The Independent Schools' Transport Accreditation Service

Why ISTAS – Governance Assurance for School Transport

The Independent Schools’ Transport Accreditation Standard (ISTAS) has been developed by professionals with extensive experience in independent school transport, safeguarding, compliance, and governance oversight.

ISTAS is designed to support Heads, Bursars, and Governing Bodies in discharging their statutory and fiduciary responsibilities for pupil safety and welfare by providing a clear, structured framework for the governance and management of school transport arrangements.

Accreditation against the ISTAS Standard enables schools to confidently meet and exceed statutory inspection expectations, including those relating to safeguarding, leadership accountability, regulatory compliance, and risk management.

ISTAS places particular emphasis on:

• Clear senior leadership ownership of transport

• Robust governance oversight and reporting

• Evidence-based assurance and audit readiness

• Integration of transport within the school’s wider safeguarding framework

Through independent assessment, ISTAS provides governors and senior leaders with external assurance that transport arrangements are not only documented, but consistently implemented, monitored, and reviewed in practice.

In doing so, ISTAS supports informed decision-making, transparency, and continuous improvement, helping schools demonstrate that pupil transport is managed with the same rigour, scrutiny, and professionalism as all other safeguarding-critical activities.

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