Education Maintenance

Allowance
Information for families Incorporating The Lady Hoare Trust
 Education Maintenance Allowance
UK
 Introduction
Staying on at school or going to college or training
after 16 years of age can involve additional expenses
for young people and their parents. To encourage
young people to take up post-16 education or
training options, the government has set up a
scheme of weekly payments and occasional
bonuses called the Education Maintenance
Allowance (EMA). This guide aims to give an
overview of the EMA scheme, with information
to help parents and young people identify if they
qualify for payments.

Note the descriptions in this guide refer to the

situation in England, for example GCSEs instead
of ‘Standard Grades’ and Year 11 instead of S4.
However, the EMA scheme is essentially the same
throughout the UK but with slight differences in
Scotland. For further information please see the
section ‘The rest of the UK’.

Contents
What is Education Maintenance Allowance?.............................................3
Who is entitled to receive EMA?.....................................................................3
Different payment schemes........................................................................... 4
How much is it?...................................................................................................5
Applications........................................................................................................... 6
Benefits and other issues.................................................................................7
The rest of the UK.............................................................................................. 9

 Education Maintenance Allowance

What is Education
Maintenance Allowance?
Education Maintenance Allowance
(EMA) is a weekly payment for your son
or daughter if they stay on at school,
college or some types of training after
compulsory schooling. They may also get
bonuses depending on the progress they
make with their learning programme.
EMA is dependent on household income
and is to help with the day-to-day costs
of staying on at school, college or training.
This can go towards the cost of travel,
books and equipment. It is paid directly
into the young person’s bank account
during term time.
Who is entitled to
receive EMA?
To receive EMA, the young person
must be participating in a programme
of full-time education at, or provided
by, a recognised educational institute.
Full-time education means at least 12
hours a week and includes those starting
a Learning and Skills Council funded E2E
(Entry to Employment) programme or a
course which leads to an apprenticeship.
Freephone helpline: 0808 808 3555
Web: www.cafamily.org.uk
Education Maintenance Allowance 
 Also you must meet these criteria:

• the household income of parents,

guardian or carer must be less than
£30,810 per year (for the tax year
2008/2009)

and the young person has:

• their 16th birthday between

1 September 2009 and 31 August 2010
and enters Year 12 of full-time learning
from September 2009, or
• their 17th birthday between
1 September 2009 and 31 August 2010
and enters Year 13 of full-time learning
from September 2009, or
• their 18th birthday between
1 September 2009 and 31 August
2010 and enters a third year of full-time
learning from September 2009.
Also, the young person must meet certain
residence and presence conditions to
qualify. Generally this won’t be an issue if
you have either ‘right of abode’ in the UK
(like all UK citizens) or indefinite leave to
remain in the UK, and have been resident
in the country for at least three years.
There are exceptions to this. For example
people with refugee status or who have
been granted humanitarian protection in
the UK don’t have to meet the three year
residence rule. If you’re concerned that
you or your child’s immigration status or
length of stay in the UK may affect their
claim for an EMA please ring the helpline
for further advice.
If your E2E course started on or after
30 June 2008, you’ll get the maximum
£30 weekly EMA payment, regardless of
your household income.
If you are already receiving EMA and
want to continue the course, you may
be automatically eligible for the same
payment during 2009/2010 even if your
household income has increased.
Different payment
schemes
EMA weekly payments – attendance,
coursework and progress required
To receive the weekly payments, the
young person must take their Notice of
Entitlement, which includes a detachable
contract, to their school, college or
learning provider and both parties must
sign. The young person must then agree
and sign an EMA agreement which
sets out what’s expected in terms of
attendance, coursework and progress.
Bonus payments – attendance and
progress required
Bonus payments are paid on the
condition that the young person is still
attending the course and has achieved
their learning goals set out in their EMA

