A SOUTHAMPTON student has said she faces a 50/50 chance of getting to school due to a bus being unreliable.

Harriet Aspinall takes the X4 bus daily to Southampton from her home in Bursledon to attend St Anne's Catholic School.

The 15-year-old said that it is a "50/50 chance" that she makes it to school on time.

She said she has already been put in detention due to lateness, and is worried about being late for GCSE mock exams.

She said: "It's the same problems on the way to school and getting back to school.

"(Previously) I had to get a lift from my dad because the bus was late again. Because it makes me late I got a detention at school.

"I am in Year 11 and in the middle of exams. It is stressful to have to think about the bus and I worry that one day I will be stranded in Southampton.

"It's frustrating because I don't have enough time to study when I spend so much time waiting for the bus.

"I also have a loss of momentum because when I am working for my exams and then I have to stop to think about the bus."

READ MORE: Hampshire County Council set to replace Mini Link bus services

Harriet's mum Freya Aspinall said that without the bus service her daughter would be unable to get to school.

She said: "Not often can me or my husband take her to school. We both work full-time. It's a lucky thing she was able to be dropped off yesterday. 

"It's one extra thing for a young woman who already has enough on her plate to think about."

Carol Sim is head of operations for the South at First Bus.

She said: “Over the last 12 months, the X4 has demonstrated good punctuality statistics, according to our systems.

"Although all our drivers strive to remain on schedule, sometimes occurrences are out of their control.

"Recently we have seen a slight decrease in punctuality on the X4/X5 and this is due to the St Denys road works."

Headteacher for St Anne’s Catholic School and Sixth Form College, James Rouse said they have not received complaints about their detention policy.

He said: "We do expect pupils to be on time. This is because it is important to learn to be punctual as employers value it.

"We do have a system where pupils have a short 10-minute detention if they are late in without a good reason.

"If a child is late due to circumstances beyond their control we would not expect them to complete that detention.

"They would just need to tell the person running the detention that."

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