To think DD should get the rail replacement bus

You want her to go in so she what?! Proves a point? Suffers? Wastes FIVE hours a day? You’ve said she’s walking the dog or swimming - you should be proud of how conscientious she sounds! It’s absurd to me that some people think it’s ‘just life’ or we should just struggle for no reason?! She’s allowed to work from home, she’s working from home, but you’re not happy unless she’s out in the rain, on a bus for five hours. It doesn’t count somehow unless there’s suffering 😂

Yeh because we can all choose exactly where we live. If the kid has fallen at the first hurdle of inconvenience it doesn’t bode well to me.

I don’t understand the issue here, given they say she can stay at home, provide materials to do the work and she is actually doing the work! Why on earth would you want her to sit on a bus unnecessarily for so much longer, just to prove…what exactly?

Theres a life skills aspect - many workplaces will expect you to turn up or not get paid.

So some practise on how to adjust life around disruptions is a worth while skill. Possibly once a week rather than daily.

Apologies.... I stand corrected.
I have actually heard of "hall" type arrangements for students who live remotely (like on the Scilly Isles or similar) who basically board during the week.
I think however the OPs daughter just chose this college because she wanted the course rather than them living on a island 🙂

Can she wfh on the days when she has the least face to face contact and then possibly stay overnight one or 2 nights a week? A Travelodge or Premier Inn would be fine

What kind of mum pushes her diligent daughter to commute five hours a day on the bus, just for the sake of it 🤯

This

I think its very unreasonable to ask your teenage daughter to do such a long commute on a bus on a daily basis. Its not only inefficient use of time but more overy its extremely exhausting.
Also, you seem to be looking for why any other suggested options wont work rather than trying to make them work. Eventhough, there isnt any need for any other options because your daughter and the college already have a solution that is working.

I know quite a few colleges do, both I attended did, normal ones not specialist ones.

This would make a lot of people nauseous and even vomit.

If she had a job, she'd also have control over where she lived and would be unlikely to choose somewhere that wasted more than two hours each way to attend.

She's making the best of a bad situation and learning to self motivate and self study, good for her (and not the train company or the college recruiting people knowing the situation).

Some 6th Forms or specialist schools (like the BRIT School) do have arrangements for students living far away but it's usually with families not "halls".
(I think @Simonjt might have thought this was university level not 6th Form level)

Rather than telling her she is being unreasonable you could ask her what drawbacks there might be to not going in at all, how that might affect her and how she might mitigate those.

1. Face to face lessons are almost always better than remote. You learn more and get less distracted. If some of her lessons are only recordings that’s even worse, as she can’t join in.
2. She’s in A-level year so this is especially important. The college allowing her to WfH is irrelevant if she drops an exam grade as a result.
3. Proper learning doesn’t happen after a 2.5 hour commute
4. It sounds like you live in a fairly remote area? If so you need to accept some responsibility here. If you lived in or near a city she wouldn’t have to attend a college 45 miles away.
5. So you probably need to get her the £200 AirBnB. Tell her to find a friend to split the cost with.

I don't know of any sixth form colleges that offer this.

I think you're over thinking it. The college have made a provision which they're happy with. Your dd has made her choice and both she and the college are happy with it. Why get involved at all?

The lessons are being streamed.

Surely a conscientious student is going to do the work remotely far more effectively than a student knackered from 5 hours a day of stressful travelling?

The college seem sensible about it - it seems fine.

If she’s still being marked as attending while doing the work online, I’m not sure what’s the problem with her not going for the time being?

Also, does she need to go every day? DD’s college was only 3 days per week.

I don’t understand why she would go in, if the college are happy for her not to. In fact, I’d say she’d be a fool to spend 4 hours on commuting when she’s been told it’s not necessary.

Why do you think she should go in? What lesson are you trying to teach her- it’s a sign of your moral strength to struggle and massively inconvenience yourself to do something if it’s technically possible, even if you’ve been told not to?

They are streaming the lessons

Almost 5 hours of commuting per day is unreasonable IMO. I am not surprised she doesn't want to do it! It would be so exhausting and negatively impact her work.

I don't rely on trains for work anymore but when I'm booking weekend travel to visit friends or something I avoid weekends with engineering works and rail replacement buses as they are a nightmare in terms of length and comfort. There's often no working toilet on the bus (so if you need the loo or you've got your period that's a mare) and I can't read/write on a bus as it's too jerky and makes me feel sick, whereas I can on a train.

I think if she can do all her work from home, is motivated to do that and her attendance isn't affected then it's okay for her to WFH until the train line is open again. But be clear she will have to go back in once it's up and running!

I would pay for a hotel once or twice a week so she gets some face to face learning. 2 hr 20 each way is too far for a commute imo.