Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Further education

You'll find discussions about A Levels and universities on our Further Education forum.

Options for sixth form colleges, all over 1.5 hours each way

26 replies

parrotonmyshoulder · 14/09/2024 17:36

DD has just started year 11. School does not have a sixth form.
There are two sixth form colleges in our county, and one in the neighbouring county. 1.5 hours (direct bus but less likely to get in as not same county), 2 hours but entails leaving 6.15 am, or 2+ hours and impossible.
Several schools have sixth forms, most don’t offer her a level preferences. The nearest one does - she left this school in Year 8 for SEND, mental health and bullying reasons. Needless to say, she doesn’t want to consider it again! All other schools are at least an hour away, don’t have much of a range of A levels, and she is very wary of them due to her experiences.
Not quite sure why I’m posting. Solidarity? I appreciate this sounds unusual. It is the reality in our rural area of England.

OP posts:
Midante · 14/09/2024 18:17

Gosh that sounds hard. Compromising on A Level choices is sometimes necessary, especially if you can't get to a college, but I understand her wariness. She might still find her niche in a different school, especially if she's doing unusual subjects ans therefore has small classes.

I'm guessing boarding is out of the question with her MH history. Could you stretch to online school or other online provider? The saving on bus fares would offset it somewhat...

Talk to colleges about the timetables too. One near us teaches "full time" in only 3 days a week, for everyone. Another can arrange timetable into fewer days for those who need it.