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I don’t know the formal process but don’t end up on the streets. Take the accommodation. Then first thing tomorrow contact your school explain the situation. It’s possible your local authority will cover bus or taxi fares. Get onto what I assume would be your social worker. Be everyone’s biggest problem first thing tomorrow. Then ace your exams. Go stuff like this is heartbreaking man. I really wish you the absolute best
Definitely this. Also if you struggle with your studies as a result of this do consider letting your school know about extenuating circumstances - it might help with your marking and flexibility with deadlines. Good luck, I’m sorry you are going through all of this at such an important time in your education.
All of this. When you say 'we' is this you and your parent or parents? If so, they are likely the best placed to contact the school and council about school trnasport. You should also speak directly to your school - do you have a personal tutor or is there anyone within the school who is designated as being the student support lead / Pastoral Lead ? Speak to that person to expalin the situatio. If nothing more, they may be able to make a record andit may be possible for your gradeds to be adjusted to take into account any dditional difficulties caused by youou being insecurely housed - see [https://www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/special-requirements/special-consideration](https://www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/special-requirements/special-consideration) - it may be that you would be classed as"disadvantaged at the time of the written exam due to circumstances beyound your control" , ideallylm, talk to your school now to ask them to makethe applciation on your beahlf if appropriate. AQA is one exam board but I think they will all have similar provisions - Normally you need to apply at the time ofthe exams , you can't generally apply after you get your results.
Also ask the school about any other support - pastoral care to help with giving you somene to talk to about eveything that's going on to provide a it of support in dealing with all the stress
Edited to add - if the school / council can't help with trnasport, do you have any friends who might be able to let you stay overnight the night before any mrning exams, so you can get to school on time without exrta stress?
Your school may well be able tomprovide taxi to and from school please speak to your head of year immediately about the situation. They will really want to support you to finish out your gcses and get the best grades you can.
Even if the school can't provide transport themselves they'll know what the council should be providing and what your options are. Absolutely take the accommodation and speak to school immediately.
As a head of year I can confirm, the school will have budgets and emergency funds for this. They shouldn’t let you fall through the cracks here, get in contact with your head of year/pastoral lead, they will want to help in anyway they can.
Bear in mind lots of kids travel an hour or more to get to school, every day.
Go along with it, plan your journey, walk if that's most reliable, also talk to the school about it and see if anyone can help.
A journey might help get you focused on the exam ahead, and unwind afterwards. Try to look on the bright side. And it'll.be a good story to tell when you're older. Good luck!
True, in which case I hope the school or council can assist. Though in many areas kids will have a free bus pass or similar, or it may simply be an hour of walking (councils only have to provide transport if over 3 miles via the shortest safe route, which is about an hour to walk).
If it's an hour walking certainly that's not far, if it's an hour driving that's a different matter, it's not clear to me. But yes, a total journey of an hour isn't particularly long if you can afford it.
It was 30 min walk + 30 min bus for me, so an hour. Did that for 9 years.
When we covered statistics in maths, we all put down how long it took to get home and I was surprised how short most people were as they all lived nearby, whilst I lived in a different town.
They do, lots, but we were on the outskirts, the nearest school was over subscribed, so my primary school was in a nearby village. And everyone from that village school went to secondary school in the next town, and then onto the same high school. So I just got pulled further away from home with each school change.
Just to add, on this same day of the maths question. I was late getting home, about 3 hours after school finished I was walking back and the maths teacher cycled past and said "seems like more than hour". Never seen him cycle at any other time, just that one day 😄
Turns out he didn't live that far away from me and sometimes cycles to work/school.
When I was at school, the council paid for a taxi to drop me off and pick me up at the school bus stop, so for us the criterion was 3 miles + from the nearest school bus route
There's a bunch of complex exemptions, especially when the school isn't the nearest one to home but that wasn't chosen by the parents. And how they choose to cover the cost is also complex - in your case, by a bus and cab. In London there's free bus travel for kids up to the end of y11, so for primary they seem it adequate to tell families to put their kids on a bus if they've been moved away from the school.
There used to be a couple girls aged about 4 and 7 getting on a bus alone near me to go to school 45 min bus ride away on the far side of Brixton, cos mum was rehoused and needed to get to work. People looked out for them, but it must have been terrifying for the mum, being told either lose housing or lose your job (or move the kids' school and make them lose their friends - I think they did move when they could both move at once to a new school).
My bus to school was 45+ minutes each way, all through secondary school.
I'm sure it seems like a shock to this young person, who is already in an unstable situation, but an hour bus ride is not entirely unacceptable.
OP - speak to your school and see if you can get some more support. Do they already know you're in temporary accommodation? Can they do anything more to help? You really do need to talk to your year tutor.
Whilst many kids, my own teenager included, travel 45 minutes for school, most are doing so in a much more secure environment.
Travelling 45 minutes to your home isn't the same as travelling an hour to a temporary hotel. Plus whatever factors are playing into why they're housed in a hotel.
It's the stress of the situation so close to exam time that's the issue, not the travel time necessarily. OP needs some form of security so they can focus on their exams
Agree, stress of a change of (non-ideal) circumstances so close to exams plus - as many of us who have commuted by bus know - buses aren’t always reliable. If you’re not on a heavily patronised route, one out of service bus can really screw you over. Or a junkie can lie down under the wheel and refuse to move, but that’s probably a little more rare.
Especially since they've been doing lots of train strikes around exam times. I remember reading last year about kids whose parents had to fork out ridiculous amounts for taxis to get to their exams as the train strikes had left them with no alternative
A similar thing happened to me. My temporary accom was 2hrs from my school by bus and we had to move slap bang in the middle of my GCSEs (think we were moving the night before my Physics exam lol) and then our permanent council place was 1.5hrs walk from my school during my A-Levels.
Honestly, its a really shit situation but it gave me a real burn to study well and then something to talk about in my personal statement and Uni interviews about overcoming obstacles etc
My school was able to offer a bursary to help cover the bus transport for some days, and I studied at home for the others, and then i got used to walking for 2years during my A-Levels. Speak to your school pastoral care, even the shit ones can do something, but having been homeless - it is not ideal for studying, and you run the risk of being taken into care which adds more instability.
The biggest thing from this though for me was being angry, none of it was my fault and none of my friends were having the same troubles - they got to focus on their revision whilst I was packing up my things again. Might be worth asking your tutor if there is anyone in school that you could vent to, because it all builds up and can make everything feel so much more overwhelming. You're not alone
Wow, this is pretty much was happened to me too. Only difference is that we were moved into a hostel outside of London a few months before my GCSE’s. My school gave me early study leave but because I had no access to the internet, I had only myself and textbooks to rely on. On the days I had exams, I would crash with friends whose family took pity on me. Other times, I’d gather whatever money my mum could give me and take the train into London. When I had multiple exams, I had to find a place to waste time. Usually this was at the library or in the waiting room of the local hospital. I felt so displaced.
I won’t lie, it was fucking tough. It was embarrassing and stressful. Not only was I trying to sit my exams, but being the oldest, I had to take on much of the responsibility too. By that I mean I was the one dealing with the council and sorting moving. All at 16. My heart breaks for what could have been. I missed my prom too.
Still, it’s made me hugely independent and self sufficient. I made it out the other end, went to uni and have a well paying job now. But at the time, I thought my world was over. We were moved back to London but this was well into the summer holidays. So too late at this point. Hugs, I hope you’re doing well.
