School runs · DBS-checked · Child seats included

The same driver,
at the same gate,
every morning.

Recurring school-run rotas across Kingston, Surbiton, Richmond, Hampton, Putney, Esher, Cobham and Wimbledon. Enhanced DBS-checked drivers, infant carriers and boosters fitted in advance for free, one named driver for the whole term, and two free SMS to the parent — one when the car pulls away with your child in it, one when the child walks through the school gate. Eleven years of doing this for South West London families.

See sample fares Talk to a parent rota co-ord Live rotas · 38 children this term
Driver background check
Enhanced DBS
Re-verified annually
Child seat fee
£0
Three categories on board
SMS to parent
2 free
Departure · safely arrived
A Pickup
B Drop-off
When Right now
Or pick now
Passengers 2 · 3 bags
Passengers
2
Bags
3
Fixed quote
£48.20
Confirm ride
Fare locked for 5 min Driver in 4 min Card or cash
How the school-run product works

One driver. One rota. One school calendar held against your account.

A school-run rota isn't a normal cab booking — it's a months-long arrangement where the same vehicle pulls up to the same kerb at the same minute for thirty-six weeks straight. So we treat it like one. You set it up once, we hold the school calendar, the term dates, the INSET days, the half-term breaks and the public holidays, and the runs happen on autopilot until your child finishes the school year.

01 · The driver

The same face, all year.

One named driver per child for the full term, with one named backup who has met your child and knows the morning route. Children settle faster, parents sleep better, and the driver learns the front door, the school gate, and the difference between "running late" and "actually unwell." After eleven years we don't pretend that's a small thing.

DBS-checked · 6+ months tenure
02 · The seat

Booster in the car before the doorbell.

Three categories of child seat live in every school-run vehicle — Group 0+ infant, Group 1 toddler, Group 2/3 high-back booster. The right one for your child's age and weight is fitted before pickup so there is no faff at the door, no rummaging in the boot, no time lost to clipping things in. Free with the fare.

Group 0+ · 1 · 2/3 on board
03 · The parent

Two SMS. You stop worrying.

One the moment your child is in the back seat and the car has pulled away from the kerb — driver name, car registration, live track link. One the moment the driver has watched your child walk through the school gate. Both free, both automatic, both reliable. Most parents say the second SMS is the one they didn't know they needed.

Departure · safely-arrived
Safeguarding · the bit that actually matters

Children are not just small passengers.

Most cab firms will happily take a child if a parent puts one in the back. We don't think that's good enough. School-run drivers go through a separate vetting and training pathway from our standard drivers — and if any of these checks fail, the driver does not get the rota. No exceptions, no "but he's been with us ten years," no quiet workarounds.

Enhanced DBS, with the Children's Barred List check.
Not the basic level. The same Enhanced certificate with Children's Barred List that a teaching assistant, sports coach or school minibus driver holds. Re-verified every twelve months — we don't let yours go stale.
In-house child-safeguarding induction.
Before a driver takes their first school rota, they sit through a 3-hour in-house safeguarding session — safe drop-off protocol, what to do if the child isn't at the door, signs to escalate, the no-deviation-from-the-route rule. We re-run it every September.
No route deviations. Ever.
A child in the back seat doesn't get a "quick detour to the petrol station." The driver runs the agreed route, every time. If something genuinely needs to change — road closure, accident — dispatch is told first and parent is SMS'd before the wheels turn.
No stranger handovers.
Only the named adults on the booking can collect your child. New face at the kerb on the afternoon run? The driver rings the parent number on file before the door opens, no matter who the new face says they are. We've used it once in eleven years. It worked.
Vehicle and seat checks, every Monday.
Tyres, brakes, mirrors, child-seat harnesses and ISOFIX clips checked weekly on every school-rota vehicle by our garage in Whitechapel. Anything failing inspection is swapped out the same day — we'd rather send the backup driver than a borderline car.
Minimum data. Held properly.
We keep the bare minimum needed to do the journey safely — child's name, age, weight band for the seat, home and school addresses, two parent contact numbers, any allergies a driver needs to know. That is it. Held under UK GDPR, deleted three months after the rota ends.
Named safeguarding lead

Our designated safeguarding lead picks up every concern in person.

