Fuel shortages/rationing and exams and training

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Unless something changes rapidly, I fear we will shortly enter a prolonged period of fuel shortages and potential rationing. Some of this will be caused by panic buyers stuffing in a fiver every day and no doubt they’ll queue for hours to get their rationed amount in at every station.
my kids can’t be the only ones with GCSEs and A-Levels who have no reliable public transport option to their rural state school. There was a bus that leaves once a day but when busy it won’t collect from certain stops as this adds time onto the journey. Despite the school campaigning for years the service is wholly unreliable hence getting my eldest a car.

The 12 mile journey is too far to walk or cycle safely. College is rural so no hotel or air bnb. What can be done?
Likewise a friend’s son is an apprentice with a 15 mile journey cross country. No fuel means the apprenticeship is gone. Living away from home for work too.

Do your children get the school bus to school? Or is there a school bus that the haven’t used?
Mine are primary age but travel on a school bus.
There will be contingency plans, even if they are last minute, if due rationing occurs for exams. It could be a school minibus doing special runs to collect exam pupils. Rural households I hope will be given a larger ration as we not in walking distance of anything and there’s no public transport. I suspect we will have to suffer first though.

No there is a bus at £500 a term, even though catchment. Couldn’t afford it add it doesn’t allow for after school GCSEs etc so eldest has a car. Even if I could afford it the bus is full and no space for next term. So bus is not an option.

I would assume that rationing will be used to ensure vital transport needs such as getting children to school will continue, although I doubt this will all be smooth sailing.

I would think so but it won’t allow for children who drive themselves as the catchment bus at £1k per term for two children became too expensive. It’s full so even if I could find the money, they won’t put on another bus for an extra 2 kids.
If public bus was reliable it would do but it’s not. When my youngest used it, he got to school 4/10 days over two weeks.

If they are in the catchment school the local authority should provide transport for the younger child. Sixth form has been paid bus travel for years.
Check the council website for the school transport policy

its not for us. We have two catchment schools and the council won’t pay. We have repeatedly challenged this over the last 10 years.

That’s unfortunate as councils are required to provide transport but some have changed their policies to the nearest school rather than catchment which has ended up with children only being able to get into the catchment and then the council not providing transport
For the exams in case of rationing I would contact school and ask.

This sounds like a lockdown by any other name. Wonderful.

Well if the exam boards have got contingency plans they haven't shared them with the schools yet!

I'm an exams officer and in the same position living rurally and my own DC have exams at school 30miles away.

Thank you. Can you DC get a bus or train? The biggest issue for me is the lack of transport and I hadn’t even thought about staff needed to invigilate etc. Near me, we all travel cross country to work and school, a 10 mile journey could be 3-4 hours on public transport due to travelling into key hubs and back out in a different direction.

@Pinkprescription yes one DC bus and the other boards.

But I'll be damned if I'll let this ruin their last year at school summer celebrations at the end of June. Grrrr.

Yes all the invigilators will need to travel. And schools struggle to find enough as it is, they often come from far and wide. And no we don't live near a major city with buses or trains etc.

Let's hope Starmer had JCQ at downing St today!

Good job it's not happening then.

It's diesel that's most likely to be short.

Can they carpool with others coming from the same area?

Otherwise, realistically, I think you just need to cut unnecessary travel to prioritise the necessary. I am undergoing cancer treatment. I have several appointments a month and my hospital is an hour’s drive away, also rural with no public transport. I’ve been limiting where else we drive so that I can save on fuel for hospital trips.

In the event of rationing, wouldn't plans be put in place to make sure all kids can get to school for vital exams? As you say @Pinkprescription there will be others in your position. I would try not to worry just yet, although easy for me to say, I know.

I live somewhere with similarly limited and unreliable public transport options. Different circumstances but I ended up having to pay for DD to take a taxi the 12 miles to school on the days she was sitting A levels as the local bus was so unreliable. In your situation, I would keep a jerry can of petrol aside so she can at least get to the actual exams even if she has to miss school in the lead up (hopefully, in this situation, schools would provide online revision lessons)

Start filling up proper petrol cans and store them outside/in a garage? Admittedly that will make any shortages worse but if you've no option?

Car pooling is the best idea if you can find someone, preferably someone with an electric vehicle, or a hybrid?

Does anyone commenting understand about the actual situation and the numbers? It was an interesting read when I read them - over half the oil has been diverted along pipelines and some oil is getting through eg today 10 ships were negotiated by Pakistan. The oil price has increased mostly because of uncertainties, but if it comes down to it, the people who will get the oil will be rich countries like us, the people who won’t will be global south. Shortages in certain areas of the U.K. are purely due to panic buying not lack of supply. My petrol is up 10% annoying but hardly a panic about exams situation

Agreed. Unfortunately I also need fuel for partners chemo so I really understand. But I’m very concerned that even with no trips other than hospital and school, it’s 350 miles a week. And knowing what the 2001 crisis was like, I couldn’t get any petrol for 3 weeks.

Because of the prices and that some of the supermarkets are now 10-20p cheaper for litre of diesel there will be shortages in cheaper places which can make it feel like it's running out but the garage that charges £1.90 or whatever will probably have some.

This outlines the current plans - no current concerns about supplies but there will be challenges if the situation continues inews.co.uk/news/politics/petrol-ambulances-speed-limits-uks-fuel-shortage-plan-4325148?srsltid=AfmBOoqJZoxh5ADxMIxcmbkH8Kr0tj71Xu8QzNuXvzv4ObAuhztkLWzo

I have and also the JP Morgan report about how the UK will face shortages from mid April.
If you live rurally, you have to be prepared, you can’t ever let your tank drop below last 1/4 as you can’t guarantee finding a fuel station with petrol in normal times. besides the guages aren’t always that accurate!
Im trying to find solutions rather than panicking at the last minute when a situation was both foreseeable and predicted by decent econmists, not just tabloid ranting.

taxis @Pinkprescription ?

That’s an option but very expensive. Currently they are £25 each way. Given the exams cover approximately 18 days between 2 DC, it’s close to £1k before price increases. Main worry is how unreliable they are - again rural area they come from miles away and I’ve often been left in the lurch.