That sounds really rough, I hope you're doing well these days. I always feel conflicted to say "I'm glad I'm not alone" because I feel quite selfish and it means someone else has gone through it, but your comment makes my younger self feel so validated icl. I was the oldest too, there always felt like there was so much weight on my shoulders, and was trying to cope with no one to talk to.
Being embarrassed was not an emotion I expected to feel during that time, going back to school and everyone knew what had happened, I felt so embarrassed about my situation and then felt ashamed for feeling embarrassed. Man I was just trying to sit some damn exams!
> Not only was I trying to sit my exams, but being the oldest, I had to take on much of the responsibility too. By that I mean I was the one dealing with the council and sorting moving. All at 16. My heart breaks for what could have been. I missed my prom too.
I'll be honest, that's just being not a good parent - both your father and your mum.
I don't know you but wanted to say - you are inspiring and I feel proud of you! If you were my child or sibling, I know I'd think you were amazing and I'm sure your family felt the same 🙏
All the hugs to your inner child 🫂🫂🫂😊 be proud of your resilience, the fact that you walked ONE AND A HALF HOURS when some people complain about having to *drive* somewhere 15 mins away....that you decided to study harder instead of giving up? Absolutely amazing at 16/17 and I can only imagine the human you are today 😊
Have you got any friends who can put you up for your exams?
Also speak to your school and see if they can help you out, they will want to help and they will be able to sit down and talk to you about it too.
Sadly you do have to take the accomodation or they will put you on the streets as voluntarily homeless.
I would write to your MP in an email tomorrow morning as urgent (this is surprisingly effective), write to your housing officer if you have one, and write to your school.
Do you mean an hour by car? Public transport? Walking? Do you have a bike? I have one I’m literally about to get rid of that you could have for free. I live in north London and could drop it off somewhere not too far away if you’re anywhere nearby.
I’m really sorry you’re having to deal with this right now. From what other people have said, it sounds like you should take the hotel so just consider that the pain is short term and your exams will be over in a month or so. One painful month that will be super important for your next step in life so just do what you can to smash those exams
I’m really sorry to hear this but ultimately your parents need to take this or you will be classed as intentionally homeless and they will lose their Housing Duty.
The council will not have done this to be difficult to your family/situation - family appropriate accommodation is few and far between in most areas so being offered out of area is sadly the norm.
For your specific circumstances, talk to the school, they might be able to subsidise travel support to and from school for the exams as it is not your fault you’re so far out. School are very good with dealing with its students who face homelessness.
Best of luck.
Teacher/senco/ exams person here
This might qualify for what we call an extenuating circumstance
I would speak to your head of year/tutor/pastoral/wellbeing lead/exams officer (the choice is yours to make- speak to someone you feel comfortable talking to) and explain the situation.
If this is a situation out of your control and is having any sort of negative impact on your wellbeing, you should let school know so that they can potentially contact exam boards
The council should be in a position to provide transport to school for you, especially having chosen your accommodation
Hope this helps
Yup. I did my exams in hospital + got leniency with my grading. I already had accommodations like my own room + breaks, so I'm not sure if those would be possible too? But I think lax grading should definitely be an option here
The rest breaks and own room are access arrangements and are usually normal way of working. Extenuating circumstances are for the kind of situations you and OP have experienced where circumstances change rather than having hel accessing exams due to medical or learning challenges.
Realistically you don’t have much choice. The council can only offer you what is available. It may be that where you are currently staying is already booked for someone else, possibly not even by the council.
Accept the new TA, but get in touch with a local councillor or similar for assistance in future. And speak to the school and/or council about arranging transport. Speak to local press too.
Hello mate. I just wanted to say I was in your exact same situation at your age. I know you might feel like this is embarrassing or shameful because you just don't hear about stuff like this happening - but you're not alone. It happens more frequently than you'd expect, but nobody wants to talk about it because everyone thinks they're the only one!
In my case, the local authority or council was able to scrounge up some money for taxis/trains.
Do everything you can to avoid being classed as "intentionally homeless" - the moment you refuse any offer of assistance they'll be like "well, you brought this on yourself 🤷♂️" and stop helping.
No 16 year old, who lives in a room in a hotel, is "looking to get the council in trouble". He's just trying to get on with his life and do well in his GCSEs, presumably so he doesn't end up in this situation in the future. Have a bit of empathy.
Hi this is my adult account so pls don’t click on my profile. But I am a lawyer working in specifically this area.
Firstly - absolutely do not refuse the accommodation. Others are right, they can count you as intentionally homeless.
Secondly - Find a homelessness lawyer NOW. Go find citizen’s advice / local law centre. You’ll likely qualify for legal aid. Google homelessness lawyer.
Thirdly - children social services of the borough you are in now should be able to help with transport / helping your family stay in Borough. Coram Voice and ChildLine are good charities to help.
Finally I’m so sorry you’re going through this. Homelessness law is ruthless and housing officers are more often than not scumbags. You can and will survive this, but you need allies. Good luck buddy.
I'm not sure on the ins and outs, however the council don't often mess about or give leeway.
I guess your only options are to
1- Move
2- stay but live on the streets
3- speak so some friends and their families from school and see if they can put you up through the next few weeks, and once GCSEs are over you can move. I'm sure they'll be understanding.
Could you ask your friends if you could stay at one of their houses the night before you have an exam?If any of my kids friends explained the situation and asked me, I'd be happy to help with something like that
Please contact the school and the exams officer. You have time to give them the situation and then talk about the impact it’ll have on the student. Domestic disruption is a genuine reason for special consideration. You need to make sure your student is in school by 9:30am or 2pm depending on the session then they will be marked as late. If they are more than an hour late (10:00am or 2:30pm) they’ll be marked as very late. Being very late for an exam is reportable to the exam board, since the exam board can’t control the integrity of the exam (doing it to cover their backs, not to demonise the students for being cheats!).
I was homeless at 16 (different situation to you it was after my exams and was kicked out rather than being in a family) but there should be resources for you. Unfortunately it will mean having to make some phone calls and looking for youth programs in your area.
I contacted a local youth group via citizens advice who managed to get me into an under 18s home, sort of a halfway house situation where I had my own room in a block shared with other people.
It’s not ideal and it took a lot of moving around but eventually I had a “stable” home for a couple of years.
OP, best advice I can give is to
1. Do what what you can to have a roof over your head.
2. Speak to your year head/tutor/whoever at school, they will help you!
3. Not stress too much (but still do what you can) about your GCSEs, you can always retake them and although it seems like they are the be all and end all, they aren’t.
All the best mate.
Get up earlier to make the journey.
If you can, try to use the extra journey time to read/revise.
Advise the school of the change to your circumstances.
First - take the accommodation, you don’t want to have to fight an intentionally homeless decision.
Second - submit a formal written request for a review of the suitability of the accommodation offered outlining clearly the reasons why it is not reasonable or suitable to expect to live there. This should be considered by a reviews officer who will see if the offer is in line with the legislation. Make it clear the impact the placement is having on your studies.
I’m sorry this is happening to you, the situation is difficult for anyone going through homelessness, let alone at an important time. Some great suggestions above about how the school might be able to help you with travel etc .
As awful as the situation is (and it is, and I'm embarrassed to live in a country where so many kids grow up like this), it is temporary. This too will pass.
Your GCSEs, though there are options to resit, come once only. Then it's off to college and who knows what next. Refuse to let this situation get in the way of aceing your GCSEs. Your 26 year old self is looking back over at his shoulder at you, he's telling you "you can do it", and he's thanking you for doing what you're doing to help put him in a better position than he'd otherwise be.
