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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:
ghostyslovesheets · 19/07/2019 22:52

I'm a bit confused by your posts but if you child is a wheelchair user do they not get PIP?

Can you use that for the £700?

Also most students get a small bursary (up to £30) which can pay for transport - it's not ideal but you have to try and understand the reality in local authorities - there is no money!

Contraceptionismyfriend · 19/07/2019 22:54

@CCC1 again the responsibility is with the parents. If they can't afford the transport why have they not saved? Why have they not moved?

Our children are our responsibility. The LA have provided the education. As parents we should get them there.

CCC1 · 19/07/2019 23:03

Right Ok. So I see a lot of children living in rural poverty with families who are third generation unemployed/ with severe mental health problems/single parents/ parents with addictions/ a culture of suspicion around authorities like schools. Are you saying we should right them off? Then what? Support them for life through the state?

Contraceptionismyfriend · 19/07/2019 23:05

Not right them off. But why aren't these people making any effort to support themselves or become adequate parents?

Candyfloff · 19/07/2019 23:12

Surely there will be younger children who have to attend the school and will need a space on the school bus.
Their need will be a higher priority than your DS since he can go to any higher education establishment now.

Whilst it's a kick in the teeth, I don't think you can really get so frustrated about it. Yr7-11 absolutely have to attend the school - if the space on the bus is the difference between them attending compulsory school or your DS attend his chosen place of higher education, it's right that the younger child gets the spot.

I agree £700 is steep - but broken down it works out at less than £5 on travel per day.

Lougle · 19/07/2019 23:14

My local authority has denied free transport to all young people aged 16+ with SEN this year. It quite literally means that many of them won't be able to attend colleges (because they can't get there safely, even on public transport) or their parents will have to give up work and claim Carer's Allowance. It's very shortsighted, but I think that LAs are being made to show cuts.

FamilyOfAliens · 19/07/2019 23:20

“Write them off”.

IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 19/07/2019 23:29

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

Heaven forbid children cost their parents anything Hmm

Education doesn’t automatically mean contributor, plenty have been educated to uni level and then don’t work.

Emmapeeler · 19/07/2019 23:58

If they can't afford the transport why have they not saved? Why have they not moved?

Hmm

Councils have an obligation to provide school places for all. If your designated catchment school is over a certain distance from your house it has a statutory obligation to get the child there. Why should anyone move?

This is about non-statutory provision. Councils want to provide over and above this; many have for years. If they now can’t it’s because of Tory cuts. That is the issue, not whether parents can afford to have children.

Emmapeeler · 20/07/2019 00:08

The only bus between the village and the town where the school is was cancelled in spring

By the way, councils have always subsidised non-commercially viable bus services, but that budget has been massively slashed (by the Tories) since 2011 too. Hence fewer routes and cancelled rural routes.

BreconBeBuggered · 20/07/2019 00:21

It's not really about however many pounds a day transport costs. Locally, at least a term's bus fares need to be paid up front. That's £2-300, which is a significant sum for a family on a low income to find, and to know they'll have to do the same again at Christmas time. I'm glad my DC chose to remain at their school, which has fewer A level options but is walking distance away.

Yetanothernamechange1234 · 20/07/2019 00:33

6th form is college.if he is in need he will get EMA. Same as any child.when I went to college was over an hour drive away from where i lived but because my.parents earnt over a set amount i didn't get any help with costs of my.bus pass.no.difference just because his 6th form is his old.school!

ghostyslovesheets · 20/07/2019 00:36

EMA was abolished years ago!

Lwmommy · 20/07/2019 00:40

This is why I got a moped for my 16th bday present. Insurance, fuel and tax were cheap and counted towards no claims when I got a car.

Parents didn't need to be a taxi service either.

Yetanothernamechange1234 · 20/07/2019 00:45

Hmm ghost it still.comes up as a Google.search and links from 2019 to apply?

GnomeDePlume · 20/07/2019 02:23

I know that councils are cash strapped but I live in an area where the council 'lost' £10.25 million on a football stand. 4 years later there is no cash and no football stand.

So they have the money to lose on a vanity project but no money to pay for or subsidise access to education.

transformandriseup · 20/07/2019 03:31

I think my bus pass was £150 per term 15 years ago. That may well have been the discounted price as my mum was disabled and claimed some benefits.
We lived rurally and I learned to drive pretty quickly.

transformandriseup · 20/07/2019 03:52

It’s hardly a choice to live rurally though. Many houses are cheaper rurally as there are less services than in a town. You have to go with what you can afford. Also we needed a bungalow because of my mum’s wheelchair.

Does this bus pass include free transport at weekends? I know some do and that could maybe help with getting to the town to do a Saturday job.

SirTobyBelch · 20/07/2019 06:18

You can thank the ever-delightful Mr Cameron, whose government withdrew Education Maintenance Allowance around the same time that continuation of education/training until the age of 18 became compulsory (www.gov.uk/education-maintenance-allowance-ema).

Move to Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. The last 9 years' concerted undermining of education has been limited to England.

Saucery · 20/07/2019 06:28

I spent a long time on the phone to a person from School Transport discussing this. The letter they sent referred to ‘Statutory’ duty to transport Yr 7-11 only, but the school isn’t the nearest for any child who catches that bus.
I have no problem paying for the transport, it’s not the closest school, we chose it, fair enough.
I do have a problem with having to start the School Run twice a day again for Yr12 and 13 because the council won’t upgrade from a mini bus to a proper bus.

WhenIsTheEasyBit · 20/07/2019 06:51

YADNBU. This is:

  • a tax on living rurally (and therefore another factor adding to the unaffordability of village life for families)
  • a forced reduction in choice of post-16 education for young adults who have committed the crime of being born to parents who don't live in a town
-adding to congestion because parents drive rather than put kids on overpriced buses
  • leading to 17 year olds rushing driving lessons and becoming rush hour drivers (3 in my son's year had written off a car before the end of Y12).

Good luck with your FOI. Please keep us posted.

AJPTaylor · 20/07/2019 06:55

Well I don't know but I had to pay my train fare to college when I was 16 ,in 1984 so I don't think it's a new thing.

WhenIsTheEasyBit · 20/07/2019 07:06

What's new AJP is that kids have to stay in education or training until they're 18.

Fibbke · 20/07/2019 07:11

Yes, we live rurally and despite going to her nearest 6th form it would have cost us 1k. It is a tax on living rurally, so as i said, we bought a car instead.

TheFallenMadonna · 20/07/2019 07:13

As a teacher myself, I value education very highly. But "drain on society" is not an appropriate way to describe people not educated up to A level...