Close

Student bus passes

Students can apply for a discounted CityZone annual bus pass for the 2025/26 academic year, reduced from the full price of £700. This pass provides one year of unlimited access to a wide range of Oxford Bus Company, Thames Travel and Pulhams routes across the city centre and the majority of greater Oxford. You can view the CityZone network map for more details.

Some students are eligible for further discounts or free passes. The eligibility criteria for these are listed below.

If you travel occasionally and don't need a full pass, you can also use your student ID card to travel on Oxford Bus Company buses at a discounted price of £1.80 per trip. Simply show your card to the driver to obtain the discount.

How to apply

To apply for a subsidised student bus pass, you need to:

  1. complete your online enrolment;

  2. set up your Oxford Brookes email account;

  3. know the postcode for your semester-time address;

  4. follow the link for the correct pass (further down this page).

Please ensure you check the eligibility criteria for each pass and select the one that applies to you.

If you are purchasing the standard student CityZone pass costing £220, the link below will take you directly to the Oxford Bus Company website. You will need to create an account using your Oxford Brookes email address in order to receive the discounted price.

If you are applying for a free CityZone pass or one with an increased subsidy (£125), the links below will take you to an application form.

Please note that all passes are subject to an additional non-refundable £10 admin fee. When you go to purchase your pass the price will initially appear as the standard price of £700. After logging in or registering for an account using your Oxford Brookes student email address, the price will reduce to the subsidised price plus the £10 admin fee.

Find your postcode

If you will be living in halls of residence, please find the webpage for your hall of residence and select 'location' from the top menu to view the address and postcode.

If you will be living in other accommodation, you can enter your address into the Royal Mail Postcode Finder.

Standard student CityZone pass (£220)

All Oxford Brookes students are eligible for this pass.

Purchase the subsidised CityZone pass costing £220

Subsidised CityZone pass (£125)

You can apply for this pass if you are one of the following:

  • A UK undergraduate student, eligible for the Oxford Brookes bursary for new students and living less than one mile from Headington Campus during the academic year
    OR
  • Any student living more than two miles from Headington Campus during the academic year.

You do not have to establish the exact distance between your address and Headington Campus - simply enter your postcode into the application form when prompted. If you do not meet the criteria for this pass, the form response email will let you know which alternative pass to apply for.

Apply for the subsidised CityZone pass costing £125

Free CityZone annual pass

You can apply for this pass if you are a UK undergraduate student, eligible for the Oxford Brookes bursary for new students and living more than one mile from Headington Campus during the academic year.

You do not have to establish the exact distance between your address and Headington Campus - simply enter your postcode into the application form when prompted. If you do not meet the criteria for this pass, the form response email will let you know which alternative pass to apply for.

Apply for the free CityZone annual pass

What happens after you apply?

If you have purchased the standard student CityZone pass at £220, you will receive an email from the Oxford Bus Company confirming the purchase and informing you how to download the app to use your pass.

If you have applied for the £125 subsidised CityZone pass or free pass, you will receive a response within 30 minutes of submitting the application form that confirms which pass you are eligible for. This email will contain a link directly to the correct pass on the Oxford Bus Company website. You can then proceed to purchase it. You will need to create an account using your Oxford Brookes email address in order to receive the discounted price. You will then receive an email from the Oxford Bus Company confirming the purchase and informing you how to download the app to use your pass.

Need more help?

If you have any questions or concerns about how to apply for a subsidised student bus pass, please read the full set of frequently asked questions.

For further assistance on applications, please contact the dedicated team at CityZonebusqueries@brookes.ac.uk.

For assistance with queries relating to purchased passes or technical issues with the the Oxford Bus app, please contact: brookesbus@oxfordbus.co.uk.

Oxford Bus Company will also be attending the Fair in the Forum, 11:30am to 3:00pm on Friday 23 January. You'll find them in the John Henry Brookes Building on Headington Campus.

If you'd like help understanding different ways of traveling round Oxford, including how to navigate the bus network, the Student Induction Team are happy to advise you.

chat loading...