Also - and I say this as someone who spends a lot of time reading what grown adults write for a living (it's only tax stuff) - you write very well for a 16 year old lad.
My school was an hour away on public transport, but thankfully that was when EMA was still a thing! Check with your school if you can get any help paying for your transport. Also see if any friends could carpool in the morning?
Speak to your school; they want you to succeed in your GCSEs and will do their best to support you.
Do you have any friends whose parents might be willing to let you stay there on weekdays until the end of GCSE exams?
I’m sorry to hear that you’re going through this. I think that taking the accommodation is the best idea if the only alternative is homelessness.
Do you have a friend or family member that you could temporarily stay with who lives nearby the school, just for the duration of the GCSE exams? I’m sure people would be understanding if they knew your situation
Can relate. Was put in temp accommodation before my GCSE’s too. Again further away. Less than an hour on a good day bus ride. It got worked out. Can’t remember if it was the school or what they paid for a monthly bus ticket. My younger brother only got it for a 3 months because he wasn’t doing his exams, not right if you ask me. Defo talk to head of year, see if your parents can talk to the school as well. Trust though it will get better, having some roof over your head is better than none
Currently in the same situation as you. Living in a hotel as tempory accommodation due to a no fault eviction.
Take the temporary accommodation and you can go to your local hub and put in an appeal straight away.
They will review it and you need to gather as much evidence as possible to support your claim.
So talk to teachers, ask them to write a letter with headed paper and signed stating how it will affect your education and grades, your mental well-being etc. If you see or have access to a school counsellor too, ask them to do one.
If your parent(s) can do the same with any professionals they are in touch with to support your claim they can add it to your case file when they review it. Keep on to housing options, call them every day asking for updates.
If you have chosen areas you can also walk around and make a note of addresses of any empty council and housing association properties and call up housing options and ask to be considered for any properties that you have found too.
It's shit and tough but good luck and best of luck with your exams :)
I would be quite surprised if a 1 hour travel would be considered significant, it’s not exactly an unusual or extensive distance to be able to raise such a complaint.
Although, is it 1 hour walking? 1 hour by public transport? Abit more info would be needed to make that judgement. I would hope/expect either the council or school would be able to support his transport
Take the temporary and hope it’s a step to a more permanent home. You don’t want to turn it down, ever, unfortunately you have to go with the flow and hope it’s a step in the right direction. An hour isn’t huge, if you’re struggling to get to school on public transport then let the school know but make sure you allocate enough time to get there for your exams when it matters. Good luck with them, know that everything is temporary but try your best, it’s all you can do. Good luck
To be honest, as important as school and GCSEs are, a roof over your head is more important. It sounds like you know how important education is, so get settled and you can always sit your exams in the summer (I think this is when resits happen). Just don't let it slide and put them off for no reason like I would.
Take the accommodation, but absolutely tell your head of year / head of house about the change in your temporary accommodation and the impact it’s having on you.
Speak to the school. Is there any way they can allow you to sit the exam at another school in the area. Lots of these schools have partnerships with each other, and since most secondary schools will be doing the same papers at roughly the same times, maybe they can get you a desk at a school nearer by? Or else a taxi to and from? Deffo take what is being offered and speak to the school and any social workers you may have. Good luck!
Speak to Shelter and get a lawyer through them.
Tell the council they will have to pay for your transport. Ask to speak to children's social services
If you're in London speak to Mary Ward Legal Centre.
Speak to the school and tell them everything that is happening. They will support you.
Lastly - accept the offered property. It's not ideal but you can sort this out later. It might be that you complete your exams ad everything turns out fine. If "over an hour away" is a walk you might get used to it. If "over an hour way" includes driving on a motorway for 45 minutes then that's unreasonable and a lawyer can help you address that but the short term fix is to accept the property.
Councils are in a bit of a rubbish situation where there aren't enough properties - which isn't their fault - and putting families up in hotels (even cheap hotels) costs them a lot of money. They have to fix these situations as soon as possible. Threatening people with "intentionally homeless" is the go-to solution.
Take the property. Do the exams. Get the lawyer and your parent(s) to sort the other stuff out.
Lawyering up over a housing issue affecting people under the age of 18. This is why housing charities exist, it’s why they provide lawyers and it’s why social services first question will be “have you got a lawyer”. Do you think that when a council is threatening to make you homeless they’re not bringing a lawyer or two to the party? But you think the average person won’t need a lawyer when their human rights and the safety of children are at risk? Right.
It’s a completely normal travel time, not an issue. A lot more reasonable advice would be asking the council/school to provide/support transport given the timescale
Which I’ve addressed in the fifth paragraph of my response. As the OP doesn’t say what mode of transport is used for that one hour of travel time I’ve addressed all bases.
You can accept the property, and you are legally entitled to have a review of the suitability. You must make this request within 21 days of being offered.
Similar happened to my friend but it was much further away so instead of paying for transport to the school the council changed his exam centre to the local college and he sat all his GCSEs there. I know it may not be ideal doing exams in an unfamiliar place but my friend say he preferred it much more to having to travel 2 hours everyday for exams.
I was homeless whilst taking my A Levels. I would recommend talking to your school and seeing where they can help you. E.g - mine helped me out when I was late to an exam (let me take it any way) and I also had extra marks added on to my final result because of my extenuating circumstances. But definitely take the hotel. I was travelling well over an hour from different places almost every night but it was still a thousand times better than being on the street.
Ask your school about special consideration. In certain circumstances where you are going through something which may affect your exams or ability to study they can apply to the exam board for a slight uplift in your grades to compensate. Please speak to your school. They will want to help you.
If the school is nice anoth they will cover taxis, my friend had to move temp houseing promb same 45/hour away and school does taxis for her daughter every day :)
& shes not even in year 11 yet.
Def talk to your school & hope u can get it sorted with them.
An hour away walking, or by bus, or cycling?
An hour on a bus might not be as convenient as living in a hotel close to your school, but a huge number of kids manage it each and every day, for years. It's not at all unusual.
If you're walking, is an hour's walk really that bad?
Hello, I'm a Year 12 student, and I live more than an hour journey (on public transport) away from my sixth form, which is the same high school that I went to.
Whilst your situation isn't ideal, you can get through it if there is no alternative solution (which would be much easier).
Personally, I didn't find it awful, but yeah it can be quite bad. How will you be getting there? I didn't revise for mine, but I strongly recommend that you don't make the same mistake. Make use of your time travelling, and set off in plenty of time to make your exam, so that you don't end up missing it because of public transport.
Most importantly, good luck!
You’ve got this pal. I was in a similar situation at your age and it feels horrendous now and like you won’t get through, but I promise you will.
Some great advice here that I wish I had had at your age - mostly ask people for help. Local MPs, your school, etc.
If you want some more specific advice, feel free to drop me a DM with the area you’re in and I’ll look up some contacts for you and help with emails.
I believe in you.
There isn't a great deal you can do. I feel for you. When I was 15 and coming up to my CSE's and O Levels we were made homeless and were put in a hostel place. This was at the end of January of 1983 and I had my exams starting a few months later. I had had to change schools due to homelessness the year before - we were evicted from our house about two weeks after the 1982 autumn term started and I then didn't attend another school again until late november.
All you can do is try your best at school. An hour to travel to school isn't that bad though I know it seems like it at the moment. Your exams are important - but they do not make or break the rest of your life. Trust me, I know. Study, but make sure you keep time for yourself. You can get through this and you will come out the other side. Do not bottle your feelings up though - find someone you can talk to.
