Let the train make the strain

I mentioned before I wasn't able to have my clinical placement at my old hospital which is 10 mins walk away. Well, we were told which hospital we had got today and I was pleased to see that we are able to claim back the cost of travelling to placement if it is more expensive than getting to uni. Not the difference, the whole cost, which is quite good really.

However, I read the guidance notes, I found they will only refund students who get to placement by car if public transport is "unavailable or unsuitable". I guess they want students to be "green" as normally using the car is cheaper than public transport. As it happens, there is a bus service which is almost door-to-door and I'd be happy to use this if I don't have to pay. I checked the bus timetable - it doesn't run early enough to get me there by 8.45am. I checked the trains and was amazed to find I would need to change trains twice to get to a town 18 miles away! And it would take about 2 hours once I include the walk each end of the journey. Adam can get to work in central London quicker by train!

So I have sent a pleading e-mail to the nice placement lady at uni, hoping she will see that public transport is indeed "unavailable or unsuitable" and let me claim the cost of using my car. After all, about £600 a year is at stake here.