A-LEVEL students in Ceredigion should not be asked to pay for transport to school as it would pen­alise people living in rural areas­ and those who cannot afford their own car, councillors have said.

The council’s education department has drawn up proposals that would see students in post-16 education charged £390 per year to use school buses, as well as a charge for pupils who travel to a school that is not the nearest school and use a ‘spare seat’ on a bus.

While the council is under no obligation to pay transport costs for A-level students, members of the learning communities scrutiny committee said they didn’t want to see any charges introduced bec­ause of concerns over the policy penalising people who live in rura­l areas and that it could lead to youngsters from less well-off families being forced to consider not attending sixth forms.

One councillor, Odwyn Davies, urged fellow committee members to instead back increasing council tax by an additional one or two per cent to ensure no charges are introduced.

Barry Rees, the strategic director for learning and partnerships, admitted that a consultation into the proposal had seen the “vast majority” of responses opposed to the introduction of the charge, although there had been some suggestions that a reduced charge could be accepted.

But Cllr Dai Mason said: “What we’ve got here is people in rural areas having to pay more than people in towns.

“I don’t think that’s fair, but I do agree that we need to make savings.”

The committee agreed to recommend to Cabinet members that no charge is introduced for post-16 transport.

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