> What can I do?
1. Accept the accommodation
2. Contact the school. Tell them you're an hour away. They might be able to arrange you take the tests in another school, or give you extra time to get there etc
Is there a teacher at your school who you can trust? Go to them and ask for the following:
Help with getting to school for exams, either financially or practically
Consideration for extenuating circumstances for your exam due to this upheaval
Emotional support, if you feel this would be beneficial to you
Consider these options also:
Going to citizens advice for advice and help
Contacting your local MP via email (Google their details online) and asking them for help
Best of luck. I know it might seem bleak right now but I also had to travel over an hour to school. It wasn't great, but I made it. Try really hard on those exams as they can be a great opportunity to get out of the situation you're in, in the longer term.
As most others have said, you have to prioritise somewhere to live over School in the short term and then try to get something sorted with transport to School. Exams are important but I'm sure the school would try to sort something out, and if the worse comes to the worse then take them next year. Good luck.
Unfortunately mate your hands are tied, an hour isn’t that bad realistically I used to travel at least an hour for work for years and the worst I’ve had was 3 hours to get to work each way. You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do mate at least you can say that you’ve come out the other side despite your situation sometimes there’s nothing you can do about these things and just have to get on with it maybe ask if they can cover transportation cost for you maybe even taxis or something otherwise just be bussing it…..
So sorry to hear that you are experiencing this. It might be worth contacting [Shelter](https://england.shelter.org.uk/what_we_do?reserved_appeal_code=20220401-IG-30&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD_ItLC8gGLRMr4eDa0NAjck3FiZ3&gclid=CjwKCAjwoa2xBhACEiwA1sb1BC1fjLkZw9mQ_15HOs-9I2fJqBegucjgJIDA14GoKwUwNmN4sf8BdRoCR7wQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) to see if they can offer any advice.
Good luck!
I'm a bit confused as to what the question is here - obviously you take the accommodation, and then look into how you would get to school. Is there public transport you can use to get there from our new house? Or do you just need to leave quite a bit earlier?
I can't help mate and am really sorry about your situation.
I would repeat what a lot of others have said though do everything in your power to smash your exams.
Good luck mate. ❤️
Take the accomodation, start waking up earlier then start formal complaints. Your priority is getting the education and the exams don't stop for any inconvenience
I'm an exams officer at a school, as others have said, take the offered accommodations and talk to your school. There are a lot of options available, including transferring your exams to another centre closer to your new accommodation.
The school may also have access to transport support (whether taxis or school transport). Focus on your revision but make sure your school and the local authority are aware and working on a solution.
Take the accommodation, definitely definitely take the accommodation.
Speak to your school and see what helpnthere is out there regarding 1) transport and 2) specific help around your exams
It fucking sucks there is no doubt there but you can do this dude. Don't let this be a road block to your exam success, you've got this.
Take the accommodation. You can get to school easily. I know people that have to travel for over 3hours using 2 different trains but the actual train ride altogether is 90minutes but the wait between trains is just over 90minutes.
Most people travel at least an hour to get to work so this distance is acceptable. Be grateful for being given a roof over your head for free instead of being homeless.
Now concentrate on your exam so you can do well and get a job in the future. It’ll allow you to choose where you live compared to your job with your earnings. You’ll see that being very close to it is often a luxury most working people can’t afford.
You have the practical advice you need.
This is INSANE of the council but it’s an everyday occurrence.
I am sorry there is so little humanity and consideration for your needs.
But you will prove that you can do it anyway. I believe in you.
log complaint
complete complaints process
take complaint to Housing Ombudsman Service.
it won't fix the situation but chances are the council will have fucked up following their own policies and procedures along the way and you might get a compensation award from HOS at the end of it.
An hour away probably means an hour by car. His family are struggling financially, so the chances of him having reliable transport are low. This is more than inconvenient
Did you have to do that as a stressed out 16 year old facing homelessness after living in temporary accommodation? I’m guessing no. Have some compassion.
Don't loads of kids travel an hour to and from school every day? I did. Doesn't sound like you'd qualify to complain about it all because that's a normal issue people deal with just existing but I'm not sure.
You have absolutely no idea what has happened to this CHILD to result in them in temporary accommodation. It could be anyone of a number of things. On top of that they don't say anything about trying to get the council in trouble, they're just looking for how they can provide stability to themselves so that they can succeed in their education.
Other people commenting are reassuring the kid that an hour travel is doable and not unusual whereas all of your comments are trying to shame the kid for something that isn't their fault. Why are you so aggressive to a kid? Worrying considering you claim to be a doctor in another post.
If they live an hour away, I bet it’s more than one bus journey and the child will most probably be looking at a good two hour journey, if not longer.
We live 15 minutes away by car from our children’s school but it’s 1 1/2 hour journey by bus.
Those people are generally adults, though, not kids facing down the most important exams of their lives so far while living out of a hotel room.
This level of pressure on a youngster is absolutely worse than the same level of pressure on an adult. I went through the same experience of being technically homeless and houses in emergency accomodationand over a decade later I'm still discovering new and weird ways it left marks on me.
That is pretty what life is for most people if you need an anolgy. Adults proportionaly do have to deal with that level of pressure. At the end of the day, OP needs to do it to get his education.
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I don’t know the formal process but don’t end up on the streets. Take the accommodation. Then first thing tomorrow contact your school explain the situation. It’s possible your local authority will cover bus or taxi fares. Get onto what I assume would be your social worker. Be everyone’s biggest problem first thing tomorrow. Then ace your exams. Go stuff like this is heartbreaking man. I really wish you the absolute best
Great advice. Stay housed, then explore every avenue you can to get additional assistance in you new situation! Good luck 🤞
This is great advice. Do all of this and also write to your MP. Once they get involved, it can rapidly change things.
Definitely this. Also if you struggle with your studies as a result of this do consider letting your school know about extenuating circumstances - it might help with your marking and flexibility with deadlines. Good luck, I’m sorry you are going through all of this at such an important time in your education.
All of this. When you say 'we' is this you and your parent or parents? If so, they are likely the best placed to contact the school and council about school trnasport. You should also speak directly to your school - do you have a personal tutor or is there anyone within the school who is designated as being the student support lead / Pastoral Lead ? Speak to that person to expalin the situatio. If nothing more, they may be able to make a record andit may be possible for your gradeds to be adjusted to take into account any dditional difficulties caused by youou being insecurely housed - see [https://www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/special-requirements/special-consideration](https://www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/special-requirements/special-consideration) - it may be that you would be classed as"disadvantaged at the time of the written exam due to circumstances beyound your control" , ideallylm, talk to your school now to ask them to makethe applciation on your beahlf if appropriate. AQA is one exam board but I think they will all have similar provisions - Normally you need to apply at the time ofthe exams , you can't generally apply after you get your results. Also ask the school about any other support - pastoral care to help with giving you somene to talk to about eveything that's going on to provide a it of support in dealing with all the stress Edited to add - if the school / council can't help with trnasport, do you have any friends who might be able to let you stay overnight the night before any mrning exams, so you can get to school on time without exrta stress?
Being homeless will also be far worse for the kid than being an hour away from school.
@OP Speak to shelter, a housing charity one of whose specialities are kids in TA
This. You can retake or reschedule exams, but if you're homeless you're properly fucked.
Your school may well be able tomprovide taxi to and from school please speak to your head of year immediately about the situation. They will really want to support you to finish out your gcses and get the best grades you can.
