Parents say they are having to decide whether to pay bills or send their children to school as the cost of living crisis bites. A survey by a high school in Wales found families admitting their children are missing school because they can’t afford the bus in the cost of living crisis.
School transport is free for pupils who live three or more miles from school but many in the catchment for Llanishen High in Cardiff live just short of being eligible. Some parents said they face bus costs of nearly £600 a year and are having to decide which days their children can go to school.
The survey, sent out by Llanishen High as part of its work on attendance, asked parents living in the CF23 post code: “Has cost of school transport ever meant your child has not been able to get the school bus and has therefore missed school?”. It comes as head teachers warned parents across Wales are struggling with school costs and more than one in 10 pupils across Wales are still absent from school – way above pre-pandemic levels.