 Education Maintenance Allowance

 For the academic year 2009/2010:
Household income:
Up to £20,817 per year
£20,818 – £25,521 per year
£25,522 – £30,810 per year
No payments are made when the gross household income is more
than £30,810.
contract from September to January
and January to July. The educational
establishment decides whether a young
person has achieved their learning goals.
What if a payment stops?
If any payment, either a weekly or bonus
payment, is going to be stopped, the
education provider should explain this
and give reasons why.
Young people studying from home
There are circumstances, known as
authorised absences, in which a young
person can get an EMA while studying
from home. For example, during study
leave or where the young person has to
The educational
establishment, taking
account of government
guidance, is responsible
for deciding whether an
absence is authorised.
Young person will receive:
£30 per week
£20 per week
£10 per week
study from home for medical reasons,
but still does 12 or more hours of guided
learning a week. But they must be
enrolled at a college or school. Learners
who choose to study at home through
distance learning or who are self or
parent-educated cannot receive an EMA.
How much is it?
The EMA is made up of weekly term-
time payments and bonuses. The weekly
payment is dependent on the household
income. The young person must supply
evidence of their household income. This
can be a tax credit award notice (TCAN) or
any other relevant evidence of household
income for the relevant tax year, like a P60
or evidence of benefits received.
There are bonus payments of £100 if the
young person’s targets are met. They are
agreed with the tutor at the beginning of
the course. Bonuses are paid in January
Freephone helpline: 0808 808 3555
Web: www.cafamily.org.uk
Education Maintenance Allowance 
 and July in each year of study. There
is another bonus in September if the
young person stays on for a second year
of study.
Young people can receive EMA for two
or three years depending on how long
they need to complete their studies. They
need to reapply each year.
Applications
How to apply for the first time
You can get an application form from
schools, colleges, learning providers or
Connexions personal advisers. Forms are
also available online at
www.direct.gov.uk/ema or you can
call the Learner Support helpline on
0800 121 8989.
The young person must have a bank or
building society account before filling in
the form as they need to provide their
bank details when applying. If your child
has learning difficulties and has difficulties
opening an account themselves, contact
the EMA helpline for further information.
EMA is dependent on
household income and is
to help with day-to-day
costs of staying on at
school, college or training.
 Education Maintenance Allowance
When they get the form, the Assessment
and Payment Body will check the young
person’s entitlement and write to let them
know how much they’ll get.
Re-applying this year
If the young person is currently getting
EMA and wants to apply for their second
year, they should wait for the Assessment
and Payment Body to contact them
with further details from mid February
of their first year of study. Existing EMA
students must re-apply for EMA for each
academic year.
Studying in England but resident in
Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland
If a young person intends to study
in England and they are resident in
Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland they
must apply for EMA through the English
Assessment and Payment Body in the
same way as young people who live
in England.
Resident in England but studying in
Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland
If a young person intends to study in
Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, they
should contact the relevant authority for
that nation for an application form – see
‘The rest of the UK’ for further information
and contact details.
When to apply
You can put in an application at any time.
However, it’s best to return the form as
soon as possible before the start of the
course. This is because successful EMA
applications received before, or within
four weeks of the start of the course, will
be eligible for back-dated payments from
the start of the course.
EMA applications received after four
weeks from the start of the course will
only be able to get back-dated payments
from the Monday of that week. For
example, if an application form is returned
ten weeks after the start of the course,
EMA payments will only be back-dated
from the Monday of the tenth week, so
the young person will miss out on EMA
payments for the previous nine weeks.

Existing EMA students should return their

application forms as soon as possible
to ensure they continue to receive EMA
from the start of the next academic year.

