked to/from school, 6% travelled by bus, 35% by car and 3% cycled.

Fifty-five percent of post-primary pupils who lived between 2 and 3 miles from their school were driven to and from school by car, 32% travelled by bus and 10% walked to/from school whilst 2% cycled.

PART 5: CYCLING

In 2023/24, 1% of primary and post primary school pupils cycled to school. Due to the small numbers of pupils cycling, it is not possible to present any further analysis or breakdown of cycling to school.

This is similar to previous reports regarding the proportion of children cycling to school. If number or sample increases allow further analysis on cycling will be included in future reports.

Contact information

Appendices

Appendix A: Technical Notes

The Northern Ireland Continuous Household Survey

Data Collection

The information presented in this publication derives from the Northern Ireland Continuous Household Survey (CHS), a Northern Ireland wide household survey administered by Central Survey Unit (CSU), Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). It is based on a sample of the general population resident in private households and has been running since 1983. The Survey is designed to provide a regular source of information on a wide range of social and economic issues relevant to Northern Ireland. The nature and aims of CHS are similar to those of the General Household Survey (GHS), which is carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in Great Britain. Questions related to method of travel to/from school were commissioned for the first time in 2013/14 and have been included in the CHS every year since then. Therefore this is the eleventh time that they have been asked.

The 2023/24 survey was based on a random sample of 8,940 domestic addresses drawn from the Land and Property Services list of addresses and interviews were sought with all adults aged 16 and over in these households. The questions relating to school travel are included in Appendix D of this publication.

The travel to school module dataset contains the records for 1,024 children of which 896 attended a primary or post-primary level school at the time of interview and whose parents provided a response. These records are based on the responses to the DfI Household Module answered by the Household Reference Person or Spouse.

Data Quality

Data were collected by CSU and various validation checks were carried out as part of the processing. CSU is the leading social survey research organisation in Northern Ireland and is one of the main business areas of NISRA, an Agency within the Department of Finance. CSU has a long track record and a wealth of experience in the design, management and analysis of behavioural and attitude surveys in the context of a wide range of social policy issues. CSU procedures are consistent with the Official Statistics Code of Practice.

The CHS sample was assessed and considered to be a representative sample of the Northern Ireland population at the household level.

Whilst data quality is considered to be very good, note that all survey estimates are subject to a degree of error and this must be taken account of when considering results (see notes on sampling error below). This error will be reasonably small for the majority of Northern Ireland level results but care should be taken when looking at results based on smaller breakdowns.

Multiple Response Questions

Multiple response questions are those for which respondents can give more than one response if they wish. For example, in the first question in this report, parents were asked to list all of the modes of transport their child used to travel to or from school. In such questions, when individual percentages are summed they may add to more than 100%. Therefore, the footnote “Percentages may sum to more than 100% due to multiple responses” has been included under the relevant charts within the main body of this publication and under the appropriate data tables in Appendix B.

Rounding Conventions

Percentages have been rounded to whole numbers and as a consequence some percentages may not sum to 100.

0% may reflect rounding down of values under 0.5.

Significant Difference

Significance tests were carried out to determine if there were differences in responses given by various respondent groups. The significance tests were carried out at 5% significance level (range = -1.96 to +1.96) and only differences which were statistically significant (p < 0.05) are included in this report. This means that there is at least a 95% probability that there is a genuine difference between responses given by, for example, those living in urban and rural areas and the differences between the two groups cannot simply explained by random chance or sample error. When a significant difference is noted among survey respondents, it is likely that this same difference applies to the Northern Ireland pupil population.

Where the term ‘similar’, ‘no real difference’ or ‘around the same’ has been used when comparing results (including year-on-year) it means that there is no significant difference between the results being compared.

The following symbols have been used in the report to denote significant change:

Table 3: Significant Difference

Infographic displaying symbols denoting significance

Urban and rural areas Urban and rural areas have been classified using the statistical classification of settlements defined by the Inter-Departmental Urban-Rural Definition Group.

  • Bands A to E are classified as Urban. This includes Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area (Band A), Derry Urban Area (Band B) and large, medium and small towns (Bands C-E) with populations greater than or equal to 5,000 people.
  • Bands F to H are classified as rural. This includes intermediate settlements (Band F), villages (Band G) and small villages, hamlets and open countryside (Band H) with populations of less than 5,000 people and including open countryside.

Confidence intervals

A 95% confidence interval for the population percentage can be calculated using the formula:

95% confidence interval = p +/- 1.96 * s.e. (p)

This means that if 100 similar, independent samples were chosen from the same population, 95 of them would yield an estimate for the percentage, p, within this range of values.

The absence of design effects in the survey means that standard statistical tests of significance can be applied directly to the data. 95% confidence intervals were calculated for the headline figures as detailed in Appendix C.

Sampling error

No sample is likely to precisely mirror the characteristics of the population it is drawn from due to both sampling and non-sampling errors. An estimate of the amount of error due to the sampling process can be calculated. For a simple random sample design, the sampling error (s.e.) of any percentage, p, can be calculated by the formula: s.e. (p) = √(p*(100-p)/n) where n is the number of respondents on which the percentage is based.

