I have just found out that I will need to pay £160 per term for transport costs for my DD to attend special school 6th form. Is this fair? If she didn't have learning difficulties, mobility issues, social communication problems she wouldn't need to attend a 6th form far away from home and could stay in mainstream and catch the bus/train like everyone else. But sadly she isn't, and now we will have to find an extra £480 per academic year. It just seems so unfair, all children entering 6th form now have to meet their own transport costs and these can be extortionate especially when 6th form colleges are 14 miles away (in our situation) but to also find that child with SEN has to pay seems doubly unfair. The govt expects children to stay in f/t education until 18 and yet from 16 they have to pay for the privilege of attending school! How can the govt expect families (already under financial/emotional/social pressures because they care for a child with SEN) to find almost £500 extra a year?
Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on special needs.
SN children
Why should I pay LA for transport costs when DD with SEN goes to 6th form?
Ollyoscar18 · 13/07/2015 13:43
It isn't just 6th form - in our area they are cutting right back on all SEN transport eg expecting people to use drop off points, removing transport all together if your circumstances change eg move within the area, move to secondary school, expecting people to transport their child themselves if they use a motability car. And yes, ours have charged for 6th form for a while now 
It's a sorry state of affairs.
When she turns 18 and moves to adult social care you could use some of her personal budget to fund this. Some parents I know are doing this.
Our LEA had a blanket policy of refusing all transport requests and only those who appealed were given it. And we had the meeting point, travel training crap.
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