Scotland sets 2026/27 bus concession rates, funding
From 1 April 2026, Scotland updates the finances behind free and concessionary bus travel. If you or your students use a National Entitlement Card, your journey stays the same; this decision changes what bus companies are paid, not who can ride.
The change arrives via the National Bus Travel Concession Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) (No. 2) Order 2026. According to legislation.gov.uk (Scottish Statutory Instrument 2026/159), Ministers made the order on 18 March 2026 under powers in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005. It was approved by the Scottish Parliament and takes effect on 1 April 2026.
Scotland runs two national schemes. One is for older people and disabled people. The other is for young people aged 5–21 who live in Scotland. This order does not change who qualifies; it sets this year’s funding caps and reimbursement rates.
For the Older and Disabled Persons scheme in 2026/27, the capped funding level is £248,200,000. The reimbursement rate applied to eligible journeys is 53%, as set in the updated article 12 of the 2006 Order.
For the Young Persons scheme in 2026/27, the capped funding level is £220,600,000. Operators are reimbursed at 48.1% for eligible journeys made by 5–15 year‑olds, and at 72.5% for journeys made by 16–21 year‑olds.
Quick definition for class or common room: the reimbursement rate is the percentage the Scottish Government pays bus operators for each valid concessionary trip. The cap is the maximum total budget for the year. The order also clarifies that payments must be made at the set rate while staying within that cap for the Young Persons scheme.
What this means for you: keep using your National Entitlement Card as normal. There is no new application step for passengers. Operators submit claims to Transport Scotland, which pays them using the updated percentages, with total spend kept within the annual limit.
Why two rates for young people? The split is designed to reflect typical travel patterns for 5–15s and 16–21s, and to support operator costs where foregone revenue would otherwise be higher in the older group. Different rates help match public support to real‑world usage.
For classrooms and staffrooms, this is a practical case study in public budgeting. A percentage rate encourages efficient service while a cash cap sets a clear ceiling on total spend. You can turn it into a numeracy task by asking students to model how usage might affect the budget over a year.
The order was signed for the Scottish Ministers by Jim Fairlie at St Andrew’s House on 18 March 2026. All figures in this explainer come directly from Scottish Statutory Instrument 2026/159 published on legislation.gov.uk.