School transport subsidy
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You may get a subsidised ticket before Kela issues you a decision
Have you applied for school transport subsidy? If you use public transport for your trips to and from school, you may be granted the right to subsidised tickets immediately after you have submitted your application. In that case, you can get a subsidised ticket free of charge even before Kela has issued a decision on your application for school transport subsidy.
Visit the OmaKela e-service to see if you have been granted the right to subsidised tickets.
Can you get school transport subsidy?
The purpose of the school transport subsidy is to provide compensation for the cost of travelling to and from school.
You can get school transport subsidy if
- you live and study in Finland
- your travel distance to school is at least 7 kilometres one way
- you have the right to a free education
- you are enrolled in upper secondary education, such as general upper secondary school or vocational education
- you travel to school on at least 10 days per calendar month
Your own income and assets, or those of your parents, do not affect the school transport subsidy.
In order to qualify for school transport subsidy, you must have the right to a free education under the Act on Compulsory Education.
Education is usually free until the end of the calendar year in which a student turns 20. The right to a free education ends sooner if the student graduates from upper secondary education. Check with your school whether your education is free.
You can get school transport subsidy if
- you attend a general upper secondary school
- you attend upper secondary school in an adult student or night programme
- you are completing a basic vocational qualification or a part thereof
- you are completing a vocational qualification
- you attend a folk high school and are completing upper secondary school studies or a basic vocational qualification (or part thereof)
- you are enrolled in folk high school, attending a liberal education programme for students in compulsory education
- you are completing a dual degree, consisting of upper secondary school as an adult or night school programme along with basic vocational education
- you attend a course of study preparing you for degree-oriented education (TUVA)
- you attend a course of education preparing you for employment or for independent living (TELMA)
- you attend basic education for adults.
You cannot get school transport subsidy in the following situations:
- You are doing a paid apprenticeship, i.e. learning on the job.
- You complete a specialist vocational qualification.
- There are other forms of financial assistance available for you to support your daily trips to and from school (e.g. compensation for expenses as an unemployment benefit for immigrants or compensation for travel expenses under the Act on Services for Persons with Disabilities).
- You live in a school dormitory. However, you can receive school transport subsidy if you travel daily at least 7 kilometres (one-way) from the dormitory to your school or job.
If you do not have the right to a free education
If you do not have the right to a free education, check the conditions for getting school transport subsidy.
As from 1 August 2025, school transport subsidy will only be available for free education. More information can be found in this press release.
What modes of transport does the school transport subsidy cover?
You can get school transport subsidy mainly for public transport or school transport arranged by your school or municipality. Public transport includes buses, trains, trams and the metro. School transport means taxi or bus transport arranged by a school or municipality. Contact your school to find out if it arranges school transport.
If you have no public transport or school transport options available to you, you can receive school transport subsidy for e.g. commuting in your own car. Check our route planner (kelareitit.digitransit.fi) to see whether public transport is available for your trip.
If public transport or dedicated school transport is available for your trip to school, you can arrange the transport yourself. You can for example use your own car or ride with a friend. You can also use self-arranged transport for part of the trip, for example to reach the nearest train station, which cannot be reached by public transport or school transport.
School transport subsidy for self-arranged transport is available in the following situations:
- Self-arranged transport is your only option for all or part of the trip. Your one-way trip to school includes a length of at least 5 kilometres for which public transport or dedicated school transport is not available. The total length of the one-way trip to school is at least 7 kilometres. You can get school transport subsidy for self-arranged transport also if you have to use it for only certain days but on a weekly basis.
- Your two-way trip would take longer than 3 hours a day when you take public transport or dedicated school transport. This includes both the waiting time and the actual travel time.
- If using public transport, the trip to school would be difficult for you for example because of illness, injury or daily childcare arrangements.
How is the travel distance between home and school calculated?
You can get school transport subsidy if your one-way trip to school is at least 7 kilometres.
The travel distance is the shortest trip by car between home and school. If you are doing a period of unpaid on-the-job training, your trip to school is equivalent to the shortest distance by car between your home and your workplace. If you for example travel by bus that takes a longer route than the shortest distance by car, the bus route does not qualify as the trip to school for purposes of the school transport subsidy.
Be sure to use Kela’s route planner at kelareitit.digitransit.fi when calculating the length of your trip. The decision you will get from Kela will be based on the route planner. Route planners may plot distances differently.
Report the distance you travel to school as exactly as possible in your application, and do not round up the kilometres.
According to the route planner, Elina’s trip from home to school is 6.8 kilometres. This is not rounded up, which means that the distance to school is not at least 7 kilometres, and Elina does not qualify for school transport subsidy.
How much is the school transport subsidy?
The amount of school transport subsidy you get depends on the number of travel days and the mode of transport used.
