Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

why no school transport for sixth form?

123 replies

ichbineinstasumer · 19/07/2019 20:55

DS will go into Y12 in September. A few months ago we got a letter saying he would not be eligible for school transport anymore, although we could apply and if there was a spare seat we might get one, at a cost of nearly £700 per year.

We applied and we will get a seat, so that is one worry off my mind.

But this has annoyed me. DS lives in the same house as he has lived in for years 7-11, and will go to the same school (our catchment school). It is 4 miles away and there is no safe walking or cycling route - I am a cyclist and would not risk this journey. The only bus between our village and this local town was cancelled this year. I leave for work before 7.30am and could not get him to school by car. Without the school bus DS could not attend his catchment school, and the other school which he could reach on public transport does not offer one of his chosen A level subjects.

My DS doesn't have an income just because he is 16, and I thought children had to continue in some kind of education or training until aged 18 now - so attending school isn't really optional (or attending some kind of school, anyway).

AIBU to think that it is arbitrary and unreasonable withdraw school transport from sixth formers - he may not get a space next year and then what? My DD, going into Y10 might not get a seat when her time comes.

I do also object to paying nearly £700 as well (more than I pay for an annual rail pass for a longer journey and valid every day of the year) and wonder if this is subsidising the bus service for years 7-11 - my income hasn't risen due to my DS going into Y12, but I am more angry to be told that I have no business relying on a school bus for a 16 YO.

AIBU?

OP posts:
ColinKnocksTwoPence · 19/07/2019 21:50

DD is in year 12 and we had to pay £550 for an annual bus pass to the local FE / A level college (not many schools have 6th forms here).
However it also acted as a travel pass for all the other buses in the County so comes in handy during the holidays as well.
£700 for a school bus seems a lot.

verystressedmum · 19/07/2019 21:51

£700 a year for a school bus??? That is madness!!
My dc don't qualify for a free pass as we live too near (the distance is 3 miles we love 2.7 miles away) but I pay it as it's 45p each journey for a child.
When dds went to sixth form they had to get an adult pass but that wasn't overly dear something like 80-85p.

Ilikesweetpeas · 19/07/2019 22:01

No free school buses where I live! Nearly £700 for Y7 DC from September. It's only free if you are a low income family

Original poster
ichbineinstasumer · 19/07/2019 22:08

I'm excited that I have got onto page 2 on my first AIBU... but I'm going to ask for information about the price setting and write to my MP. I realise it won't change and I don't as much object to paying (since I can afford it) as I worry about whether the bus will be an option given I have no other way to get my children to this school, but I think it is right to be clear about what cuts mean to everyday people's lives.

OP posts:
Fibbke · 19/07/2019 22:08

Dds bus pass would have cost nearly 1k. Wr bought her a car instead.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 19/07/2019 22:12

Is there a bus route on the way to or near your workplace? If so bring them with you and they can pick up a bus near to your work.

I'll probably get flamed for this, but isn't it enough that school is free for all? Why should the local authority pay for transport because you live somewhere that doesn't have a frequent service? Surely that money can be better spent on quality of teaching and provision inside the classroom which will benefit more children?

Taswama · 19/07/2019 22:19

Yanbu - some parents won’t be able to afford the £700, so may not do A levels at all.

MitziK · 19/07/2019 22:23

It works out at around £1.85 a trip. That's not bad, considering the single fares to DP's old school from his village are £4.50 a shot.

He'd need to be paying a whole lot more were he on an apprenticeship, for example.

Original poster
ichbineinstasumer · 19/07/2019 22:26

Bernadette: I don't live in the back of beyond and would happily use public transport but there is none. The only bus between the village and the town where the school is was cancelled in spring. the reason local authorities have an obligation to provide transport is that every child has a right to an education, even if they do not live near a convenient public transport route. It's great that school is free for all but if some children can't get to it then education is not accessible for those children.

OP posts:
Original poster
ichbineinstasumer · 19/07/2019 22:28

MitZik: he's a child in school, he isn't earning £1.85 x 2 per day. So it's a tax on parents.

