School Opal Card can be used:

• On approved travel on school days between the student’s home and school;
• For travel between 06:30 and 19:00 weekdays (21:30 for TAFE school students

School Opal Cards enable a student to travel on:

• Mode(s) of transport most applicalbe for the student’s travel requirments; train or bus or both. For bus travel, cards are restricted to individual or a combination of bus operators.
• School days only.

For travel outside school hours or days a Child/Youth Opal card is available and provides concession fares and other Opal benefits.

The school student transport scheme eligibility

• Be a resident of NSW;
• Be 4 years 6 months of age or older;
• Be an infant student; i.e. attending Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 classes, irrespective of the distance from home to school; be a primary student (Year 3-6), and reside more than 1.6 kilometres (radial distance) from the school attended, measured on a radius from the centre of the school site, or 2.3 kilometres or more by the most direct practicable walking route to the nearest point of physical entry to the school;
• Be a secondary student (Year 7-12), and reside more than 2.0 kilometres (radial distance) from the school attended, measured on a radius from the centre of the school site, or 2.9 kilometres or more by the most direct practicable walking route to the nearest point of physical entry to the school;
• Be a TAFE student under 18 years of age at 1 January of the year of application and enrolled in a full-time course for a minimum of 20 hours a week, and is not employed, lives more than 3.2km from the college by the most direct practical walking route, and attends the college closest to their home where enrollment is available;
• Be enrolled at a registered day school;
• Be eligible for a free government education. Students who are not eligible for a free government education are not eligible for subsidised travel.

How to apply for a School Opal card?

Students with school travel passes this year will not need to apply for a School Opal card unless they are changing schools or their home address or moving from year 2 to 3 or year 6 to 7.

For new applications or for students with changing circumstances, the parents, guardians or students over 16 years are required to fill in a form online at www.transportnsw.info/school-students
After filling in the online application you print it off and take it to the school to endorse. Tranport for NSW has the data online from the application and waits for the school to then endorse the application and will mail the School Opal card to the applicant’s home address.