You can get
- the full amount of school transport subsidy if you travel to school on at least 15 days per calendar month
- half of the full school transport subsidy if you travel to school on 10–14 days per calendar month.
A travel day may also fall on a weekend or an official holiday, if you travel to school on such a day.
If you have fewer than 10 travel days per calendar month, you do not have a right to school transport subsidy.
Amount of school transport subsidy according to mode of transport
If you take public transport, you typically do not have to pay anything out of your own pocket. You get your ticket directly from the vendor, and the school transport subsidy is paid to the vendor.
How to get tickets after submitting an application.
If you take public transport for which you cannot get tickets at no charge from the vendor (e.g. VR), the price of tickets for the full month or half of the month will be paid into your bank account monthly.
You may have to use more than one mode of public transport for a one-way trip to school, for example if you take a bus to the train station and transfer to a train. You can get school transport subsidy separately for both legs of your journey as long as you travel at least 5 kilometres by train. If each leg of your journey is less than 5 kilometres but the total distance is at least 7 kilometres, you will get school transport subsidy according to the rules for self-arranged transport. This means that you will not get the school transport subsidy based on your actual travel costs (you cannot for example get bus tickets at no charge), but that the subsidy will be paid into your bank account based on the length of your journey.
If you take school transport arranged by your school, all of the school transport subsidy is paid to the arranger.
If you have to use self-arranged transport, the amount of the school transport subsidy depends on the length of your trip. The subsidy is not based on your actual travel costs. If you use self-arranged transport, the maximum one-way distance for which school transport subsidy is available is 100 kilometres. If your one-way trip is longer than 100 kilometres, you will have to cover the exceeding costs yourself.
Use the relevant calculator (in Finnish and Swedish) to estimate the amount of school transport subsidy you can get. Select self-arranged transport in the calculator.
We will pay the school transport subsidy into your bank account monthly. The decision letter tells you how much you will get. You can view the decision letter in the OmaKela e-service.
How to apply for school transport subsidy
- Apply for school transport subsidy in the OmaKela e-service (in Finnish and Swedish). If you cannot sign in to OmaKela, your guardian can apply for you.
You can apply before the academic year begins. Applications for school transport subsidy must be made separately for each academic year. The academic year begins on 1 August and ends on 31 July.
If your application for school transport subsidy concerns dedicated school transport, first check with your school whether it can arrange school transport for you. If your application for school transport subsidy concerns public transport, you may have a right to buy subsidised tickets immediately after submitting your application. Check OmaKela to see if you have been granted the right to buy subsidised tickets. You do not have to wait for Kela’s decision.
Visit OmaKela to see if your application has been processed, how much you will get and when your benefits will be paid. The decision letter will also be sent to your home address unless you have opted out of paper mail.
Save the application form School transport subsidy KM 1e (pdf) to your device and fill it in after saving it. Print out the completed form and send it to Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA. If you use a paper form to apply, you will not get a right to buy subsidised tickets until your application has been processed.
After submitting an application:
What to do if you use public transport
Right after sending off your application, check OmaKela to see if you have been granted the right to buy subsidised tickets. The right to buy subsidised tickets means that you can get your tickets at no charge directly from the ticket vendor. If you are granted the right to buy subsidised tickets, we cannot reimburse you for any tickets you may have paid for yourself.
You can find the relevant information in the Koulumatkatuki (School transport subsidy) section of OmaKela. You can also check your right to buy subsidised tickets when you are about to buy one. If you visit an online store, the subsidised ticket will become available there. If you visit a ticket office, ask the vendor if you can get a subsidised ticket.
If you have the right to buy subsidised tickets, you can get your ticket at no charge if you for example use some of the following public transport options:
- Matkahuollon liikenne (matkahuolto.fi)
-
Public transport affiliated with Waltti (waltti.fi), including Helsinki Region Transport (hsl.fi), Tampere Regional Transport (nysse.fi) and Turku Region Traffic (foli.fi)
Contact the ticket vendor if you have questions about subsidised tickets, such as where to buy them, how to load them to your card or device or what kinds of tickets are available.
The right to buy subsidised tickets will usually show up in OmaKela right after you have submitted your application. You do not have to wait for us to process your application but can get your ticket immediately after you have been granted the right to buy subsidised tickets. If you are not granted the right to buy subsidised tickets right away, you will have to pay for your tickets yourself until you are granted the right. However, keep checking OmaKela to see if you are granted the right to buy subsidised tickets. We can reimburse you for tickets you buy yourself if you buy a monthly ticket or single tickets for a period of at least 10 days. We will pay the subsidy into your bank account after you have bought the tickets.
