£2800 for a college biology trip!

[dinnafash]

Is this cost usual for college trips?
Dd started her A levels last week and has come home today with information about a trip to Honduras for £2800!
We've already heard about another one that costs £1500.
I'm absolutely gobsmacked that they think it's acceptable to offer trips at that cost to students. Surely there are very few families who can afford such things. That's more than we've ever spent on a holiday for the 4 of us.
Dd informs me they've been told they will get a qualification with this and UCAS points too. So once again poorer families are being penalised and not being given the full opportunities that richer students will have.

Erm, not in state schools, no.

Lol no

Sounds like the teacher wants to visit and has made a teaching plan around it!

What qualification?

My uni offered trips like this for crazy amounts of money, such a joke.

No way, that's insane.

Fackinell. I went to deal and threw wooden squares down the beach to count seaweed.

Does the letter set out clearly what the qualification will be?

No way. That's the money for food for a year at university. That would make a huge difference to her life then.

The qualifications needed for university do not include that sort of thing - they just need A levels. Good ones! Any admissions tutor would not expect a potential student to have studied there. It's just ridiculous.

I would be telling the school that the cost is discriminatory.

Honduras?

hahahaha. my geography field trip was camping in the Peak District (was ACE)

Would universities really accept school trips as regarding students as better academic material? Is it some kind of voluntary service thing?

Is it a PADI open water qualification? Cool, but can't see where the UCAS points come in...

is DC getting a Bursary of any kind for low income.maybe they can help

Do DofE or some relevant, local, meaningful volunteering instead.

sorry, said geography, see it's biology (...seems even less relevant)

flopsy is that a joke? 80% or more of families wouldn't have that spare for one child's geography field trip! Not just very low income families.

This will be world challenge. The idea is you fundraise. Very contentious.

It's not just low income families who couldn't really afford it. We're on well above average income with 3 kids, and we'd struggle to find the best part of £3k for one kid to go on a holiday trip like this.

The idea is you fundraise

Ahah. Nope. Bollocks to that.

Or biology...

There might also be a geography field trip to the Galapagos Islands...

And then a physics field trip to Sern

And a chemistry field trip to Area 51..

no its not a joke,it happens that and monthly payment plan

Even at a private school we never had trips more than about £1200 so no, that’s nuts

the idea is you find raise !

Then the idea is pure cheeky fuckery!

we spent a week stuck.in a peat bog in Devon o_O

I teach A level biology. I would never have the cheek to run a trip like this. Great opportunity if you can get it, but completely unreasonable to expect parents to find that kind of money, and certainly not essential to university applications.

Is this in a state school? Surely this can't be normal? 2.8k? Fuck me.