Benefits and other issues If a young person is living with their

Effect on other benefits
EMA is paid on top of, and does not
affect, other household benefits.
Young people can also keep whatever
extra income they may earn from a
part-time job.
In England, young people on E2E and
courses leading to an apprenticeship
used to receive minimum training
allowance (MTA). MTA payments were
deducted from other household benefits.
EMA replaced MTA in April 2006 in
England and is not deducted from other
household benefits, so families may be
better off as a result.
family but claiming benefits (other than
those listed above in their own right)
it is still the household income that’s
assessed when calculating EMA, not the
young person’s.
Circumstances which lead to a
reassessment of entitlement
The assessment of a young person’s
financial eligibility for an EMA will be valid
for the whole academic year for which an
assessment is made. They must apply
again for EMA for each academic year.
There are some family circumstances
which could affect a young person’s
eligibility and entitlement to EMA:

A young person cannot claim EMA and
be in receipt of:
• Adult Learning Grant
• Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Minimum Training Allowance (replaced
by Educational Maintenance Allowance
in England from 2006).
• someone whose income was taken
into account in determining financial
eligibility has died
Freephone helpline: 0808 808 3555
Web: www.cafamily.org.uk

Education Maintenance Allowance 

 • a person whose income was taken
into account in determining financial
eligibility has experienced a reduction
in income due to their disability (as
defined in the Disability Discrimination
Act) or the disability of any other person
for whom they have responsibility as
primary carer
• the young person has become
estranged from their parents, guardians,
carers or someone else whose income
was taken into account in determining
financial eligibility, or is taken into the
care of the local authority
• the young person has become a parent
with responsibility for a child.
In these circumstances the young person
may be entitled to receive EMA for
the first time or be entitled to receive
 Education Maintenance Allowance
a higher weekly payment. If this is the
case, payments may be backdated to the
date the application was received, except
when someone whose income was
taken into account has died. In this case,
payments may be backdated to the date
when that person died.
If a young person is affected by any
of the above, they should contact the
EMA helpline.
Overpayments
If EMA has been overpaid it can be
recovered by stopping future weekly
payments. No more than two consecutive
weekly payments should be stopped. At
the end of the EMA year, anyone with an
overpayment on their record will receive a
letter from the Assessment and Payment
Body asking for the overpayment to be
repaid. Where a bonus payment has been
overpaid the young person will get a letter
from the Assessment and Payment Body
asking for the overpaid bonus amount
to be repaid. Overpaid bonuses will not
be recovered from weekly payments or
future bonus payments.
Appeals
If it’s been decided that a young person
should not receive either a weekly or
bonus payment, they have a right to
appeal. Information about the appeals
process should be provided when
registering for EMA. Appeals are handled
by the educational institution. If the young
person isn’t satisfied with the way their
appeal has been dealt with, they should
contact the Learner Support helpline on
0800 121 8989.
The rest of the UK
In Wales, the same scheme is in
operation as above. To qualify for
2009/2010 your date of birth must be
on or between 1 September 1990 and
31 August 1993. EMA application forms
are available from schools and colleges.
For further information, please visit
www.direct.gov.uk and select the link for
Wales, or contact the Learner Support
helpline on 0800 121 8989.
In Northern Ireland, the same scheme
applies. EMA application forms are
available from schools, colleges and
Jobcentres. For further information,
visit www.delni.gov.uk or contact
EMA Customer Services Team on
Tel: 0845 601 7646.
In Scotland, a similar scheme applies,
although the young person has to be
studying for 21 hours a week and the
bonus payments are slightly different.
Also the scheme is still being rolled out
and your qualifying start date will be
based on your official school leaving date
and your date of birth.
For example if the young person was
born between 1 March 1988 and
30 September 1991, they’ll get EMA from
August 2007. If born between 1 October
1991 and 28 February 1992, then they’ll
get the EMA from January 2008.
For further information, visit
www.emascotland.com or contact the
school, college or local council.
Freephone helpline: 0808 808 3555
Web: www.cafamily.org.uk
Education Maintenance Allowance 
 Further Information
For further information visit
www.direct.gov.uk/ema or you can
contact the Learner Support helpline on
0800 121 8989.

You can also telephone Contact a Family’s

free helpline,
Tel: 0808 808 3555 (Mon-Fri,
10am-4pm, Mon 5.30-7.30pm)

10 Education Maintenance Allowance

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Education Maintenance Allowance 11

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