School-run safeguarding isn't subcontracted, automated or pushed to a generic ticket inbox. Every concern — from "my child said the driver was on his phone" to a serious safeguarding flag — goes to our named safeguarding lead and is acknowledged within four working hours, with a follow-up call inside 24 hours regardless of severity. Schools that want a copy of the full policy on file for their own records can request the PDF version through dispatch.

Acknowledged within
4 hrs working time
Follow-up call inside
24 hrs always
Annual safeguarding induction
3 hrs every Sept
Data retention after rota ends
3 months max
Read the full safeguarding policy
Child seats · included free

Three seats. One in the car before you walk to the door.

UK law requires a child seat until age 12 or 135cm, whichever comes first. Every school-run vehicle carries all three categories so the right seat for your child is fitted in advance — you don't bring your own, you don't queue at the door, you don't pay extra. Tell us the age and weight band at booking and we keep that against your rota.

Group 0+ · rear-facing

Infant carrier · birth–13 kg

Newborn → ~ 15 months

Rear-facing infant carrier with five-point harness, ISOFIX base, sunshade and side-impact protection. Fitted ahead of pickup so the only thing left to do at the door is open the back of the car.

£0 · included
Group 1 · forward-facing

Toddler seat · 9–18 kg

~ 9 months → 4 years

Forward-facing Group 1 seat with five-point harness, side-impact wings, adjustable headrest and ISOFIX + top-tether anchorage. Both reception and Year 1 children fit happily until they outgrow the harness.

£0 · included
Group 2/3 · high-back booster

High-back booster · 15–36 kg

~ 4 years → 12 years / 135 cm

Group 2/3 high-back booster — proper side-impact head protection, seatbelt guide, and a height-adjustable headrest. The seat that takes your child from reception age to senior school, no thinking required.

£0 · included
Sample school-run fares · meter

What an actual morning costs.

Saloon = one child + booster.
MPV = up to three siblings or carpool.
Every figure computed live from the meter.
From
To
~ Drive
Saloon fare
MPV (3+ kids)
Kingston KT2 · Norbiton
The Tiffin SchoolKT2 6RL · Queens Road drop-off, kerb-side at the gates.
6–9 min
one-way£8.50
one-way£12.75
Surbiton KT6 · Berrylands
Surbiton High SchoolKT6 4SP · Surbiton Crescent set-down, away from the main road.
5–8 min
one-way£8.50
one-way£12.75
Kingston KT1 · Latchmere
Kingston Grammar SchoolKT2 6PY · London Road bay — well before the 8:15 crush.
7–10 min
one-way£8.50
one-way£12.75
Richmond TW10 · Petersham
King's House SchoolTW10 6ED · Side-street drop near the Junior site.
6–9 min
one-way£8.50
one-way£12.75
Hampton TW12 · Hampton Hill
Hampton SchoolTW12 3HD · Hanworth Road gate, mind the LEH girls' crossing.
7–11 min
one-way£8.50
one-way£12.75
Putney SW15 · West Hill
St Paul's School (Barnes)SW13 9JT · Lonsdale Road set-down, river-side approach.
7–10 min
one-way£8.50
one-way£12.75
Putney SW15 · Roehampton
Putney High SchoolSW15 6BH · Putney Hill kerb, before the 8:20 traffic peaks.
5–8 min
one-way£8.50
one-way£12.75
Esher KT10 · Claygate
Reed's School (Cobham)KT11 2ES · A3 Sandown junction in mornings, plan 10 mins ahead.
10–14 min
one-way£10.01
one-way£15.02
Wimbledon Park SW19
King's College SchoolSW19 4TT · Southside Common — drop on the village side.
6–9 min
one-way£8.50
one-way£12.75

Fares above are computed on the saloon meter — base £3.50 + £2.10/mi + 42p/min waiting, with the doorstep minimum of £8.50 applied where the run is short. MPV column is the same maths × 1.5 multiplier from config/pricing.php. Recurring rotas qualify for the 5% volume discount automatically once monthly bookings cross 40 — most 5-day morning + afternoon rotas hit that by the second week of term. No surge, no school-time surcharge, no extra for booster seats. School not listed? Ring dispatch — we cover any school inside our service area.

A real morning · KT2 · Tiffin · year 8

What 07:48 to 08:21 actually looks like.

Pulled verbatim from a January Tuesday dispatch log. Single-child rota, Norbiton home to Tiffin School on Queens Road, saloon with a high-back booster fitted ahead of pickup. Both SMS messages shown below were sent automatically; nobody had to do anything on the parent side except say yes when the SMS link asked for live-track permission.