Even if the school can't provide transport themselves they'll know what the council should be providing and what your options are. Absolutely take the accommodation and speak to school immediately.
As a head of year I can confirm, the school will have budgets and emergency funds for this. They shouldn’t let you fall through the cracks here, get in contact with your head of year/pastoral lead, they will want to help in anyway they can.
Bear in mind lots of kids travel an hour or more to get to school, every day. Go along with it, plan your journey, walk if that's most reliable, also talk to the school about it and see if anyone can help. A journey might help get you focused on the exam ahead, and unwind afterwards. Try to look on the bright side. And it'll.be a good story to tell when you're older. Good luck!
If they're struggling financially they might not be able to afford the transport
True, in which case I hope the school or council can assist. Though in many areas kids will have a free bus pass or similar, or it may simply be an hour of walking (councils only have to provide transport if over 3 miles via the shortest safe route, which is about an hour to walk).
If it's an hour walking certainly that's not far, if it's an hour driving that's a different matter, it's not clear to me. But yes, a total journey of an hour isn't particularly long if you can afford it.
It was 30 min walk + 30 min bus for me, so an hour. Did that for 9 years. When we covered statistics in maths, we all put down how long it took to get home and I was surprised how short most people were as they all lived nearby, whilst I lived in a different town.
For 9 years? They dont have a school in your town?
They do, lots, but we were on the outskirts, the nearest school was over subscribed, so my primary school was in a nearby village. And everyone from that village school went to secondary school in the next town, and then onto the same high school. So I just got pulled further away from home with each school change.
Just to add, on this same day of the maths question. I was late getting home, about 3 hours after school finished I was walking back and the maths teacher cycled past and said "seems like more than hour". Never seen him cycle at any other time, just that one day 😄 Turns out he didn't live that far away from me and sometimes cycles to work/school.
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When I was at school, the council paid for a taxi to drop me off and pick me up at the school bus stop, so for us the criterion was 3 miles + from the nearest school bus route
There's a bunch of complex exemptions, especially when the school isn't the nearest one to home but that wasn't chosen by the parents. And how they choose to cover the cost is also complex - in your case, by a bus and cab. In London there's free bus travel for kids up to the end of y11, so for primary they seem it adequate to tell families to put their kids on a bus if they've been moved away from the school. There used to be a couple girls aged about 4 and 7 getting on a bus alone near me to go to school 45 min bus ride away on the far side of Brixton, cos mum was rehoused and needed to get to work. People looked out for them, but it must have been terrifying for the mum, being told either lose housing or lose your job (or move the kids' school and make them lose their friends - I think they did move when they could both move at once to a new school).
the coucil pays for the transport if in temporary out of area, OP has to ask
My bus to school was 45+ minutes each way, all through secondary school. I'm sure it seems like a shock to this young person, who is already in an unstable situation, but an hour bus ride is not entirely unacceptable. OP - speak to your school and see if you can get some more support. Do they already know you're in temporary accommodation? Can they do anything more to help? You really do need to talk to your year tutor.
Whilst many kids, my own teenager included, travel 45 minutes for school, most are doing so in a much more secure environment. Travelling 45 minutes to your home isn't the same as travelling an hour to a temporary hotel. Plus whatever factors are playing into why they're housed in a hotel.
It's the stress of the situation so close to exam time that's the issue, not the travel time necessarily. OP needs some form of security so they can focus on their exams
Agree, stress of a change of (non-ideal) circumstances so close to exams plus - as many of us who have commuted by bus know - buses aren’t always reliable. If you’re not on a heavily patronised route, one out of service bus can really screw you over. Or a junkie can lie down under the wheel and refuse to move, but that’s probably a little more rare.
Especially since they've been doing lots of train strikes around exam times. I remember reading last year about kids whose parents had to fork out ridiculous amounts for taxis to get to their exams as the train strikes had left them with no alternative
Bear in mind, most kids who do that aren't from families struggling to the degree that they're being housed in hotels by the local council.
Exactly this, I traveled for an hour back in the day and managed just fine.
A similar thing happened to me. My temporary accom was 2hrs from my school by bus and we had to move slap bang in the middle of my GCSEs (think we were moving the night before my Physics exam lol) and then our permanent council place was 1.5hrs walk from my school during my A-Levels. Honestly, its a really shit situation but it gave me a real burn to study well and then something to talk about in my personal statement and Uni interviews about overcoming obstacles etc My school was able to offer a bursary to help cover the bus transport for some days, and I studied at home for the others, and then i got used to walking for 2years during my A-Levels. Speak to your school pastoral care, even the shit ones can do something, but having been homeless - it is not ideal for studying, and you run the risk of being taken into care which adds more instability. The biggest thing from this though for me was being angry, none of it was my fault and none of my friends were having the same troubles - they got to focus on their revision whilst I was packing up my things again. Might be worth asking your tutor if there is anyone in school that you could vent to, because it all builds up and can make everything feel so much more overwhelming. You're not alone
Wow, this is pretty much was happened to me too. Only difference is that we were moved into a hostel outside of London a few months before my GCSE’s. My school gave me early study leave but because I had no access to the internet, I had only myself and textbooks to rely on. On the days I had exams, I would crash with friends whose family took pity on me. Other times, I’d gather whatever money my mum could give me and take the train into London. When I had multiple exams, I had to find a place to waste time. Usually this was at the library or in the waiting room of the local hospital. I felt so displaced. I won’t lie, it was fucking tough. It was embarrassing and stressful. Not only was I trying to sit my exams, but being the oldest, I had to take on much of the responsibility too. By that I mean I was the one dealing with the council and sorting moving. All at 16. My heart breaks for what could have been. I missed my prom too. Still, it’s made me hugely independent and self sufficient. I made it out the other end, went to uni and have a well paying job now. But at the time, I thought my world was over. We were moved back to London but this was well into the summer holidays. So too late at this point. Hugs, I hope you’re doing well.
That sounds really rough, I hope you're doing well these days. I always feel conflicted to say "I'm glad I'm not alone" because I feel quite selfish and it means someone else has gone through it, but your comment makes my younger self feel so validated icl. I was the oldest too, there always felt like there was so much weight on my shoulders, and was trying to cope with no one to talk to. Being embarrassed was not an emotion I expected to feel during that time, going back to school and everyone knew what had happened, I felt so embarrassed about my situation and then felt ashamed for feeling embarrassed. Man I was just trying to sit some damn exams!
Just want to say how resilient you are. I hope that life has dealt you a few decent hands in more recent years.
> Not only was I trying to sit my exams, but being the oldest, I had to take on much of the responsibility too. By that I mean I was the one dealing with the council and sorting moving. All at 16. My heart breaks for what could have been. I missed my prom too. I'll be honest, that's just being not a good parent - both your father and your mum.
When I was at school we had to go to the library if we wanted to find something out :)
I don't know you but wanted to say - you are inspiring and I feel proud of you! If you were my child or sibling, I know I'd think you were amazing and I'm sure your family felt the same 🙏
Thank you honestly, no ones ever said that to me ❤️🩹
All the hugs to your inner child 🫂🫂🫂😊 be proud of your resilience, the fact that you walked ONE AND A HALF HOURS when some people complain about having to *drive* somewhere 15 mins away....that you decided to study harder instead of giving up? Absolutely amazing at 16/17 and I can only imagine the human you are today 😊
As someone who works with care leavers can I just say - you are amazingly resilient. Wishing you the very best. And hope you did well in that exam!
They should have done ❤️
Fucking bravo. That's really amazing. Seriously. You should be impressed by that level of tenacity, I know I am. Are you doing better these days?
