Important Information on Education Maintenance Allowance
Important Information on
Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)
For Careers Advisers and others working with young people
The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is to be abolished and will be replaced by the learner support fund.
Q What will happen to young people who currently get EMA?
Young people currently receiving the EMA will continue to receive it for the rest of their course/ programme for this academic year (2010/2011) if they fulfill the terms of their EMA Agreement. However, they will not receive it next academic year (2011/12).
Q Can young people still apply for an EMA?
The EMA scheme will close to new applicants from 1 January 2011
17 December 2010 - deadline for application pack requests
31 December 2010 - last day the Learner Support Service can receive your application
Therefore if you know anyone is going to start a course after December please get the client to fill in an EMA form and return it as above. They will then receive a Notice of Entitlement. This will allow them to claim EMA when they begin their course until the end of the academic year 2010/ 2011. The course must be of 10 weeks or more duration. Even if they do not start the course it does no harm to have the Notice of Entitlement.
To be eligible a learner needs to be embarking on:
a full-time further education course in a school or college;
a course that leads to an Apprenticeship;
a Foundation Learning programme.
And have a household income below £30,810 for the tax year 2009-10.
Taken from http://ema.ypla.gov.uk/eligibility/
(The YPLA helpline have informed us that if a young person has completed and submitted their EMA paperwork before the end of December and the course begins in January they will still be able to enrol)
Q What happens if a young person currently receiving EMA leaves their course and wishes to move to another provider? The young person can transfer their EMA to their new provider. They should contact the Learner Support helpline on 0800 121 8989
Q When will the Learner Support Fund start?
September 2011. The Learner Support Fund will be administered by providers. There are no further details currently available but we will update this information as soon as they become available.
Q Why is EMA being abolished?
The Government is abolishing the EMA because they say evaluation evidence has shown that the majority of young people who received it would have participated in “education” anyway and it therefore is not affordable in the current financial climate.
Q What additional funds are currently available?
Currently £26m per year is given to schools, colleges and training providers (a ‘discretionary learner support’ fund) to enable them to make small payments to young people to help them meet the costs of learning.
To apply for discretionary support funds clients should approach their tutor or student support. Discretionary Support Funds are intended to meet special needs and circumstances which can't reasonably be covered by other forms of help
After the EMA is abolished this fund will be increased. For more details on the discretionary fund see http://readingroom.ypla.gov.uk/ypla
