Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)

Education Maintenance Allowance is a Government run scheme which pays young people (aged between 16 and 19) to remain in further education, as long as they are from a household with an income of up to £30K a year. EMA encourages young people to stay in education by paying them directly up to £30 per week if they regularly attend classes and keep up to date with their coursework.

From 10th April, EMA will also be made available to a further 65,000 young people on Learning and Skills Council funded Entry to Employment (E2E) and courses that lead to an Apprenticeship, replacing the existing Minimum Training Allowance (MTA) they currently receive.

What are the key features of EMA?

• Weekly payments bands of £30, £20 and £10 per week, depending on household income
• Available for both academic and vocational study, which can include courses such as basic skills, GCSE retakes, GNVQs, NVQs, as well as AS and A2s, and from April 2006, LSC-funded E2E and courses that lead to an Apprenticeship.
• No other household benefits are affected
• Young people can still have a part-time job
• Bonus payments of £100 (worth up to £500 in total over 2 years) are also available to those students who have good attendance and show commitment to their course.

PLEASE NOTE: Youthinformation.com is not the administrator for EMAs. There are useful contacts listed below should you need any further information, or if you wish to apply.

Directgov also offers useful information on the Education Maintenance Allowance. To see an example of how the support works in practice, take a look at the following video >>