Rural students face 'draining' commute to courses
BBCSome agriculture and animal care students say they are facing journeys of up to three hours each way to study.
Newton Rigg College in Penrith shut in 2021 and Kendal College - 35 miles (56km) away - is now the only further education provider of land-based courses in Cumbria.
The college said it was trying to help with transport and remote learning but did not get extra government support. The government has been approached for comment.
Sophie Rear, who lives in Aspatria, said her travel, which sees her get up at 05:30, take two buses and then drive, was "absolutely draining".
The 18-year-old, who is in the final year of an animal care T-level, often takes a bus to Carlisle, a second to a friend's house and then they drive to Kendal.
Adding in her part-time job in a local takeaway and looking after her three dogs, she had little time for anything else, she said.
"I used to go out after college but now that I've been doing it for a while, it's just absolutely draining," she said. "I just want to go to bed."
The college has allowed students on her course to work from home on Fridays to help with the commute.
"It's nice because I get up at, like, five to nine [and] get a lie-in," she said.
Miss Rear is also one of 377 students at the college to receive a bursary to help with travel costs.
Kendal CollegeMore than 200 students study courses they could once have taken at Newton Rigg and travel from as far as Workington, Carlisle, Brampton and Barrow-in-Furness.
Dan Stamper, who previously worked at Newton Rigg and is now head of faculty for agriculture, animal care and health at Kendal College, said travelling long distances in rural Cumbria brought challenges.
Those included a student who travelled from Workington and was stuck when bad weather led to the cancellation of her buses, he said.
"It just adds a layer of complexity that learners in other areas of the country don't have to even consider," he said.
"If you're travelling from one side of London to the other by Tube, you're not having to deal with as much mental load as a learner that's travelling by bus from Workington to Kendal three days a week."
'Considerable argy-bargy'
To combat longer journey times, the college runs a satellite site at Hope's Auction Mart in Wigton, allowing agricultural apprentices to learn there once a week.
Students who need to continue studying English and Maths alongside vocational courses do these lessons in three-week blocks in Kendal to reduce travel time, with Mr Stamper picking them up from Wigton and dropping them back off.
"The system is definitely working and improving their outcomes, but the argy-bargy of moving them around the county is considerable," he said.
Attending lessons together gave students mental health and social benefits as well as the skills they needed to work on the land or with animals, he said.
"It's important that a 16-year-old in a very rurally isolated area, doing a very isolated job, has the opportunity to meet with their peers, for their mental health," Mr Stamper said.
