Bhasvic? Any thoughts....

[Green Cross Code Man]

Not sure if anyone has covered this already, but BHASVIC may suit some more than others. I was a student there about a decade ago (how?!) and it was great for me. Academically the college is great and everything was very good in general from my experience. One big difference between BHASVIC and say Hove Park is that BHASVIC is not run as a school. It is much more relaxed in terms of entering / leaving the college, uniform etc. For me this was great as I was quite ready to leave a 'school' environment, but some kids might prefer a bit more structure depending on where they're at. Perhaps coming from Eastbourne (no offence intended) being in an environment where you are able to explore Brighton town centre as a 16/17 year old may trump some of the other factors. Ultimately of course, it's your kids decision!!

Thanks. My son is very ready to move away from the more school type environment. I said before, he's very independent and I believe Bhasvic's culture would suit him. On the attraction of Brighton, yes there is that element. We already know he's not going to study in Eastbourne and the other alternative is Bexhill. Bexhill vs Brighton, I wonder which one comes out on top!

 

[1066familyman]

Our eldest went to Lewes to do music A level alongside dance and performing arts. Lewes is big on music, hence her choice to go there.
She's now doing a Film Music Composition degree. She's just flown through the first year and said that the Lewes background has really come into its own.
Lots of her mates from Lewes went on to top conservatoires for their instrument or for dance. Other dance mates went on to Chichester, which is said to be one of the best Universities to study dance at.

She loved her time at Lewes, and it's clearly stood her in good stead for what she's doing now as well. So a big thumbs up from our experience.


Our next one down is currently at Bexhill doing A levels. He's doing ok and should come out with what he needs for University if he continues as he is. He loves the sports facilities there, which he makes more than full use of! , and he's very happy there. So another thumbs up for that one too.

 

[Munkfish]

I went 2002-04 it was great then, I grew up a lot in that time. Going to a proper collage apposed to staying on at the schools 6th form really helped!

Plus there were a lot of birds. BHASVIC girls were filth!

 

[1066familyman]

My wife took our son to Lewes tonight. They enjoyed the chance to have a look and chat to staff.

Thanks everyone for all the comments. They really are helpful. My reservation is the distance. He'd have to get a train very early from Eastbourne, about half 7 and change at Lewes in order to get there on time. That would not be so hard in the summer but in more inclement weather?

The distance and early mornings would do his independence the world of good. I only took our daughter to Lewes twice on the train before her course started to get her used to it. She managed fine, despite the trains being a bit unreliable even then, although nowhere near as bad as now!


I'd think very carefully about relying on trains now as I can't see things improving anytime soon.

If he does decide on studying outside of Eastbourne, make sure he gets a Sussex student card (free from the college) so he can then buy termly season tickets at a third off. Not sure if Southern ever extended the Unizone to Eastbourne or not?, but if they did, that's another cheap ticket option.
Check out this site for travel help and any forms you need :
https://www.c360.org.uk

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

The distance and early mornings would do his independence the world of good. I only took our daughter to Lewes twice on the train before her course started to get her used to it. She managed fine, despite the trains being a bit unreliable even then, although nowhere near as bad as now!


I'd think very carefully about relying on trains now as I can't see things improving anytime soon.

If he does decide on studying outside of Eastbourne, make sure he gets a Sussex student card (free from the college) so he can then buy termly season tickets at a third off. Not sure if Southern ever extended the Unizone to Eastbourne or not?, but if they did, that's another cheap ticket option.
Check out this site for travel help and any forms you need :
https://www.c360.org.uk

Thanks. That's really very helpful. Apart from the cost and extra trouble in travelling further, the situation with southern is not very reassuring.

 

[LadySeagull]

DS is going to Newman College Sixth Form open evening next Thursday 13th October which is open to anyone to apply to (it's not predominantly Catholic like the school and it's in a separate new campus building anyway). It is round the corner near BHASVIC though so you still have to rely on trains if coming from Eastbourne.

BHASVIC open evenings are not for another month, I think?

 

[BN9 BHA]

I went 2002-04 it was great then, I grew up a lot in that time. Going to a proper collage apposed to staying on at the schools 6th form really helped
!

I take it you didn't study English, it's college

 

[1066familyman]

Thanks. That's really very helpful. Apart from the cost and extra trouble in travelling further, the situation with southern is not very reassuring.

No worries.

I have to say that Ernest was very helpful on here via PM and posting when it came to working out train travel. He's alright is our Ernest

If you need any help re Sussex Student Card then don't hesitate to PM me if you want. Hastings to Bexhill for our lad currently works out at about £1 a day return, which is fantastic value!, when the trains are running that is. He has walked home with mates on more than one occasion it has to be said. But there is always the bus as a last resort.