07:30 · prep
Booster fitted at the garage
Driver Hassan collects the saloon from the Whitechapel garage. Group 2/3 high-back booster already in the back seat from the previous evening's check — clipped, harness clear, mirror lined up.
07:46 · arrival
Kerb, Latchmere Road, KT2
2 minutes early. Engine off, hazards on, driver stands by the rear passenger door. Door doesn't open until parent confirms — no horn, no shout up the path.
07:48 · departure
Child in, harness clipped, pulled away
Hassan double-checks the booster harness, confirms the school destination out loud, pulls away. The first SMS goes to mum's phone automatically.
SMS 1 sent to parent
08:01 · route
Penrhyn Road · Queens Road
Standard route — no deviations. The little school-traffic backup on Penrhyn adds 4 minutes; Hassan knows to set off 5 minutes earlier on a Tuesday.
08:18 · arrival
Tiffin School gates, Queens Road
Kerb-side drop on the school side, well before the 8:30 bell. Child gets out, picks up bag, walks toward the gate.
08:21 · safely arrived
Through the gate
Hassan watches the child pass through the school gate before pulling away. The "safely arrived" SMS goes to mum's phone.
SMS 2 sent to parent
Receipt · Rota #EC-SCH-DEMO · Tue
"I used to drive him myself and check the clock every five minutes. Now I check the clock once when the SMS comes in."
Vehicle
Saloon + Group 2/3 booster
Route
Latchmere KT1 → Tiffin KT2
Drive distance
1.5 mi · 33 min door-to-gate
Booster fee
£0
Parent SMS x 2
£0
Surge / surcharge
£0
Morning fare
£8.50

5 mornings + 5 afternoons = £85.00/week. A 12-week term works out at £1,020.00; a full 36-week school year at £3,060.00. Hit the 40/month volume threshold by week two and the whole monthly invoice drops by 5% automatically.

What the parent actually sees

Two messages. Nothing else.

No parent app to install, no login, no notifications that don't quite work. Two SMS messages per leg of the run, sent automatically to the parent number on the booking. Live-track link is optional — most parents tap it on the first morning and then never again.

SMS 1 · departure
Sent the moment your child is in the back seat and the car has pulled away from the kerb. Includes the driver's first name, the car registration, and an optional live-tracking link if you want to follow on a map.
SMS 2 · safely arrived
Sent the moment the driver has watched your child walk through the school gate — not at "drop-off," not at "kerb stopped." Actually through the gate.
SMS 3 · optional afternoon
Some parents add a third SMS at the afternoon pickup — "child is in the car, on the way home." Free. Toggle on or off any week.
If anything is off
If the child hasn't appeared by the agreed pickup time + 5 minutes, the driver SMS's you so you can ring the school. They will not drive away.
If the run can't happen
Driver illness, accident on the route, vehicle issue — dispatch rings you, names the backup driver who will be there, and confirms the new ETA. Always inside ten minutes of the original slot.
EasyCab School Run
Hassan · BV21 KZX · Tue 07:48
07:48 · departure Hi Sarah — Mia is in the back, harness clipped, just pulling away from Latchmere Road. Driver Hassan, car BV21 KZX. Live track: ec.cab/t/8N4P. ETA Tiffin 08:18.
All good thanks 👍
08:21 · safely arrived Mia walked through the Tiffin Queens Road gate at 08:20. Cheers — see you 15:35 for pickup. — Hassan / EasyCab
15:46 · optional · afternoon Mia in the car, harness on, leaving Tiffin gates. ETA Latchmere 16:08.
Recurring rota · monthly invoice

Set it up once. Pay once a month.

A recurring school-run rota is opened over a 10-minute phone call with the parent rota co-ordinator (a real human — not a form). Once your rota is live, runs happen on autopilot for the rest of the term and a single PDF invoice arrives on the first of each month, net 30. No card on file, no surprise sub-totals, no auto-renew. Pause or stop the rota with 48 hours' notice.

Single child · same school

Saloon rota, 5 days a week.

One named driver + one named backup, both DBS-checked. Group 0+ infant / Group 1 toddler / Group 2/3 booster fitted in advance. Two free SMS per leg — departure and safely arrived. School calendar held — INSET days and half-term auto-paused. 4 free sickness cancellations per term (rarely used in full). Monthly invoice, net 30, no card on file.
Per leg
£8.50
Per week · 10 legs
£85.00
Per term · 12 wk
£1,020.00
3+ siblings · same school

MPV rota, captain seats.