Other notes

The following should be noted when interpreting figures and tables:

  • Detailed tabulations are not provided where the number of respondents is too small to allow meaningful analysis.

  • The base number of responses to each question, which is shown in each table, is the unweighted count. The base may vary due to some respondents not answering certain questions.

  • Primary School Children For the CHS, parents have indicated if their child attends a primary or a post primary school. For the Census and the TSNI, children aged between 4-11 are considered to be at primary school.

  • Post Primary School Children For the CHS, parents have indicated if their child attends a primary or a post primary school. For the Census and the TSNI, children aged between 12-18 are considered to be at post primary school.

  • Mode of travel journeys can consist of stages e.g. walk to bus stop and take the bus to school. The modes of travel are the different forms of travel used for the different stages of a journey.

  • Main Mode of travel Journeys can consist of stages e.g. walk to bus stop and take the bus to school. The main mode of travel is the form of travel used for the greatest length of the journey.

Accompanying tables are available on the DfI website.

Appendix B: Comparison data

Table 4: Comparison with Census 2021 Method of Travel to Study for Northern Ireland Results for all Primary and Post Primary School Children

Infographic displaying confidence intervals

Appendix C: Confidence intervals

A confidence interval represents the range of values in which the true population value is likely to lie. It is based on the sample estimate and the confidence level.

As the percentages are calculated from a representative sample of the Northern Ireland population, a confidence interval can be calculated to estimate the level of uncertainty in the sample estimate.

95% confidence intervals were calculated for the headline figures for walking and cycling to school. Table 5 summarizes the confidence intervals for Main Method of Travel to/from School in NI.

Table 5: Confidence Intervals for Main Method of Travel to/from School in Northern Ireland.

Infographic displaying confidence intervals

  • The 95% confidence interval for primary school pupils who walk or cycle to school is 27% +/- 4%. This means that there is a 95% probability that the proportion of the Northern Ireland primary population walked or cycled to school lies between 23% and 31%.

  • The 95% confidence interval for post primary school pupils who walk or cycle to school is 16% +/- 3%. This means that there is a 95% probability that the proportion of the Northern Ireland post primary population walked or cycled to school lies between 13% and 19%.

Appendix D: Travel to/from school in Northern Ireland Questionnaire

TRAVEL TO SCHOOL

[MODE] Which of the modes of transport listed does CHILD normally use to get to and from school? RUNNING PROMPT - CODE ALL THAT APPLY Please consider both journeys and include all modes of transport. If CHILD walks PART of the way in conjunction with some other form of transport (e.g. walks to or from a bus stop or after being dropped off) only include walking if CHILD has to walk for 10 minutes or more.

  1. Walking (all or part of the way)
  2. Bicycle
  3. Car/van
  4. Bus
  5. Train
  6. Taxi
  7. Other → [MODEOTH]

[MODEOTH] Please specify the other mode of transport If more than one option selected for [MODE]

[MAIN] And which of these do you consider is CHILD’s main mode of transport to and from school? INTERVIEWER: IF MORE THAN ONE MODE SELECT THE MODE WITH THE LONGEST JOURNEY RUNNING PROMPT

  1. Walking (all or part of the way)
  2. Bicycle
  3. Car/van
  4. Bus
  5. Train
  6. Taxi
  7. Other
  8. Cannot distinguish - equal number of journeys made with different modes (e.g car lift to school 5 days a week, walk home from school 5 days a week) → [MAINB]

[MAINB] Which modes have equal journeys made? RUNNING PROMPT

  1. Walking (all or part of the way)
  2. Bicycle
  3. Car/van
  4. Bus
  5. Train
  6. Taxi
  7. Other

ASKED IF WALKING IS MENTIONED AT MODE OF TRANSPORT TO SCHOOL [C2] You mentioned previously that CHILD normally walks either to or from school. Can I just check, is that walking all or part of the way to or from school?

  1. All of the way
  2. Part of the way

[C3] How many days per week does CHILD walk (all or part of the way) to school? 0..5

[C3a] How many days per week does CHILD walk (all or part of the way) home from school? 0..5

[C5] How long (in minutes) does CHILD spend in total walking to and from school on a daily basis? 1..180 INSTRUCTION: THIS IS TIME SPENT WALKING TO AND BACK FROM SCHOOL ON ONE TYPICAL SCHOOL DAY

ASKED IF CYCLING IS MENTIONED AT MODE OF TRANSPORT TO SCHOOL

[C4] how many days per week does CHILD cycle to school? 0..5

[C4a] how many days per week does CHILD cycle home from school? 0..5

[C6] How long (in minutes) does CHILD spend in total cycling to and from school on a daily basis? 1..120

ASKED ABOUT PERSON IN THE HOUSEHOLD WHO IS ATTENDING SCHOOL

[C7] How far is CHILD ’s school (to the nearest whole mile) from your home? 0..90

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