How to apply for school transport subsidy

1. Fill in an online application for school transport subsidy in the OmaKela e-service (in Finnish and Swedish). Apply separately for each school year.

   • If you cannot sign in to OmaKela, your guardian can apply for you in OmaKela.
2. Use the route planner (kelareitit.digitransit.fi) when applying for school transport subsidy in the OmaKela e-service. The route planner can tell you the length of your trip to school and whether public transport options are available.
3. Send the application in the OmaKela e-service.

   • If you use Matkahuolto, Waltti, HSL, Nysse or Föli for your trips to school, you may receive the right buy subsidised tickets immediately from the ticket vendor’s online store after you have submitted your application. Vendor instructions for buying a ticket can be found on the Matkahuolto (matkahuolto.fi), Waltti (waltti.fi, in Finnish), HSL (hsl.fi), Nysse (nysse.fi) and Föli (föli.fi) websites.
   • If you are not given the right to purchase tickets immediately after submitting your application, you can buy your tickets at the regular price and have the subsidy deposited in your bank account afterwards. See how to request that the subsidy is deposited in your bank account.
   • In all other situations, Kela will pay the subsidy to you or the transport operator once your application has been reviewed.
4. You may be granted the right to purchase subsidised tickets immediately after sending your application. In that case, you can purchase a subsidised ticket before you receive a decision on school transport subsidy. You can check if you have a right to purchase subsidised tickets in OmaKela under Omat etuudet – Koulumatkatuki. In OmaKela, you can also see if your application has been decided and how much you will get. You will also get a written decision on your application by post. If you are under 18, Kela will communicate the decision also to your legal guardian.

Alternatively you can complete and print out the form School transport subsidy (KM 1e, pdf). Mail the application to Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA. If you use Matkahuolto, Waltti, HSL, Nysse or Föli for your trips to school, Kela can grant you the right buy subsidised tickets immediately from the ticket vendor’s online store after you have submitted your application. You can track your application in OmaKela.

Contact the ticket vendor if you have questions about subsidised tickets, such as where to buy tickets, how to load them to your card or device or what kinds of tickets are available.

When to apply

Apply for the school transport subsidy at the beginning of each school year or when you know how you will be travelling to school.

The earliest that you can get school transport subsidy is the beginning of the month preceding application. For example, if you wish to receive it from the beginning of August, you must file an application in OmaKela by the end of September.

Apply for school transport subsidy once per school year.

Report changes in your circumstances

Report any changes in the OmaKela e-service (in Finnish and Swedish). You can also call telephone assistance for students.

Alternatively you can complete and print out a notification of changes form KM 4e (pdf).

If you report changes late, if the information you provide turns out to be incorrect, or if you do not report relevant information, you may receive school transport subsidy even though you are not entitled to it. In such cases Kela will require you to pay back the school transport subsidy even if it was paid to the ticket office or to the transport operator.

Find out what changes you must report to Kela.

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