The right to buy subsidised tickets is not available for all types of public transport. If the right to buy subsidised tickets is not available for the public transport you use, you must pay for your tickets yourself. We will pay the school transport subsidy into your bank account monthly. For example, tickets to VR trains must first be paid by yourself.
Things to remember when you apply for school transport subsidy
Apply for school transport subsidy once per school year. The academic year begins on 1 August and ends on 31 July. You can apply before the academic year begins. If you begin a new course of study, you can apply as soon as you have accepted your school’s offer of admission.
The earliest that you can get school transport subsidy is the beginning of the month preceding your application. For example, if you wish to receive it from the beginning of August, your application must reach Kela by the end of September. Applications submitted via the OmaKela e-service arrive at Kela on the same day they are submitted.
Before buying tickets, visit OmaKela (in Finnish and Swedish) to see if you have been granted the right to buy subsidised tickets, or you can ask the vendor when buying a subsidised ticket. If you have the right to buy subsidised tickets, the vendor will provide you the subsidised ticket free of charge. In that case, we will not be able to reimburse you for any tickets you buy yourself.
If you paid for tickets before you were granted the right to buy subsidised tickets, you can have the school transport subsidy deposited in your bank account afterwards. We will pay you the subsidy if you bought a monthly ticket or single tickets for at least 10 days. You can tell us about that by sending a message in OmaKela. However, keep checking OmaKela to see if you are granted the right to buy subsidised tickets later. You can also ask the vendor when buying your next subsidised ticket.
If you are only just applying for school transport subsidy, tell us in the application if you have already bought tickets.
The earliest that you can get school transport subsidy is the beginning of the month preceding your application. For example, if you buy a ticket in August, tell us about it no later than September.
Be sure to load the last ticket for the academic year on your card or device well before it is needed
If you take public transport, the last ticket for the academic year must be loaded onto your card or device no later than 14 days before your studies end. See OmaKela (in Finnish and Swedish) or the decision you received on school transport subsidy for the last possible date of purchase.
When is school transport subsidy paid out?
If you take public transport and are granted the right to buy subsidised tickets, you will get your ticket at no charge directly from the vendor. In that case the school transport subsidy is paid to the vendor. The right to buy subsidised tickets is usually granted right after the application has been sent. You do not have to wait until we have processed your application, but can buy your ticket right after you have been granted the right to buy subsidised tickets. Check OmaKela to see if you have been granted the right to buy subsidised tickets.
If the school transport subsidy is paid to you personally, it will be deposited in your bank account on the 1st day of each month. If banks are closed on the scheduled payment date, it is paid on the next banking day. If you are paid the subsidy retrospectively, it will usually be paid into your account two banking days after the decision was issued.
The earliest that you can get school transport subsidy is the beginning of the month preceding your application.
Report changes
Changes in your trip to school or the number of travel days may affect the school transport subsidy. Paid on-the-job training or changes in your studies will also affect the subsidy.
If you tell Kela about changes in your circumstances, your benefit will be paid at the correct rate and you also will not lose out on any benefit due to you. Visit OmaKela to report changes or to have the subsidy discontinued or use the form Notification of changes KM 4e (pdf). You can also call us.
If you do not tell us about the changes, you may be paid benefits you do not have the right to. In that case, the benefit will be recovered from you later. Read more about the recovery of overpayments.
If you are paid during a period of on-the-job training that is part of vocational education, that period is considered apprenticeship training, and you cannot get school transport subsidy. If you know when your training will end and only want to stop the subsidy for a certain period of time, tell us about it either in OmaKela or call us.
If a period of on-the-job training is unpaid, the period is considered as a training agreement period, and for this period you can get school transport subsidy. If there is a change in your trip to school, tell us about it in OmaKela.
If you wish to discontinue the school transport subsidy altogether, tell us about it in OmaKela or call us.
Moving to a different address
If you move, the school transport subsidy must be adjusted or cancelled.
If you are applying from a new address, fill in an application for school transport subsidy in OmaKela. If you wish to cancel the subsidy, please inform us about this either in OmaKela or by calling us.
Changing the mode of transport
Change the mode of transport means that you switch from a train to a bus or instead of taking public transport you will travel in your own car.
Fill in a new application for school transport subsidy in OmaKela if your mode of transport changes.
If the number of days you travel to school each month changes, that could affect how much school transport subsidy you get. The number of travel days could change for example if you have more distance learning than you used to. Report the change in OmaKela or call us.
Tell us if you are ill and will not be travelling between home and school for more than two weeks. Use OmaKela to tell us about it or call us.
If you use public transport and have the right to buy subsidised tickets, you do not have to tell us about changes in ticket prices.
If you do not have the right to buy subsidised tickets (for example because you use a VR train to travel to school) and the school transport subsidy is paid into your own bank account, tell us about the change in ticket prices in OmaKela or call us.