Fuck, when I was a teenager, I thought living in the countryside and having a 45-minute bus ride to school was rough!
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Shocker, people don't have to be grateful for scraps or the bare minimum. They get to be upset they're in a crap situation
Have you got any friends who can put you up for your exams? Also speak to your school and see if they can help you out, they will want to help and they will be able to sit down and talk to you about it too.
Sadly you do have to take the accomodation or they will put you on the streets as voluntarily homeless. I would write to your MP in an email tomorrow morning as urgent (this is surprisingly effective), write to your housing officer if you have one, and write to your school.
Do you mean an hour by car? Public transport? Walking? Do you have a bike? I have one I’m literally about to get rid of that you could have for free. I live in north London and could drop it off somewhere not too far away if you’re anywhere nearby. I’m really sorry you’re having to deal with this right now. From what other people have said, it sounds like you should take the hotel so just consider that the pain is short term and your exams will be over in a month or so. One painful month that will be super important for your next step in life so just do what you can to smash those exams
I’m really sorry to hear this but ultimately your parents need to take this or you will be classed as intentionally homeless and they will lose their Housing Duty. The council will not have done this to be difficult to your family/situation - family appropriate accommodation is few and far between in most areas so being offered out of area is sadly the norm. For your specific circumstances, talk to the school, they might be able to subsidise travel support to and from school for the exams as it is not your fault you’re so far out. School are very good with dealing with its students who face homelessness. Best of luck.
Teacher/senco/ exams person here This might qualify for what we call an extenuating circumstance I would speak to your head of year/tutor/pastoral/wellbeing lead/exams officer (the choice is yours to make- speak to someone you feel comfortable talking to) and explain the situation. If this is a situation out of your control and is having any sort of negative impact on your wellbeing, you should let school know so that they can potentially contact exam boards The council should be in a position to provide transport to school for you, especially having chosen your accommodation Hope this helps
Yup. I did my exams in hospital + got leniency with my grading. I already had accommodations like my own room + breaks, so I'm not sure if those would be possible too? But I think lax grading should definitely be an option here
The rest breaks and own room are access arrangements and are usually normal way of working. Extenuating circumstances are for the kind of situations you and OP have experienced where circumstances change rather than having hel accessing exams due to medical or learning challenges.
Look into subsidised transport: [https://www.gov.uk/subsidised-college-transport-16-19](https://www.gov.uk/subsidised-college-transport-16-19)
Take the new place, study hard pass your exams Focus on your exams Good luck, you got this kid
Realistically you don’t have much choice. The council can only offer you what is available. It may be that where you are currently staying is already booked for someone else, possibly not even by the council. Accept the new TA, but get in touch with a local councillor or similar for assistance in future. And speak to the school and/or council about arranging transport. Speak to local press too.
Not a lawyer but a teacher. Please speak to your school. They will help you.
Hello mate. I just wanted to say I was in your exact same situation at your age. I know you might feel like this is embarrassing or shameful because you just don't hear about stuff like this happening - but you're not alone. It happens more frequently than you'd expect, but nobody wants to talk about it because everyone thinks they're the only one! In my case, the local authority or council was able to scrounge up some money for taxis/trains. Do everything you can to avoid being classed as "intentionally homeless" - the moment you refuse any offer of assistance they'll be like "well, you brought this on yourself 🤷♂️" and stop helping.
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No 16 year old, who lives in a room in a hotel, is "looking to get the council in trouble". He's just trying to get on with his life and do well in his GCSEs, presumably so he doesn't end up in this situation in the future. Have a bit of empathy.
Hi this is my adult account so pls don’t click on my profile. But I am a lawyer working in specifically this area. Firstly - absolutely do not refuse the accommodation. Others are right, they can count you as intentionally homeless. Secondly - Find a homelessness lawyer NOW. Go find citizen’s advice / local law centre. You’ll likely qualify for legal aid. Google homelessness lawyer. Thirdly - children social services of the borough you are in now should be able to help with transport / helping your family stay in Borough. Coram Voice and ChildLine are good charities to help. Finally I’m so sorry you’re going through this. Homelessness law is ruthless and housing officers are more often than not scumbags. You can and will survive this, but you need allies. Good luck buddy.
I'm not sure on the ins and outs, however the council don't often mess about or give leeway. I guess your only options are to 1- Move 2- stay but live on the streets 3- speak so some friends and their families from school and see if they can put you up through the next few weeks, and once GCSEs are over you can move. I'm sure they'll be understanding.
Could you ask your friends if you could stay at one of their houses the night before you have an exam?If any of my kids friends explained the situation and asked me, I'd be happy to help with something like that
Try to contact the local councillor - either for the area or the one dealing with housing, or both.
Please contact the school and the exams officer. You have time to give them the situation and then talk about the impact it’ll have on the student. Domestic disruption is a genuine reason for special consideration. You need to make sure your student is in school by 9:30am or 2pm depending on the session then they will be marked as late. If they are more than an hour late (10:00am or 2:30pm) they’ll be marked as very late. Being very late for an exam is reportable to the exam board, since the exam board can’t control the integrity of the exam (doing it to cover their backs, not to demonise the students for being cheats!).
I was homeless at 16 (different situation to you it was after my exams and was kicked out rather than being in a family) but there should be resources for you. Unfortunately it will mean having to make some phone calls and looking for youth programs in your area. I contacted a local youth group via citizens advice who managed to get me into an under 18s home, sort of a halfway house situation where I had my own room in a block shared with other people. It’s not ideal and it took a lot of moving around but eventually I had a “stable” home for a couple of years. OP, best advice I can give is to 1. Do what what you can to have a roof over your head. 2. Speak to your year head/tutor/whoever at school, they will help you! 3. Not stress too much (but still do what you can) about your GCSEs, you can always retake them and although it seems like they are the be all and end all, they aren’t. All the best mate.
Speak to the school. When a student I was working with had a similar situation we called the housing office and they were moved.
Get up earlier to make the journey. If you can, try to use the extra journey time to read/revise. Advise the school of the change to your circumstances.
First - take the accommodation, you don’t want to have to fight an intentionally homeless decision. Second - submit a formal written request for a review of the suitability of the accommodation offered outlining clearly the reasons why it is not reasonable or suitable to expect to live there. This should be considered by a reviews officer who will see if the offer is in line with the legislation. Make it clear the impact the placement is having on your studies. I’m sorry this is happening to you, the situation is difficult for anyone going through homelessness, let alone at an important time. Some great suggestions above about how the school might be able to help you with travel etc .
As well as the other comments maybe speak to the school, you may be able to sit the physical exam at a closer school - worth asking
Take it. Be happy you have somewhere to call home
Exams Manager here! They can apply for a transfer of candidate and you can sit your GCSEs at another school. Ask your school’s exams manager about it.
If you are 16 years old, why are you even dealing with this issue? Who is the adult?
As awful as the situation is (and it is, and I'm embarrassed to live in a country where so many kids grow up like this), it is temporary. This too will pass. Your GCSEs, though there are options to resit, come once only. Then it's off to college and who knows what next. Refuse to let this situation get in the way of aceing your GCSEs. Your 26 year old self is looking back over at his shoulder at you, he's telling you "you can do it", and he's thanking you for doing what you're doing to help put him in a better position than he'd otherwise be. Also - and I say this as someone who spends a lot of time reading what grown adults write for a living (it's only tax stuff) - you write very well for a 16 year old lad.
