Check you qualify for a disabled person's bus pass

If you have a valid Blue Badge, you will automatically qualify for a free bus pass - Category H.

We can check your entitlement on the system.

We will issue your bus pass with the same end date as the Blue Badge.

You qualify if you receive the higher rate of the mobility component for Disability Living Allowance.

You automatically qualify if your PIP decision letter matches at least one of the benefits below. When you apply, you must provide a photo or scanned image of your decision letter showing the matching benefit.

You qualify if you receive either of these two benefits:

• Mobility - Moving around - 8 points (or more)
• Daily living - Communicating verbally - 8 points (or more)

You automatically qualify if you are:

• in receipt of the War Pensioners Mobility Supplement. This is confirmed on the award letter from Veterans UK.

You may qualify if you are blind (severely sight impaired) or partially sighted (sight impaired) - Category A.

You qualify if:

• you are registered with your local authority or entitled to be registered as blind (severely sight impaired)
• you are registered, or entitled to be registered, as partially sighted (sight impaired)
• you can provide a certificate of visual impairment

The Oxfordshire Visual Impairment Team (01865 894935) manage the register in Oxfordshire.

In general terms, a person can be registered as blind (severely sight impaired) if they cannot see (with glasses, if worn) the top letter of the eye test chart (used by doctors and opticians) at a distance of three metres or less.

Some people, who can read the top letter of an eye test chart at three metres, but not at six metres, may still be eligible for registration as blind if their field of vision is also severely restricted.

A person can be registered as partially sighted (sight impaired) if they have a full field of vision but can only read the top letter of the eye test chart at a distance of six metres or less (with glasses, if worn). However, if they can read the next three lines down at the same distance, but the field of vision is either moderately or severely restricted, they may still qualify for registration. 

You do not qualify if:

• you are not entitled to be registered by your local authority.

You may qualify if you are profoundly or severely deaf - Category B.

You qualify if:

• your hearing loss is severe or profound (that is, greater than 70 dBHL in both ears).

Hearing loss is usually graded as follows:

• 25-39 dBHL = mild – cannot hear whispers.
• 40-69 dBHL = moderate – cannot hear conversational speech.
• 70-94 dBHL = severe – cannot hear shouting.
• > 95 dBHL = profound – cannot hear sounds that would be paint for a hearing person to listen to.

You do not qualify if:

• your hearing loss is mild or moderate (that is, 69 dBHL or less, in your better ear).

You qualify if:

• You are unable to communicate in any language. That is, you are unable to make clear basic oral requests, or you are unable to ask specific questions to clarify instructions.

You do not qualify if:

• you have speech but it is slow or difficult to understand, for example, you have a severe stammer.
• you cannot speak English, but you speak another language.

You may qualify if you have a long-term and substantial disability that means you cannot walk or makes walking very difficult - Category D. 

The criteria are the same as those used to consider Disability Living Allowance (DLA) higher rate mobility component and the moving around activity of Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

You qualify if:

• you are unable to walk at all
• you can only get about by using crutches (long term)
• you are unable to walk more than 64 metres with severe discomfort
• it takes an excessive amount of time to walk a short distance, for example, five minutes to walk 100 meters
• the exertion to walk would constitute a danger to your life or would be likely to lead to a serious deterioration in your health.

You do not qualify if:

• your mobility problems are short-term (less than 12 months)
• you are able to walk relatively normally with the use of an artificial leg.

You may qualify if you do not have arms or have long term loss of use of both arms - Category E.

You qualify if:

• you have both arms but are unable to use them to carry out day to day tasks
• you have a limb reduction deficiency in both arms
• you have had a bilateral upper limb amputation
• you had a medical condition which affects the use of your arms e.g. motor neurone disease.

You do not qualify if you have:

• one arm and are able to carry out day to day activities.

You may qualify if you have a learning disability as defined by the Transport Act 2000. 

The Transport Act 2000 defines learning disability as “a state of arrested or incomplete development of mind which includes significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning”.

You qualify if:

• you have a learning disability which includes significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning
• you have had your learning disability since childhood.

How concessionary travel guidance defines ‘learning disability’

A person with a learning disability has a reduced ability to understand new or complex information, difficulty in learning new skills, and may be unable to cope independently. These disabilities must have started before adulthood and have a lasting effect on development. The person should be able to qualify for specialist services and may have had special educational provision.

You do not qualify if you have:

• dyslexia, dyspraxia or attention deficit disorder – these do not qualify as significant impairment
• mental health problems
• a condition that you have not had since childhood.

You may qualify if you are not eligible for a driving licence on medical grounds - Category G.

Under the Road Traffic Act 1988, you may be refused a driving licence on the grounds of your medical fitness.

If you are in possession of a current driving licence, you cannot apply under this category. Applicants under this category may have their details passed to the DVLA for the purpose of fraud prevention.

You qualify if:

• you have epilepsy, and your current experience of seizures /auras means that you would not be eligible for a driving licence
• you have diabetes and have suffered more than one hypoglycaemic attack requiring the assistance of another person within the last 12 months
• you have a severe mental disorder which means you would be refused a driving licence or have your driving licence revoked by the DVLA
• you cannot read a registration plate in good light at 20.5 metres (with lenses)
• you are liable to sudden attacks of giddiness or fainting
• you have another medical condition which means you would be refused a driving licence or have your driving licence revoked by the DVLA.

You do not qualify if:

• you are refused a driving licence by the DVLA as a result of the misuse of drugs or alcohol
• you are advised not to drive for medical reasons or for the sake of your health but are allowed to keep your driving licence, for example, if you are recovering from surgery or because driving would make a medical condition worse
• the reason you cannot drive is short term (less than 12 months), and you are not required to surrender your licence
• the reason you cannot drive is because of the side effects of medication that you are taking (unless your driving licence is revoked or refused because of it)
• you suffer from mental health issues (such as anxiety or depression) which would not cause you to be refused a driving licence
• you have a life-limiting condition or serious illness which would not cause you to be refused a driving licence.