Queen’s College Launches New In-House Minibus Fleet Ahead of September 2026

Queen’s College is bringing all home to school minibus transport operations fully in house from September 2026. Every bus route will be operated using a Queen’s College minibus and driven by dedicated drivers employed directly by Queen’s College.

This is an exciting step forward and reflects our ongoing commitment to providing a safe, reliable and high quality experience for our pupils and their families. By managing transport directly, we will be able to strengthen day to day oversight, improve communication with parents and respond more quickly to changing needs, while maintaining the standards of care, punctuality and professionalism that families expect from Queen’s College.

Investing in our fleet and our people

Our new fleet of minibuses is now beginning to arrive, with the first seven vehicles already in operation and further additions planned ahead of September 2026. Queen’s College is working in partnership with Berrys Coaches, who will provide specialist maintenance and fleet support to ensure the vehicles are maintained to the highest professional standards.

Alongside this, we are recruiting a Lead Driver and additional professional minibus Drivers who will be employed directly by Queen’s College. Our Lead Driver will be starting shortly, helping to ensure consistency, accountability and a strong understanding of the Queen’s community across all routes.

Bringing transport in house will allow the School to oversee vehicles, routes and drivers more closely, adapt provision as demand changes and maintain a calm, well managed start and end to the school day for pupils. It is a model designed to put pupil wellbeing, safety and reliability first.

Jay Lanchbury, Transport and Health & Safety Officer at Queen’s College, said:

“Bringing our school transport fully in-house means our minibuses will be operated by drivers employed directly by the School, giving us greater oversight and consistency across every route. We have invested in high quality vehicles and strong operational systems so that families can be confident their children are travelling safely and reliably every day. Working in partnership with Berrys Coaches also ensures our fleet is maintained and supported to the highest professional and regulatory standards.”

Enhanced communication through new transport technology

As part of this development, Queen’s College is partnering with Vectare, a specialist provider of school transport software solutions, to further enhance our transport offering.

Vectare introduces an intuitive, bespoke parent portal that provides real time visibility of seat availability across routes. Parents will be able to view available seats instantly and make bookings with confidence, helping families plan their child’s transport more efficiently and transparently.

Real time updates and reassurance for parents

The Vectare system also offers live journey updates. Parents will receive an alert when their child boards the vehicle, providing reassurance that they are safely on their way. Through the portal, families will be able to monitor the progress of the bus and have a clear indication of arrival times.

In addition, the system is accessible via a dedicated mobile app, allowing parents to manage bookings and stay informed while on the move. This added flexibility supports busy family life and keeps parents connected and in control.

Looking ahead

We are really looking forward to sharing more details with parents over the coming months. This will include clear guidance on how to book transport and when the new parent portal will be available. We will make sure families are fully supported and well informed as we prepare for this exciting new chapter in home to school transport at Queen’s College.