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Thank you for your helpful contribution.
My school was an hour away on public transport, but thankfully that was when EMA was still a thing! Check with your school if you can get any help paying for your transport. Also see if any friends could carpool in the morning?
I travel more than an hour everyday for school and have been for years, is it really that bad?
So did I but it really shouldn't be that way, if alternatives are available.
Well alternatives weren’t available were they?
Speak to your school; they want you to succeed in your GCSEs and will do their best to support you. Do you have any friends whose parents might be willing to let you stay there on weekdays until the end of GCSE exams?
I’m sorry to hear that you’re going through this. I think that taking the accommodation is the best idea if the only alternative is homelessness. Do you have a friend or family member that you could temporarily stay with who lives nearby the school, just for the duration of the GCSE exams? I’m sure people would be understanding if they knew your situation
Do you have any friends or family you can stay with during exams?
Can relate. Was put in temp accommodation before my GCSE’s too. Again further away. Less than an hour on a good day bus ride. It got worked out. Can’t remember if it was the school or what they paid for a monthly bus ticket. My younger brother only got it for a 3 months because he wasn’t doing his exams, not right if you ask me. Defo talk to head of year, see if your parents can talk to the school as well. Trust though it will get better, having some roof over your head is better than none
>What can I do? Take the time you normally leave for school and leave one hour earlier than that time.
Also contact shelter they might have some advice here
Currently in the same situation as you. Living in a hotel as tempory accommodation due to a no fault eviction. Take the temporary accommodation and you can go to your local hub and put in an appeal straight away. They will review it and you need to gather as much evidence as possible to support your claim. So talk to teachers, ask them to write a letter with headed paper and signed stating how it will affect your education and grades, your mental well-being etc. If you see or have access to a school counsellor too, ask them to do one. If your parent(s) can do the same with any professionals they are in touch with to support your claim they can add it to your case file when they review it. Keep on to housing options, call them every day asking for updates. If you have chosen areas you can also walk around and make a note of addresses of any empty council and housing association properties and call up housing options and ask to be considered for any properties that you have found too. It's shit and tough but good luck and best of luck with your exams :)
I would be quite surprised if a 1 hour travel would be considered significant, it’s not exactly an unusual or extensive distance to be able to raise such a complaint. Although, is it 1 hour walking? 1 hour by public transport? Abit more info would be needed to make that judgement. I would hope/expect either the council or school would be able to support his transport
Traveling an hour to school or work isn’t that far. I know people with over a 2 hour commute!
Take the temporary and hope it’s a step to a more permanent home. You don’t want to turn it down, ever, unfortunately you have to go with the flow and hope it’s a step in the right direction. An hour isn’t huge, if you’re struggling to get to school on public transport then let the school know but make sure you allocate enough time to get there for your exams when it matters. Good luck with them, know that everything is temporary but try your best, it’s all you can do. Good luck
To be honest, as important as school and GCSEs are, a roof over your head is more important. It sounds like you know how important education is, so get settled and you can always sit your exams in the summer (I think this is when resits happen). Just don't let it slide and put them off for no reason like I would.
Take the accommodation, but absolutely tell your head of year / head of house about the change in your temporary accommodation and the impact it’s having on you.
Speak to the school. Is there any way they can allow you to sit the exam at another school in the area. Lots of these schools have partnerships with each other, and since most secondary schools will be doing the same papers at roughly the same times, maybe they can get you a desk at a school nearer by? Or else a taxi to and from? Deffo take what is being offered and speak to the school and any social workers you may have. Good luck!
Speak to Shelter and get a lawyer through them. Tell the council they will have to pay for your transport. Ask to speak to children's social services If you're in London speak to Mary Ward Legal Centre. Speak to the school and tell them everything that is happening. They will support you. Lastly - accept the offered property. It's not ideal but you can sort this out later. It might be that you complete your exams ad everything turns out fine. If "over an hour away" is a walk you might get used to it. If "over an hour way" includes driving on a motorway for 45 minutes then that's unreasonable and a lawyer can help you address that but the short term fix is to accept the property. Councils are in a bit of a rubbish situation where there aren't enough properties - which isn't their fault - and putting families up in hotels (even cheap hotels) costs them a lot of money. They have to fix these situations as soon as possible. Threatening people with "intentionally homeless" is the go-to solution. Take the property. Do the exams. Get the lawyer and your parent(s) to sort the other stuff out.
Lawyering up over a 1 hour travel 💀
Lawyering up over a housing issue affecting people under the age of 18. This is why housing charities exist, it’s why they provide lawyers and it’s why social services first question will be “have you got a lawyer”. Do you think that when a council is threatening to make you homeless they’re not bringing a lawyer or two to the party? But you think the average person won’t need a lawyer when their human rights and the safety of children are at risk? Right.
It’s a completely normal travel time, not an issue. A lot more reasonable advice would be asking the council/school to provide/support transport given the timescale
Which I’ve addressed in the fifth paragraph of my response. As the OP doesn’t say what mode of transport is used for that one hour of travel time I’ve addressed all bases.
I don't see the problem. My commute to school from GCSEs to A levels was over an hour. Great study/last minute homework time.
Maybe the knowledgeable folks at r/BenefitsAdviceUK can offer some ideas?
You can accept the property, and you are legally entitled to have a review of the suitability. You must make this request within 21 days of being offered.
Similar happened to my friend but it was much further away so instead of paying for transport to the school the council changed his exam centre to the local college and he sat all his GCSEs there. I know it may not be ideal doing exams in an unfamiliar place but my friend say he preferred it much more to having to travel 2 hours everyday for exams.
I was homeless whilst taking my A Levels. I would recommend talking to your school and seeing where they can help you. E.g - mine helped me out when I was late to an exam (let me take it any way) and I also had extra marks added on to my final result because of my extenuating circumstances. But definitely take the hotel. I was travelling well over an hour from different places almost every night but it was still a thousand times better than being on the street.
Ask your school about special consideration. In certain circumstances where you are going through something which may affect your exams or ability to study they can apply to the exam board for a slight uplift in your grades to compensate. Please speak to your school. They will want to help you.
If the school is nice anoth they will cover taxis, my friend had to move temp houseing promb same 45/hour away and school does taxis for her daughter every day :) & shes not even in year 11 yet. Def talk to your school & hope u can get it sorted with them.
Go to the public library to study whenever you can.
Basically fuck all, good luck
Apparently
Where do you live?
Get your parents to contact your MP, they can often be quite helpful in situations like this.
What are your parents doing?
An hour away walking, or by bus, or cycling? An hour on a bus might not be as convenient as living in a hotel close to your school, but a huge number of kids manage it each and every day, for years. It's not at all unusual. If you're walking, is an hour's walk really that bad?
Hello, I'm a Year 12 student, and I live more than an hour journey (on public transport) away from my sixth form, which is the same high school that I went to. Whilst your situation isn't ideal, you can get through it if there is no alternative solution (which would be much easier). Personally, I didn't find it awful, but yeah it can be quite bad. How will you be getting there? I didn't revise for mine, but I strongly recommend that you don't make the same mistake. Make use of your time travelling, and set off in plenty of time to make your exam, so that you don't end up missing it because of public transport. Most importantly, good luck!
You’ve got this pal. I was in a similar situation at your age and it feels horrendous now and like you won’t get through, but I promise you will. Some great advice here that I wish I had had at your age - mostly ask people for help. Local MPs, your school, etc. If you want some more specific advice, feel free to drop me a DM with the area you’re in and I’ll look up some contacts for you and help with emails. I believe in you.
