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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think it's outrageous that there is nowhere in my town of 200000 people offering Alevels

153 replies

Bestseller · 10/12/2018 14:12

There no getting away from it, this is a deprived area and with educational provision like this there is little prospect of social mobility.

We have 5 large secondary schools. Not one of them has a sixth form. There is a further education college but it has merged with two other colleges in surrounding towns and ours now only offers vocational qualifications. To do A levels you either need to go to sixth form at a school 8 miles in one direction (with rubbish public tramsport links) or a 25 min (expensive) train journey in the other direction.

Obviously for committed students with supportive families , that's not insurmountable but another example of how life is even harder for those whose opportunities are more limited in the first place.

Is this usual in deprived areas? Who do I need to take it up with?

OP posts:
IdontknowwhyIcallhimGerald · 10/12/2018 15:48

No A level provision here either despite 6 comprehensive schools in the borough. The choice in my town is a bus and then a train (and 20 min walk) to a town 12 miles away or vocational courses at the FE college which is 2 bus rides away. It's not easy.

bsc · 10/12/2018 15:48

Did you not read my point about deprived town? My parents couldn't afford it, but thankfully the LA kept prices on the bus for 6th formers at children's prices, and it came out of family allowance. I worked every weekend from 16 as well.

veggiepigsinpastryblankets · 10/12/2018 15:49

YANBU. It is outrageous. It's all very well saying the brightest and most motivated teenagers will make it work (unless their parents actively discourage it - not that anyone on these threads ever seems to believe that happens) but what about the averagely intelligent, averagely motivated ones?

OP I know you're stuck with a Tory MP who doesn't need your town's votes, but what about local councillors? If they actually live in your town they might be a bit more motivated to do something about it.

CurcubitaPepo · 10/12/2018 15:51

Outrageous.

Incidentally, one of the Merseyside boroughs, I think it’s knowsley, also has no a level provision (not where I live btw).

So not a unique problem.

Original poster
Bestseller · 10/12/2018 15:54

Veggie,.I always make a point of voting for the council candidate who lives in the town but usually there's only one. I drew a line the year it was BNP! Our current county councillor doesnt live here.

OP posts:
WerewolfNumber1 · 10/12/2018 15:56

All this “16 year olds can travel, I did and it was fine” stuff is missing the point.

The OP is not saying it’s impossible to do a-levels where she lives, she’s saying it’s harder to do a-levels there. Which obviously it is.

DianaPrincessOfThemyscira · 10/12/2018 16:01

30 years ago bus passes were much cheaper or even free and there was much more in the way of subsidised travel. Wages have not gone up comparatively to travel costs. You can not compare the two.

You can’t compare an affluent area either, being ‘annoyed’ about costs is not the same as not being able to afford a bus pass to get to college or a bike to get there.

Original poster
Bestseller · 10/12/2018 16:02

Exactly Werewolf, whereas if there's any real desire to improve social mobility, it should be easier for these children, not harder.

OP posts:
Original poster
Bestseller · 10/12/2018 16:04

For many of the children concerned, it's not even that their patents can't buy a bike or a bus pass, it's that they're not prepared to do it for their children or don't understand why it would be beneficial. They take a very short term view about what it will cost today, rather than the benefit it will bring for tomorrow.

OP posts:
DontCallMeCharlotte · 10/12/2018 16:05

I grew up in a pretty affluent part of the UK and our school didn't have a sixth form. In fact surprisingly few secondary/comprehensives do in our county. The nearest sixth form was 9 miles away by train but we did get free train passes. (I would add that my family was not remotely affluent!)

I am shocked to see that transport is not routinely paid for over 16s now. What the hell are they supposed to do? I know in Hampshire there was a scheme whereby the Local Authority supplied mopeds to youngster, although that was only in rural areas where there was no suitable public transport.

these already disadvantaged children have to travel when their better off peers don't

YANBU but I don't think it's related to living in a deprived area as there isn't sixth form provision in many towns at all, up and down the country.

NicoAndTheNiners · 10/12/2018 16:07

Well initially I thought this is the same for dd because we're rural and it's 8 miles to the nearest school. However we're only a population of 3000.....it does seem bonkers that such a big town has no sixth form.

We pay £1200 a year for dd's travel because once they're in sixth form you have to pay!

EmeraldVillage · 10/12/2018 16:09

I hear you op. It is this sort of stuff that stifles the life chances of many kids who don’t grow up in middle class homes.

DontCallMeCharlotte · 10/12/2018 16:09

For many of the children concerned, it's not even that their patents can't buy a bike or a bus pass, it's that they're not prepared to do it for their children or don't understand why it would be beneficial. They take a very short term view about what it will cost today, rather than the benefit it will bring for tomorrow.

Well that can hardly be blamed on the local government?