Up to 4 child seats fitted in advance — any mix of categories. Same driver, same vehicle, same back row of seats every morning. One fare for the whole sibling group — no per-child upsell. School calendar held, INSET days auto-paused, holidays off. Sibling discount = ~1.5× saloon fare for 3 children together. Monthly invoice, net 30, same payment terms.
Per leg
£12.75
Per week · 10 legs
£127.50
Volume discount
5%
Schools we run rotas to

The schools we're at, every weekday.

The named schools below are the ones we currently run recurring rotas to — at least one EasyCab vehicle pulls up to each gate every school morning. We cover every other school inside our service area as well; if yours isn't here, ring dispatch and we'll quote a rota.

Kingston · Surbiton
  • The Tiffin SchoolKT2 6RL
  • The Tiffin Girls' SchoolKT2 5PL
  • Kingston Grammar SchoolKT2 6PY
  • Surbiton High SchoolKT6 4SP
  • Holy Cross Prep SchoolKT2 7NU
  • Rokeby SchoolKT2 7PB
Richmond · Hampton
  • King's House SchoolTW10 6ED
  • The Vineyard SchoolTW10 6AW
  • Hampton SchoolTW12 3HD
  • Lady Eleanor HollesTW12 3HF
  • Hampton Court HouseKT8 9BS
  • Twickenham PrepTW12 2SA
Putney · Wandsworth
  • Putney High SchoolSW15 6BH
  • St Paul's School (Barnes)SW13 9JT
  • Hurlingham SchoolSW15 2NB
  • Ibstock Place SchoolSW15 5PY
  • Northcote LodgeSW11 6JL
  • Thomas's Putney ValeSW15 3PH
Esher · Cobham
  • Reed's SchoolKT11 2ES
  • Royal Kent C of EKT11 1BT
  • ACS Cobham InternationalKT11 1BL
  • Notre Dame SchoolKT11 1HA
  • Danes Hill SchoolKT22 0JG
  • St George's JuniorKT13 8DN
Wimbledon · Southfields
  • King's College SchoolSW19 4TT
  • Wimbledon High SchoolSW19 4AB
  • Donhead Prep SchoolSW19 4NP
  • The Study PrepSW19 4UN
  • The Rowans SchoolSW20 0EG
  • Hall School WimbledonSW20 0LR
Sutton · Morden · Streatham
  • Sutton High SchoolSM1 4AX
  • Wallington High for GirlsSM6 9JW
  • Wilson's SchoolSM6 9JW
  • Streatham & Clapham HighSW16 1AW
  • Dunraven SchoolSW16 2QB
  • Eaton House The ManorSW4 9RU
EasyCab vs the alternatives

What the school run looks like, told honestly.

Most families do school runs with a mix of self-driving, ride-hail apps and the school minibus. None of those are bad — they just don't compare straight across to a recurring rota. Here is what the same morning looks like through three different lenses, with the things that actually matter to a parent in the left-hand column.

The morning
EasyCab rota
Ride-hail app
School minibus
Driver vetting level
Enhanced DBS + barred list
Basic background check
Enhanced DBS (varies)
Same driver every day
Yes — named
Different every morning
Yes — assigned
Child seat included
3 categories free
Bring your own
Seat-belt only on some
Seat fitted in advance
Yes
No
N/A
Two-way SMS to parent
2 free per leg
In-app only
Rarely
Watches child through the gate
Always
No — kerb drop
Yes
Surge pricing in bad weather
£0 ever
2–3× standard
N/A
Holds school calendar
Yes — INSET / half-term auto-paused
You re-book each day
School calendar
Free sickness cancellations
4 per term
Cancel fee or full charge
N/A — fixed-term contract
Door-to-school door-to-door
Yes
Yes
Pickup point only
Monthly PDF invoice
Net-30
Per-ride receipts
Per-term invoice
Volume discount
5% above 40/mo
None
Per-place pricing
Named safeguarding lead
Yes · 4-hour ack
No — generic support
Yes — school DSL
"Two boys, two schools, two different time slots. One rota, one driver, one PDF a month. I used to plan the morning at midnight; now I plan it once a term."
A
Anya · Surbiton KT5 Two children · Tiffin & Surbiton High · in rota since Sept 2024
5 days a week MPV · 3 boosters Net-30

Open a rota in one phone call.