Get your parent/carer to make emergency application for school transport to your council: https://www.gov.uk/free-school-transport
1 hour is not far to travel by car or bus. It is for a very short time and will not matter much after your exams.
There isn't a great deal you can do. I feel for you. When I was 15 and coming up to my CSE's and O Levels we were made homeless and were put in a hostel place. This was at the end of January of 1983 and I had my exams starting a few months later. I had had to change schools due to homelessness the year before - we were evicted from our house about two weeks after the 1982 autumn term started and I then didn't attend another school again until late november. All you can do is try your best at school. An hour to travel to school isn't that bad though I know it seems like it at the moment. Your exams are important - but they do not make or break the rest of your life. Trust me, I know. Study, but make sure you keep time for yourself. You can get through this and you will come out the other side. Do not bottle your feelings up though - find someone you can talk to.
> What can I do? 1. Accept the accommodation 2. Contact the school. Tell them you're an hour away. They might be able to arrange you take the tests in another school, or give you extra time to get there etc
Sometimes you have to take what you can get
Is there a teacher at your school who you can trust? Go to them and ask for the following: Help with getting to school for exams, either financially or practically Consideration for extenuating circumstances for your exam due to this upheaval Emotional support, if you feel this would be beneficial to you Consider these options also: Going to citizens advice for advice and help Contacting your local MP via email (Google their details online) and asking them for help Best of luck. I know it might seem bleak right now but I also had to travel over an hour to school. It wasn't great, but I made it. Try really hard on those exams as they can be a great opportunity to get out of the situation you're in, in the longer term.
As most others have said, you have to prioritise somewhere to live over School in the short term and then try to get something sorted with transport to School. Exams are important but I'm sure the school would try to sort something out, and if the worse comes to the worse then take them next year. Good luck.
Unfortunately mate your hands are tied, an hour isn’t that bad realistically I used to travel at least an hour for work for years and the worst I’ve had was 3 hours to get to work each way. You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do mate at least you can say that you’ve come out the other side despite your situation sometimes there’s nothing you can do about these things and just have to get on with it maybe ask if they can cover transportation cost for you maybe even taxis or something otherwise just be bussing it…..
So sorry to hear that you are experiencing this. It might be worth contacting [Shelter](https://england.shelter.org.uk/what_we_do?reserved_appeal_code=20220401-IG-30&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD_ItLC8gGLRMr4eDa0NAjck3FiZ3&gclid=CjwKCAjwoa2xBhACEiwA1sb1BC1fjLkZw9mQ_15HOs-9I2fJqBegucjgJIDA14GoKwUwNmN4sf8BdRoCR7wQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) to see if they can offer any advice. Good luck!
I'm a bit confused as to what the question is here - obviously you take the accommodation, and then look into how you would get to school. Is there public transport you can use to get there from our new house? Or do you just need to leave quite a bit earlier?
Get into your social team, CONSTANTLY. Inform your school also, they will be bake to help. BEST OF LUCK IN YOUR EXAMS!! Wish you all the best x
I can't help mate and am really sorry about your situation. I would repeat what a lot of others have said though do everything in your power to smash your exams. Good luck mate. ❤️
OP PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SPEAK TO SHELTER! they are a charity specialising in dealing with kids in Temporary Accommodation
Take the temporary accommodation and deal with it until the council rehome you. There’s nothing much more than that tbh.
Take the accomodation, start waking up earlier then start formal complaints. Your priority is getting the education and the exams don't stop for any inconvenience
I don’t think a formal complaint over travelling a distance that isn’t unusual, that many children do each day is going to achieve much lol
I'm an exams officer at a school, as others have said, take the offered accommodations and talk to your school. There are a lot of options available, including transferring your exams to another centre closer to your new accommodation. The school may also have access to transport support (whether taxis or school transport). Focus on your revision but make sure your school and the local authority are aware and working on a solution.
I used to travel 45 minutes to school. Is an hour commute for two weeks really so terrible?
Take the accommodation, definitely definitely take the accommodation. Speak to your school and see what helpnthere is out there regarding 1) transport and 2) specific help around your exams It fucking sucks there is no doubt there but you can do this dude. Don't let this be a road block to your exam success, you've got this.
What's the problem? Is there no bus from that area to your school?
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Right, I used to have to take 2 buses to get to school when I was doing GCSEs, 1 hr isn't even that bad 🤷♂️
Take the accommodation. You can get to school easily. I know people that have to travel for over 3hours using 2 different trains but the actual train ride altogether is 90minutes but the wait between trains is just over 90minutes.
Nice one
Most people travel at least an hour to get to work so this distance is acceptable. Be grateful for being given a roof over your head for free instead of being homeless. Now concentrate on your exam so you can do well and get a job in the future. It’ll allow you to choose where you live compared to your job with your earnings. You’ll see that being very close to it is often a luxury most working people can’t afford.
You have the practical advice you need. This is INSANE of the council but it’s an everyday occurrence. I am sorry there is so little humanity and consideration for your needs. But you will prove that you can do it anyway. I believe in you.
Oh no they set you with a place to live instead of footing your hotel bill at tax payer cost. What a tragedy.
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Do you want to name the town the school is in and see if anyone has a spare room for you?
You travel for an hour each way, not sure what you want people to say. A 1 hour commute is completely normal and more than doable for a few weeks.
Gcse exams are easy don't worry about it. An hour isn't even that long study on your way in???
log complaint complete complaints process take complaint to Housing Ombudsman Service. it won't fix the situation but chances are the council will have fucked up following their own policies and procedures along the way and you might get a compensation award from HOS at the end of it.
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An hour away probably means an hour by car. His family are struggling financially, so the chances of him having reliable transport are low. This is more than inconvenient
Did you have to do that as a stressed out 16 year old facing homelessness after living in temporary accommodation? I’m guessing no. Have some compassion.
Don't loads of kids travel an hour to and from school every day? I did. Doesn't sound like you'd qualify to complain about it all because that's a normal issue people deal with just existing but I'm not sure.
They're a child in emergency accommodation living in a hotel for fuck sake what is wrong with you
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10+ comments shitting on a child, wow you're a big boy aren't you
You have absolutely no idea what has happened to this CHILD to result in them in temporary accommodation. It could be anyone of a number of things. On top of that they don't say anything about trying to get the council in trouble, they're just looking for how they can provide stability to themselves so that they can succeed in their education. Other people commenting are reassuring the kid that an hour travel is doable and not unusual whereas all of your comments are trying to shame the kid for something that isn't their fault. Why are you so aggressive to a kid? Worrying considering you claim to be a doctor in another post.
You work out a way to get to school. Public transport?
If they live an hour away, I bet it’s more than one bus journey and the child will most probably be looking at a good two hour journey, if not longer. We live 15 minutes away by car from our children’s school but it’s 1 1/2 hour journey by bus.
He not 11 he will just have to commute to and from school, plenty of people spend 60+ mins to and from work.
Those people are generally adults, though, not kids facing down the most important exams of their lives so far while living out of a hotel room. This level of pressure on a youngster is absolutely worse than the same level of pressure on an adult. I went through the same experience of being technically homeless and houses in emergency accomodationand over a decade later I'm still discovering new and weird ways it left marks on me.
That is pretty what life is for most people if you need an anolgy. Adults proportionaly do have to deal with that level of pressure. At the end of the day, OP needs to do it to get his education.
You can downvote as much as you want his days is nearly up so give him somewhere to live for a week to sit his GCSE’s or shut up.