The latest Modeshift STARS Education League Tables are here, and it’s been another season of impressive progress across the country! Local Authorities (LAs) continue to champion active and sustainable travel in schools, with new leaders emerging and familiar names climbing the ranks.
Below, we highlight some of the standout performances in both the small and large Local Authority categories.
Small Local Authorities (less than 100 schools)
It’s been a fantastic few months for our smaller authorities, with several making significant strides since the Spring leaderboard.
- Kingston upon Hull have continued their upward trajectory, moving up two places to take the second spot with 26.76% of schools accredited. Hull’s steady progress shows their ongoing commitment to active and substantiable everyday journeys.
- Isle of Wight also made a positive move, climbing one place to number four with 25% accredited schools. A testament to their dedication to travel behaviour change across the island.
- North Somerset jumped four places to number six, reflecting fantastic engagement from schools across the region.
- Leading the way once again is Southampton, holding firmly onto the number one position with 36.49% of schools accredited.
Large Local Authorities (more than 100 schools)
The large LA category has seen an exciting shake-up this season, with Buckinghamshire taking the top spot!
- Buckinghamshire has become number one in the large LA category, with an impressive 30.83% of schools accredited, up three places since Spring.
- Cambridgeshire have also made a strong climb, rising three places to reach number six, thanks to a growing number of schools achieving accreditation across all levels.
- South Gloucestershire and Sheffield follow closely behind in second and third place, both maintaining strong levels of engagement and consistent progress.
With so many large authorities showing continued commitment, the competition at the top remains closer than ever.
We caught up with some of our leading schools to hear about their STARS success!
Thomas Broom, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport said:
‘We are thrilled to be at the top of the leaderboard for large local authorities. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all participating schools and encourage even more to join the movement.
We’ve achieved this by working side by side with our schools meaning we have been able to address individual needs and encourage initiatives to tackle day-to-day transport issues. It’s important to recognise that each school can have unique challenges.
We’ve worked to alleviate inconsiderate parent parking and have introduced behaviour change techniques aimed at reducing private car use and ensuring children’s safety whilst walking, cycling or wheeling to school.
We also have an additional twenty Buckinghamshire schools recently registered with Modeshift STARS, achieving their first step on the accreditation ladder. We will keep building on this success and are pleased to be doing so well here in Bucks!’
Stuart Williams – Southampton City Council said:
‘We believe the key to our success with Modeshift lies in the strong working relationships we’ve built with our School Travel Champions. We understand that schools are extremely busy and often have limited time to dedicate to the travel planning process. That’s why we offer a supportive and flexible service designed to ease their workload and provide clear guidance to them throughout.
Our travel initiatives and resources are well-developed, and we supply posters, social media content, and letter templates that can be easily shared with families and school staff.
While our approach is adaptable, we do ask that schools, as a minimum, complete their hands-up surveys annually, update their site audits, and refresh their introduction and site details on Modeshift. We then support schools to ensure all active travel initiatives and consultations are accurately reflected on the platform. Schools that are well engaged with travel planning measures are prioritised for infrastructure improvements through our Safer Routes to School Programme, which is a good incentive to engage with us!
We also encourage schools to establish Junior Travel Ambassador groups, as we always value the pupil voice and pupils often enjoy the responsibility of promoting and motivating their peers to participate in activities.’
A huge well done to all!
Congratulations to all the Local Authorities, schools, and teams working tirelessly to deliver positive change. We can’t wait to see what the next update brings!
The next accreditation window closes on 31 January . You don’t need to wait for the deadline to make your submission!
