Choking on costs fo sxith form education

[Piggywaspushed]

So DS1 has come home from college today with a book list. Books are marked essential or recommended.

The essential books alone amount to £150 just for year 1!!

I teach English and we do always ask students to buy set texts so they can annotate them - but his list includes £35 text books. This is in addition to the £180 per term bus fares.

Is this in line with everyone's experiences of a 21st century education?

I am a bit surprised that parents expect folders and paper to be provided

I certainly don't & dd loves stationery so a regards buying her own stuff as a massive perk. I just thought the juxtaposition was interesting (& the physics teacher is the best in the world & the primary reason dd wouldn't consider moving for 6th form!).

Round here the travel costs are the big issue: our really excellent, selective sixth form is out of town with bus fares of @ £700 a year. At least two of DD's very able friends from working poor homes chose the less good sixth form in the town center for this reason.

DS had a 10 mile round trip to sixth form and chose to cycle unless the weather was really dire. The DD's both drove the family jalopy which didn't work out that much more expensive in the end.

DD got a lot of her books from the library and just kept renewing them. Files and paper were the value stuff from Tesco. Art supplies were purchased at cost from college.