Cost of Train to College

[Belshels]

We are really struggling to pay, it's £12 a day for 18 year old yp! That's £240 a month, for her trip to and from college. She has just gone to a 16-25 railcard which doesn't discount before 10am... What is that then? The 16/17 railcard she had previously meant train was half price in rush hour too.
Am I missing something?
Season tickets are £92 per week which is even more!
I don't get how there isn't some sort of discount for teens?
Any advice appreciated xx

DS will be 18 for almost all his last year of sixth form or college if he goes. He'll be 19 if he goes to uni. It's mad. It's just how the dates fall. It really should be school year inclusive for those in 16 - 18 education because the education is 16 - 18 not 16 - 17.

He also didn't start school for almost a year longer than some of his peers. Having a baby early in the school year works out expensive from this alone, never mind having to pay adult fares for dumb reasons.

So for all the advantages it may be for having an older child in the year, it comes a big cost to the parents.

Plus the cost of parking. A university near me was charging £7 a day for staff and students.

I think a good compromise would be offering free transport to the nearest institution offering the course / combination of subjects the young person wants to study AND having a proper ‘16-19 student travel card’ that gave discounted fares on all public transport nationally at all times and aligned with the requirement to be in some form of education or training until 18, but also take into account that there will be students who deferred the start of school or took 3 years in 6th form.

It would mean that nobody had to pay to attend compulsory education, and that travel would still be discounted if eg a student chose a further away college / school option.

Given the accident rate for 17-19 year olds, with a slew of high profile cases over the years, a strategy that actively encourages car driving - and car sharing - by the young is just not the right direction of travel.

I agree OP, transport costs are crippling for young people. It’s a massive problem.

They are extremely common in England. Most people living in England would assume sixth form college.

I think school / college transport should be the same rules for 16-18 education as for the younger years.

The 16-17 Railcard should extend to 18 year olds in school or college.

Have you checked to see if the train company offers a discounted season ticket for students?

The problem with having the same rules is that while schools offer essentially the same KS3 and KS4 courses with minor variations, colleges / 6th forms genuinely do have very different offers. So rules based on distance -eg transport to the nearest school / college - don’t work post 16.

Hence it needs to be eg nearest institution (or one of eg 2 or 3 institutions in an area where there are many options) that offer the course or combination of courses that the student wants to take. So if the nearest 3 schools don’t offer music, or don’t offer Further Maths, or don’t offer Hospitality, or don’t offer Joinery, then travel should be paid to the nearest institution(s) that do.

Considering the card is essentially aimed at 6th Form/College students it really should be valid until August 31st of the academic year they turn 18 (with option to extend for one extra year if staying until 19).
Whoever came up with this travelcard really didn't think it through fully 🙄

Both my DC are September babies and turned 16 beginning of year 11 . Our local council gave discounts for travel in 6th form but this did not cover year 11 , so they had to pay full adult fares for most of year 11!

She is at college and living at home. No student loan yet. We are also currently low income and in trouble financially.

Thanks everyone. Going to check out Flexi tickets, also about a free pass from the college. I suspect as it's a specialist college and very tiny they won't have that.
Her journey is 20 miles one way, with 1 change.

Yes absolutely right at College doing A Levels. Also, having a Sept birthday she had to upgrade her 16/17 railcard earlier than those with late birthdays to a 16-25 railcard. No discount now

Is this the nearest 6th form, if so you can try for discretionary funding on those grounds. If you have chosen a college further away then it will be up to you to pay

Which line is that? It's definitely doesn't get them a discount in Surrey, as I messaged Trainline, and they said no. If you put in the journey and the railcard there is no discount

Is it too far to cycle ?

just spotted it’s 20miles. That’s a moderate journey on flat terrain. If it’s hilly there are bikes now that will switch to electric to take the strain off hills.

Id say get a good bike.

Unfortunately we are not in a position to buy or help her buy a car. The journey would be very slow during rush hour too, I imagine up to 1.5 hours as would involve the M25! Nightmare🙈

If you are struggling financially reach out to her course leader - with her written permission - and ask if there is any help available from discretionary funds to assist with travel.

Find the contact details for student support services and ask about bursary for travel. If you are a low income family you would probably qualify if they have it.

Does she have a part time job?

She can book cheaper tickets with a railcard discount before 10am.

DD (who is 24 btw) has to get a train to uni once or twice a week – she usually goes about 8.30am and it costs her £10.70 usually for a return with her railcard – this is about 30 miles so I imagine your DD's trip is a lot shorter. Sorry I am assuming btw this is sixth form college and fairly local, rather than post-A level university. ETA: apols OP I see it is 20 miles away.

She needs to book in advance but max a couple of days before is fine.

I see a number of pps say there is a minimum fare of £12 during peak times before a discount can be applied. That's not our experience. I just tried using a 16-25 RC to book a £2.90 8am Tuesday single to our nearest city and the RC reduced it by £1. So how am I able to do this?

Agree tho in general it is rubbish that travel for teens who have to be in education and are not earning anything is so expensive.

I will have a look again but so far all I've seen is £12 a day or a weekly season ticket is £92! It's crazy.

It looks like you might be able to apply for help from your council. It's worth a try here

It should be the same nationally. As long as the journey is more than £12 (I am not sure whether that’s before or after the discount) she should get it.

Try on one of the train operator’s websites rather than Trainline.

It's not the nearest, but needed to be this one because she's doing a vocational course equivalent to A levels. It was the best choice for her as she has ADHD and ASD (newly diagnosed) and they cater for that.

yeh don't book through trainline, I never do. We use East Midlands Trains (as we are in the East Mids)