Janleverton · 10/12/2018 16:14

That’s appalling. Such a lottery.

I live in SE town/suburb and EVERY school has a 6th form and there are two FE colleges that offer a levels or vocational courses.

I’m really angry on your behalf. It stinks.

Original poster
Bestseller · 10/12/2018 16:14

No, of course not but removing opportunities from children who have no one else vouching for them is absolutely down to government. They talk about encouraging social mobility but their actions do the exact opposite.

OP posts:
titchy · 10/12/2018 16:15

but thankfully the LA kept prices on the bus for 6th formers at children's prices

That's great. But the majority of LAs don't do that.

Ated · 10/12/2018 16:17

Why do so many want to send their children to Uni and not give them vocational training instead? Wasting money to get a degree other than in the sciences or high-end engineering is not necessary.

Original poster
Bestseller · 10/12/2018 16:21

That's simply not true Ated. Without a degree you'll never be a doctor or a lawyer or a teacher. On average graduates earn c.£200k more than non graduates in a lifetime, after deduction of student loan repayments.(more for women)

Of course vocational qualifications are the right avenue for some but a whole town with no potential doctors,lawyers or teachers?

OP posts:
rightreckoner · 10/12/2018 16:28

I’ll confess I am shocked. You didn’t say no theatre skills provision or no ability to do German A Level. No A Level provision at all in a pretty large town. That is totally unacceptable.

And yes 8 miles would be ok if not ideal in large parts of London because of the transport network - although the cost would be prohibitive. But without that it’s yet another barrier.

I really do live in a bubble - had no idea this happened outside of rural locations.

CottonSock · 10/12/2018 16:33

200,000 and no sixth form is shocking.

PickAChew · 10/12/2018 16:34

There's a small town and even a city near us where the only A level provision is Catholic schools or 6th form college a d, in the case of the small town (around 50k) the college is in a larger town, nearby. My DN has to get a service bus to that town, then a free bus to the college is available from the town centre.

Dixiechickonhols · 10/12/2018 16:43

It sounds dire. What funding is there for travel costs and also making students and parents aware of funding.
It's time factor too, if they go locally they can get a job to fit around college, if they are spending ages commuting that cuts into working hours and flexibility too.
Unless you have lived in a deprived town it's hard to comprehend the mentality. Going out of town is seen as a big deal generally. It's hard to explain and something I noticed so much when I moved to a deprived northern ex mill town. I never experienced anything like it growing up in Manchester
The deprived town I know has a college offering vocational and A levels and is seen as good enough. It seems to channel most A level students to the local ex poly.
My friends son left a comprehensive in town 2 years ago. Out of the year 11 leavers, 6 children (six not a typo from the whole school year) made the grades to do A levels. 5 went to local college and one boy to a grammar 6th form in a nearby town 8 miles away, he is seen as odd and why would you do that. No appreciation of benefits like track record of getting kids into Oxbridge or Russell group, dedicated medicine/law/dentistry trips and career days etc.

idea888 · 10/12/2018 16:51

I'm really shocked by this. I don't live in an affluent area by any means but I had no idea that this kind of situation exists, or that it's not every child's right to have access to A Level provision. If the Council can't offer 6th form provision locally, why can't they spend a small amount of the money saved on providing free buses to kids who want to travel to do A levels?
Even though your MP sounds uninterested it's worth an email - at least you would nail him/her down and get quotes on their views on the issue. Maybe contact whichever party came second in the last election? Someone on the Education Select Committee? www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/education-committee/membership/
I don't know if there are charities or pressure groups for this issue. Sutton Trust? There must be someone - a politician or organisation that could help with getting publicity on this - the local authority should be shamed into making provision. Perhaps a sympathetic journalist - someone like Fiona Millar?

MuddlingMackem · 10/12/2018 17:01

That is shocking OP. We take the range of provision in our town and the nearby one so much for granted.

In the long-term you definitely need to be campaigning for the college or at least one 6th form to provide A levels and the academic BTECs. In the short-term though, if it's safe to cycle, are there any local agencies or charities which would be able to refurb and redistribute donated bikes to kids from the town who choose to travel for A-levels? Or a Halfords if you have one, it might be something they will get on board with. Might even be a campaign the local paper will take up. It's the only thing I can think of which might be do-able more quickly, but it obviously it would only be a stop-gap, not a long-term solution.

DontCallMeCharlotte · 10/12/2018 17:05

No, of course not but removing opportunities from children who have no one else vouching for them is absolutely down to government. They talk about encouraging social mobility but their actions do the exact opposite.

I do agree, but it's been like this for decades.

In our whole borough (two main towns and lots of rural) there was only one secondary school (Catholic) that had a sixth form, ironically in the same town as one of the two sixth form colleges. This was 40 years ago.

But I am still shocked at the lack of transport provision. That's criminal.

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