Bus pass cost for 6th form

[GoodnightJude1]

My DD has chosen to go to the 6th form attached to the Secondary school she’s attended for the last 5 years.
She will be getting the same bus there and back as she has done in the past, although now we’ve had to apply for a ‘spare seat pass’ this allows her to travel on the school bus to 6th form as long as there is space.

We have to re apply for the bus pass each term (with no guarantee of her getting a seat)

Thankfully, I’ve just received an email saying there is a spare seat on the bus and to follow the link to confirm and pay…..

£265!!!!!! per term!

Is it just me or does this seem a lot of money per term? Obviously I’ve paid it and will continue to do so but it seems expensive!
Just wondered what other people are paying? Maybe I’m just behind the times…..

Ds1 is going to college for A Levels (no 6th form at his school). It's about half an hours drive away and we've just paid £375 for the bus pass but that's for the academic year.

Only two buses a day though, one that will pick him up at 8.30 and another to bring him home at 4.30.

£265 a term seems very expensive!

Thanks @FinallyYouSaid for responding!

DD has a Tiger bus pass that we got recently, it’s a free pass from our local council that means she can use any bus for £1 per journey. Unfortunately there are no buses from our village to her 6th form (12 miles away) so it’s a case of like it or lump it 🙄

This has been a bug bear of mine for years. Even 12 years ago it would have been £900 for DS so I dread to think what it would cost now.

All it means is more cars on the road as parents inevitably drop off.

Yes, we had this shock. And had to drive DC to 6th form as no public transport. No idea why I naively thought that the LA would pay to be fair.

Dd just going into year 13. No local 6th form. Only 2 to choose from. Her travle pass os £460 a year but covers all the local stage coach buses. The other only provides a once daily bus at 730 retuning about 1700. 7.50 a day! This did influence her college choice

Ours is £276 for the term…

I had to pay £62 a month for my daughters.
Needs must but it was a bit of sting when she's expected to be in sixth form or some form of education

Ours is around that for a trip that takes me 25-30 mins

The bus passes for the grammar schools near me are 377-399 a term.
So potentially 7 years of this 😳

If we bought (as did the last year) the 'discounted yearly bus pass' for DS to get to college it would be £799 for the year

With the cap that's currently in place it would work out at £598 a year as invariably they only do four days

A small motorcycle would be the answer and give her independence. Am I right that 16 is still the permitted age?

Ours isn't a special school bus but the 16+ bus pass here for the year is £600.

DD has a Tiger bus pass that we got recently, it’s a free pass from our local council that means she can use any bus for £1 per journey

Ah I wish our council did that. Buses are so expensive now. We always seem to be paying for buses here there and everywhere for 16 and 14 year olds.

Ouch 😫. First thing I thought was 'but it's free?!?' In greater Manchester all 16-18 yo's can get a free bus pass for a one off £10 admin fee. Lasts the two years of sixth form and covers all of GM.

Essex here - DS’s bus pass was £425 this term. Slightly cheaper in the shorter terms but it equates to over £1k a year. I’ll have child 2 starting secondary next year so double that… 😭

that's 1£ per journey, which is quite reasonable I would say.

or the price of a bike...

but yeah, unexpected expenses suck.

18 years ago I paid £300 for the school bus for a year to 6th form college …….it’s now 550£ …..it takes around 25 mins

If it’s the same school bus as she was travelling on last year would she be able to just wait at the stop and get on as usual. The school specials where I live don’t check passes

We pay around £640 per year. That's a 15 mile, 40 minute journey each way.

£2 per journey, 1 way for mine, dd passed her test in Y13 and took friends, ds, didn’t so I paid £4 a day throughout. It’s probably cheaper than car insurance.

20m no journey for us which takes about 50m. Pass for a term is £475 and for a year is £1150. Daily return is £7.20. This is annoying as the public busses are £2 per journey so £4 a day but don't operate at convenient times or final the way to the school so would increase the daily travel time even further.

Thanks everyone. Seems like it’s pretty standard what I’m paying then.
I just can’t get my head around how they can charge so much per term for a seat on a bus that’s unused and going to the school anyway 🤷‍♀️
Oh well….no way around it!

If it was unused by anyone it would be withdrawn! No bus at all. @GoodnightJude1 DCs have always had to pay the bus fares to colleges of FE from 16 so all 16 year olds are the same.

Ours check and lots are mean bastards who won't let a kid on theyvsee everybdsy if they've forgotten/lost their pass.

Two words for you OP. I expect you know what they are.