The price of an education: pupil has to pay over £1,400 to travel to school

17-year-old Ryan Barber lives in Shap and travels 15 miles each way every day to get to Ullswater Community College in Penrith. He relies on the school bus to get there and back. However, the cost of Ryan getting an education is putting his family out of pocket by over £1,400.

The route is the most expensive school bus route in Cumbria and most possibly the country. Pupils who travel to the college from Shap have to pay more than four times more than pupils elsewhere in the country.

• Armathwaite to Penrith is 12 miles and will cost pupils £380

• Patterdale to Penrith is 14 miles and will cost pupils £170

• Shap to Penrith is 15 miles and will cost pupils £1,425

Ryan has described the discrepancy as “ludicrous”, while his mother Lynn has said that it will have a “huge impact on the family”.

Last year, when Ryan was 16, the route cost his family £365 but the price this year has almost quadrupled, as there is no longer a statutory requirement to provide transport for over 16s.

The price that over 16s pay now depends on how many spare seats there are on the bus. The school can subsidise transport for pupils, however, Ullswater Community College have said that this would divert too much money from teaching. Headteacher Nigel Pattinson has said that paying £1400 for a seat on a bus is "barminess".

The bus contracts are negotiated Cumbria County Council and Councillor Keith Little, Cumbria County Council’s Cabinet member for transport and highways, has said that while the situation is a difficult situation but they don’t have a statutory duty to provide transport.