Um. I'm not sure - doesn't sound that practical / likely. The closest example I can think of, well, I've a friend whose mum lives in Musselbourgh, which is technically kinda part of Edinburgh (and close enough that the government decreed 'you're not getting help with rent from us') but is a good 40-60 minutes' bus-ride away. She doesn't get any aid; she bought her own bus-pass. They're available for reasonable prices, but aren't subsidised. (Sidenote: you can get '16-25 railcards' for the trains, which are cheaper than full adult railcards and very useful for getting home (the UK train systems are very good, and the default mode of travel for those without cars), but they tend not to be applicable to short-distance small-cost journeys
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I'm not sure - doesn't sound that practical / likelyenderwiggin24April 8 2009, 12:38:10 UTC
I am not from UK, so I dont know, how you come to that conclusion, nor do I know about your students living condition in UK, but I am from Germany, and up until five years ago, when I was student, we got that from our universities. (I do know, in five years, lots of things have changed here as well, university reforms and such, ..) and in my opinion, it was VERY practical.
well back to the good old times, you just pay 100 Euro for fees as student , and could receive a public transportation card for 6 month, and could use it for a radius of nearly 100 or 150 km around your city. for comparison, if you were a normal worker or employee, you had to pay for the same card, something over a 1000 euro. (which I do pay now, as a white collar worker, coz i dont care for a car, but find public transportation very convenient , at least in large german cities, where I live. 1000 euro sounds like a lot, but comparing to all the costs of a car, its actually cheap).
Re: I'm not sure - doesn't sound that practical / likelymacey_museApril 8 2009, 14:00:32 UTC
No, I mean, it's the living-far-away that sounds unlikely. In the UK we're actively encouraged to live in certain student areas set out by the university. Every UK university outside of London, as far as I know, guarantees first year accomodation for everyone who applies by the deadline, which is usually quite late on in the year, and the application process is well organised & visible. After first year, there are generally certain student-friendly areas in the town where rents are reasonable, the landlords accept students, & so on. Those areas would be either close enough to walk or, as in Warwick university for example (it's a campus uni with only enough space on-site to house first-years) there would be a direct link, because there would be so many students needing that link. The only reasons for living away from those areas would be if you were still living with your parents, or if you were rich enough to want out of the student areas for somewhere more classy, in which case discounts & subsidies wouldn't likely be an issue
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It would depend on where you are, which city and how far away you lived. Some public transport companies (which are overseen by the local councils but not necessarily operated by them) have student discount travel cards, usually you get 1/3 off but you have to pay for these upfront (so, for example in London a Student oyster would let you use it on tubes/buses etc but you have to buy one upfront (1 month, 3 month, 6 month or a year) and it is *very* expensive
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It really depends on the university. For example, my uni (Durham) is on two sites. The library is on the main site, but the students on the other site still need to use it, so you get free bus travel between the two sites if you show your student card. IIRC, it's the same kind of system in Stirling between the campus & town (where some students live), and in Newcastle between the town (where the Uni buildings are) & student accommodation, except that in Newcastle they give you a one-year free bus pass.
Other places do vary. For example, (as far as I know) Manchester doesn't give students any kind of free transport into/out of/around the town.
These are just Universities I have personal experience of (thanks to friends and whatnot). As macey_muse said, there are bus passes/16-25 Railcards that give you money off your travel. Hope that helped somewhat!
Yes, we also have a free university-run shuttle bus between the main campus and the science campus - they're a fair ways apart. But that's run and funded directly by EUSA, our union, and (afaik) funded with the profits from their shops / restaurants / venues. (Its continuance was something of a hot topic in this year's election.) Again, you need to show your student 'matric' card, which is a photo-card (so you can't just borrow a friend's).
If you don't live in the same city, then no -- basically, you can apply to a council to get student passes which give a reduced cost for public transport, but they only apply to one city, since the scheme belong to that city's council specifically (i.e. for London there's the student oyster photocard, and other cities will have their own varying versions. Public transport is run differently in every city.
However, there are national serving companies, like the mainland trains and private coach companies, etc.. You can apply for things like a young person's railcard for cross-city journies (coach companies will have the equivalent, too).
what's available depends how you're travelling (train, bus, etc), how far you're travelling and how often. I did my BA at a non campus uni and they had a free bus service to get to the parts of the university. Then there can be other reduced fair/subsidised transport options. So in answer to your question it depends lol
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well back to the good old times, you just pay 100 Euro for fees as student , and could receive a public transportation card for 6 month, and could use it for a radius of nearly 100 or 150 km around your city.
for comparison, if you were a normal worker or employee, you had to pay for the same card, something over a 1000 euro. (which I do pay now, as a white collar worker, coz i dont care for a car, but find public transportation very convenient , at least in large german cities, where I live. 1000 euro sounds like a lot, but comparing to all the costs of a car, its actually cheap).
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well, at least, now I know a bit more how it works in UK, and vice versa, you have learned a bit more about Germany :)
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Other places do vary. For example, (as far as I know) Manchester doesn't give students any kind of free transport into/out of/around the town.
These are just Universities I have personal experience of (thanks to friends and whatnot). As macey_muse said, there are bus passes/16-25 Railcards that give you money off your travel. Hope that helped somewhat!
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However, there are national serving companies, like the mainland trains and private coach companies, etc.. You can apply for things like a young person's railcard for cross-city journies (coach companies will have the equivalent, too).
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