OP posts:
Contraceptionismyfriend · 19/07/2019 22:29

So it's a tax on parents

To pay for their child to receive transport that benefits them.

EvilTwins · 19/07/2019 22:30

All 6th Form students can apply for a 16-19 bursary. It’s discretionary (up to the school/college not the local authority) and it’s for things like this. Some of the kids I teach get £100 per term, so £600 per year which would go a long way towards covering that cost.

Post-16 education is not compulsory - that’s why the transport is no longer free.

cardibach · 19/07/2019 22:32

My DD had school transport in Y12 and 13. Rural Wales, 2012 onwards.

CCC1 · 19/07/2019 22:32

To answer a couple of things mentioned by other. Most (al?) local authorities provide transport free if your catchment school is over three miles away.

To the poster saying why should the local authority pay because you live somewhere without transport. For me, I didn’t think I did. I live in what has been deemed a key service village (ie ideal for families and commuters). In reality what this has meant is a lot of new houses, a lot of new children, along with an increased birth rate, while public transport links have been axed - going from four buses every hour to two towns to one every two hours to one town which doesn’t have a high school (it closed last year) and nowhere near the other high schools, which were built rurally.

EvilTwins · 19/07/2019 22:33

Wales has different rules to England, sadly.

hibbledibble · 19/07/2019 22:33

I agree that it isn't fair.

When I was at school it was paid for. I'm guessing with cuts it has gone. Pupils also got EMA then too.

shrumps · 19/07/2019 22:37

Our local college (in the West Midlands) provides free bus passes for 16-18 year olds, no matter what course they are doing. It seems grossly unfair that you have to pay for your DS to attend his sixth form.

MitziK · 19/07/2019 22:38

And? You probably spend more than that on packets of crisps and biscuits in a week if he's anything like the kids we have at school.

Free transport for kids has historically been a very rare thing - it's only recently that London children have been eligible for free transport, and even then, 16+ only qualify for half price fares, despite the amounts paid by other passengers/taxpayers.

In any case, you still get child benefit for him - bus travel to college seems like a perfectly reasonable thing it should be expected to help pay for.

He's nearly 18. He could have a Saturday job, could be driving - but instead, you're supporting him with the help of the child related benefits you are rightly in receipt of. This is what they are there for - to cover some of the costs of having a young adult.

Original poster
ichbineinstasumer · 19/07/2019 22:40

Contraception: to pay for education that benefits everybody. If my child is uneducated he is a drain on society, if he is educated he contributes.

OP posts:
NurseNancyandDoctorDavid · 19/07/2019 22:42

£900 here, no other transport at all from the village.

We've still not heard if one is even available yet.

Contraceptionismyfriend · 19/07/2019 22:44

But again it's a child you decide to produce. You can't guarantee he will be a higher rate tax payer.
It's just over £1.70 ish a day if another poster was right.
If they provide it great. But like the NHS thread. I think this is another thing people expect but shouldn't necessarily be a given.

Bookworm4 · 19/07/2019 22:46

@ichbineinstasumer
s education a right in this country or is it a privilege?
It’s not a right to get free transport, it’s your choice to live in a rural area and your choice where to send your DC. School transport is a massive expense to LAs, the priority should always be DC with additional needs not able bodied teenagers.

Ali1cedowntherabbithole · 19/07/2019 22:49

Not unreasonable at all OP I have railed against this for years!

The cost for us would have been £900 for the year and because of a before school club and a compulsory after school we would have still done 3 out of 10 school runs each week.

Next time there is a politician discussing getting more children from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend good universities, it would be really good to bring this up.

CCC1 · 19/07/2019 22:49

Contraception. Children 16-18 have to be receiving some sort of education. They didn’t choose to be “produced” (ridiculous argument!). 1 in 5 UK children is living in poverty. Rural poverty is a growing problem. I work in this area and believe me £1.70 a day is a lot.

stucknoue · 19/07/2019 22:50

A countywide student bus pass is £460 a year here, how can they justify charging more than that? Dd has a travel concession card (epilepsy) so gets free city buses, school honoured it. Btw the school bus wasn't free before 16 here either, it was £10 a week.