45p = HMRC full-cost rate
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45p/mile is the HMRC full-cost figure (fuel + wear + depreciation): the school run's fuel-only cost looks smaller but lies: short cold-engine trips are the most expensive miles a car does (rich running, more wear per mile). Under 1 mile, walking is usually FASTER door-to-door than driving + parking chaos. Council home-to-school transport rules: free transport generally applies beyond statutory walking distances (2 miles under 8, 3 miles over): check your council.
What The School Run Cost Calculator Works Out
- Miles per school year: one-way distance multiplied by the number of legs a day (four for drop-off and pick-up, two for one direction) and by 190 school days. A two-mile run with four legs is 1,520 miles a year, more than most parents guess.
- Cost per school year: annual miles at your cost per mile. 45p is HMRC's full-cost rate covering fuel, wear, tyres, servicing and depreciation, and if anything it flatters the school run: short cold-engine trips in traffic are the most expensive miles a car does.
- The alternatives: a four-family rota quarters the cost and the mornings, park-and-stride deletes the gate congestion minutes, and a second-hand bike pays for itself within a term at these rates.
- School days and years left (advanced): English state schools sit at 190 days; independents often run 170-175 and some academies more. Years left scales the career total, which is typically GBP 8,000-plus for a 12-year school career.
- Families sharing the run (advanced): divides the cost by the rota size, so you pay for one run in every N. Cost is not the only saving: each family also gets back the driving hours on the days they do not drive.
- Days a week you walk or cycle (advanced): removes that share of the driving. Under a mile, walking is usually faster door-to-door than driving plus parking, and councils owe free home-to-school transport beyond the statutory walking distances (2 miles under 8, 3 miles over).
- Hours spent driving (advanced): legs a year multiplied by the minutes each leg takes including parking, after rota and walking days. Ten minutes a leg on a four-leg run is around 125 hours a year, over three working weeks.
- Fuel-only cost (advanced): the same miles at a fuel-only rate (typically 12-20p a mile for a petrol or diesel car). The gap between this and the full-cost figure is the wear and depreciation that never appears on a receipt.
- Cost per school day (advanced): the daily cost of the run, useful for comparing with a bus fare or a child's bike. GBP 3.60 a day at 45p is the two-mile default.