Ring the parent rota co-ordinator on the number below. Ten minutes — pickup address, school, child age + weight band for the seat, two parent contact numbers, the morning and afternoon time slots. We hold the rota verbally for 48 hours while you check the maths.

Real human picks up — under 60 sec, 24/7. Rota held for 48 hrs while you decide. No card on file, no auto-renew. Pause or stop with 48 hrs' notice.
Direct to parent rota desk 020 0000 0000

Open 24/7 — ring before 07:30 to set up a rota that starts the next school morning.

Email the rota desk

Are EasyCab drivers DBS-checked for school runs?

Yes — and not the basic level. Every driver on a recurring school-run rota carries an Enhanced DBS certificate with the Children's Barred List check (the same level a teaching assistant or sports coach holds). Re-verified annually. Drivers also complete a 3-hour in-house safeguarding induction before they take their first school rota.

Will my child have the same driver every day?

Yes. One named driver per child for the full term, with one named backup who has met your child and knows the route. Main driver does the morning and afternoon run every school day; backup steps in only if the main is ill or on annual leave, and you are told the day before whenever a swap is needed.

Are child seats included or do I bring my own?

Included free. Three categories on board — Group 0+ infant carriers (birth–13kg), Group 1 toddler seats (9–18kg), Group 2/3 high-back boosters (15–36kg) — fitted in advance before pickup. Tell us the age, weight and height at booking. UK law requires a child seat until age 12 or 135cm; we comply automatically and the seat is £0.

How do parents know the cab arrived and my child got to school?

Two free SMS to the parent number on the booking. The first the moment the driver pulls away with your child in the back — driver's first name, car reg, optional live track link. The second the moment the driver has watched your child walk through the school gate. Add a third afternoon-pickup SMS if you want it.

What if my child is ill or off school that day?

Text or ring dispatch before 07:30 (morning) or 14:30 (afternoon) and the booking is cancelled with no charge. After those windows we still cancel but a £5.00 standard cancellation applies — covers the driver who is already three streets away. Recurring rotas have 4 free sickness cancellations per term as a buffer.

Can siblings travel together, and what does it cost?

Yes. Two siblings fit in a saloon with two booster seats; 3 or 4 siblings travel in an MPV with up to four child seats. Same-rota siblings to the same school pay one fare — Kingston-to-Tiffin works out at around £12.75 one-way for three children, or about £127.50 a week for the full ten morning/afternoon legs.

Is there a discount for booking the whole term?

Yes — recurring rotas qualify for the EasyCab volume discount automatically. Hit 40 rides in a month (any combination of school runs, weekend trips, airport pickups) and the whole monthly invoice drops by 5%. Most 5-day morning + afternoon rotas hit the threshold by week two. Invoicing is monthly, net 30, no card on file.

Which schools across South West London and Surrey do you regularly cover?

Tiffin, Tiffin Girls', Kingston Grammar, Surbiton High, Holy Cross in Kingston / Surbiton; King's House, The Vineyard in Richmond; Hampton, LEH, Hampton Court House in Hampton / East Molesey; Putney High, Hurlingham, St Paul's, Ibstock in Putney / Roehampton; Reed's, Royal Kent, ACS Cobham in Cobham; King's College Wimbledon, Wimbledon High, Donhead in Wimbledon. If your child's school isn't named, ring dispatch — we cover any school in our service area.

What if my child is late out of the gate?

The driver waits. First 10 minutes after the agreed pickup are free — covers normal end-of-day spill-out, a quick teacher chat, or after-school club ending late. Beyond that the waiting rate kicks in at 42p/min, capped sensibly. The driver SMS's you if your child hasn't appeared by agreed-time + 5 min so you can ring the school. They will not drive away.

Is there a safeguarding policy I can read or share with the school?

Yes. The full EasyCab Safeguarding Policy is at /safeguarding — covers Enhanced DBS verification, in-house induction, named safeguarding lead, no-route-deviation rule, no-stranger-handover rule, vehicle and seat checks, data we keep on each child (the bare minimum, deleted 3 months after the rota ends). Schools that want a PDF for their own records can request one through dispatch.

School calendar held · same driver all year · child seats £0

Same driver. Same gate.
Every morning.

A 10-minute call sets the rota up. After that it runs on autopilot for the rest of the school year — INSET days off, half-term off, public holidays off, one PDF on the first of each month.