For Lewes, we thankfully got a travel grant from the college as we were just over the income level for the local authority grant. You have to get in quick for college grants as they're first come first served from a limited pot of money. Ask each college how their own travel grant works, as it will be different at each one I think.

 

[Munkfish]

I take it you didn't study English, it's college

Great BANTER.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

DS is going to Newman College Sixth Form open evening next Thursday 13th October which is open to anyone to apply to (it's not predominantly Catholic like the school and it's in a separate new campus building anyway). It is round the corner near BHASVIC though so you still have to rely on trains if coming from Eastbourne.

BHASVIC open evenings are not for another month, I think?

Cheers for the tip but laddio wants to break away from the 'school' environment.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Thanks. That's really very helpful. Apart from the cost and extra trouble in travelling further, the situation with southern is not very reassuring.

There is an alternative with the 12X which takes 1.5 hours, but would only be used when SASTA are playing up. They go to Brighton station until 9am.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

No worries.

I have to say that Ernest was very helpful on here via PM and posting when it came to working out train travel. He's alright is our Ernest [emoji106]

If you need any help re Sussex Student Card then don't hesitate to PM me if you want. Hastings to Bexhill for our lad currently works out at about £1 a day return, which is fantastic value!, when the trains are running that is. He has walked home with mates on more than one occasion it has to be said. But there is always the bus as a last resort.

For Lewes, we thankfully got a travel grant from the college as we were just over the income level for the local authority grant. You have to get in quick for college grants as they're first come first served from a limited pot of money. Ask each college how their own travel grant works, as it will be different at each one I think.

This seems pretty good. £190 all in for 3 months. Brighton Unizone:

http://www.southernrailway.com/tickets-and-fares/ticket-types/16/

 

[1066familyman]

This seems pretty good. £190 all in for 3 months. Brighton Unizone:

http://www.southernrailway.com/tickets-and-fares/ticket-types/16/

Looks like they've included Eastbourne now then from that link, so yes, possibly a good option for him. I can't compare prices with Sussex student card season tickets because despite campaigns here they never extended the Unizone to Hastings (surprise surprise).

One thing to bear in mind is that with the SSC season ticket you can specify dates to only cover a term (you buy them one term at a time) . So if he doesn't plan to use the trains during half term then it might be cheaper than going quarterly on the Unizone.

Only real way to compare prices for now is to know term dates and check out season ticket price for those dates and take one third off the price (The journey planner won't do that as no other railcard allows one third off season tickets).

It's not as complicated as it sounds. Once he has a Sussex student card he can order his season ticket online easily enough. We found it good for our kids independence /discipline to do the ordering themselves as they have to think about it towards the end of each term ready for the next term.

Get in early with the SSC form next year though as the card takes about a week to arrive from sending the form off and up to a week before any season ticket ordered with it arrives. Best to get the form signed at the college he ends up going to on enrollment, rather than wait until he actually starts lessons.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

Looks like they've included Eastbourne now then from that link, so yes, possibly a good option for him. I can't compare prices with Sussex student card season tickets because despite campaigns here they never extended the Unizone to Hastings (surprise surprise).

One thing to bear in mind is that with the SSC season ticket you can specify dates to only cover a term (you buy them one term at a time) . So if he doesn't plan to use the trains during half term then it might be cheaper than going quarterly on the Unizone.

Only real way to compare prices for now is to know term dates and check out season ticket price for those dates and take one third off the price (The journey planner won't do that as no other railcard allows one third off season tickets).

It's not as complicated as it sounds. Once he has a Sussex student card he can order his season ticket online easily enough. We found it good for our kids independence /discipline to do the ordering themselves as they have to think about it towards the end of each term ready for the next term.

Get in early with the SSC form next year though as the card takes about a week to arrive from sending the form off and up to a week before any season ticket ordered with it arrives. Best to get the form signed at the college he ends up going to on enrollment, rather than wait until he actually starts lessons.

The scc allows a third off. If I entered the info correctly, it came to around £420 for three months so more than double the uni card.

 

[1066familyman]

The scc allows a third off. If I entered the info correctly, it came to around £420 for three months so more than double the uni card.

Possibly, as I say, we could never compare prices to Unizone because Hastings has never got the Unizone, despite campaigns for it.

I think Hastings to Lewes on the SSC season tickets came in at around £700 for the year. Bearing in mind that broke down into just term dates, not 4 x quarterly tickets.

Get Jnr on it with a calculator, will be a good maths and budgeting lesson for him But he'll only know exact prices when he has exact term dates to hand unfortunately.

No harm in getting the SSC when the time comes anyway as its free to any Sussex student. You may end juggling a bit between that and Unizone to get the best deal.

 

[Elvis]

Plus there were a lot of birds. BHASVIC girls were filth!

Game,Set,Match........... BHASVIC it is then!!

 

[BN9 BHA]

Great BANTER.

You're welcome, any time.