Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) (Welsh: Lwfans Cynhaliaeth Addysg; LCA) is a financial scheme applicable to students and those undertaking unpaid work-based learning in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and aged between sixteen and nineteen whose parents have a certain level of taxable income.[1] This applies to those doing, or applying to do, at least 12 hours of guided learning on further education courses in school sixth forms, sixth form colleges and Further Education colleges. This includes a wide range of courses up to and including level 3, such as A-levels, GCSEs, BTECs GNVQs, NVQs and other vocational qualifications. Those partaking in an E2E (Entry to Employment course, formerly known as Work based Learning) must do at least 16 hours a week of guided study. Any missed lessons except for extenuating circumstances voids payment for that week. As of 2010[2], the weekly payment for the England scheme breaks down as such:
Thresholds are more generous in Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland a flat rate of £30/week per student is payable where assessed income is £20,351 or less (or £22,403 where there is more than one child in the household).
Up until 2010 bonus payments of £100 were available to students who were in receipt of EMA. These bonuses were available in January and July but as of September 2010 these bonuses are no longer available.[3]. Bonuses are still given out in Wales, however, the bonuses will no longer be available in Wales at the start of the 2011/2012 academic year.
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The Labour Party claims the EMA scheme benefits greatly those teenagers from low-income households, encouraging people to stay in education past the legally required age of 16 (end of year 11; fourth year in Scotland). Once in education it encourages high attendance in return for bonuses. A 2006 BBC report suggested that even with the EMA, parents earning less than £30,000 a year still struggle to support teenagers enough to enable them to stay in education past 16.[4]
In tests done by 56 of the 150 English local education authorities in 2004, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Loughborough University found staying-on rates improved up 5.9 percentage points among those who were eligible.[5] This effect was most pronounced amongst boys whose parents were unemployed or employed in unskilled or semi-skilled manual jobs, the group with lowest stay-on rates, and arguably facing the most social pressure to earn money and peer pressure that education is unimportant.
It was reported that EMAs in England were experiencing problems in 2008, when their computer systems and telephone lines were in technical difficulty. Liberata, EMA's administered company have reported that they have called for over 400 of their employees to process thousands of applications manually. They also warned that thousands of students in England may not receive their allowance grants in time when they start further education. 2010 Problems in September 2009, EMA in Northern Ireland applications took up to March 2010 for students to get their first payment
The United Kingdom Government confirmed on 20 October 2010 that the Education Maintenance Allowance scheme in England was to be cancelled as part of a programme of budget cuts.[7] The EMA scheme in England is closed to new applicants from January 2011, but students currently in receipt of EMA will continue to receive it for the rest of the academic year.[8] It has been replaced by a £180m bursary scheme focused on students from a less wealthy household than others.[9]
The EMA schemes in Wales and Scotland continue in effect after review by the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament respectively, and new applications continue to be accepted. The EMA scheme in Northern Ireland, after review by the Northern Ireland Assembly, will also continue in 2011.
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