EMA payments 'support working class students'

Paying young people from middle and low income homes to continue in education past 16 has been a success, a Labour MP has claimed.

John Robertson (Lab, Glasgow North-West) opened a Westminster Hall debate on the education maintenance allowance yesterday.

EMAs are means-tested allowances of £10, £20 and £30 a week that are paid to 16 to 19-year-olds who stay in education and come from families where the annual household income is below £30,000.

Robertson was pleased that the government planned to increase the spend on the EMA to £580 million in order to fund a further 80,000 places.

"From 2011, poorer pupils who qualify for the EMA-a payment of between £10 to £30 each week, will no longer receive an extra £100 for every six months they stay in education,” he said.

“Charities and organisations that represent young people receiving the EMA are extremely concerned about recent announcements to scrap the £100 bonuses, particularly when the evaluation evidence for the bonus scheme found that around two thirds of EMA recipients who were questioned agreed that the bonus system made them work harder."

He emphasised how vital some found these grants.

“A survey carried out by the NUS in 2008 found that 65 per cent of participants on the highest EMA rate of £30 stated that they could not continue to study without the EMA".

As the benefit was dependent on attendance he said that they were successful in broadening participation.

Its success was demonstrated by research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies which showed that "attainment in GCSEs and A-level by recipients of the EMA has risen by 40 per cent since its introduction".

He said it was particularly effective in deprived areas.

Robertson expressed concern with Scotland's SNP administration's changes to the eligibility criteria.

He supported the view of NUS Scotland, which believed that the cuts would lead to almost 8,000 students dropping out this year.

He asked the government to fully commit to the EMA.

Iain Wright, the children, schools and families minister, responded by saying how pleased he was to participate in a debate on "an important and often overlooked aspect of education policy".

He said the EMA was important because "there is, and has been for many decades, a direct correlation between household income and participation rates in education and training post-16".

"Those from low and middle-income households have often been deterred from going on to college because they simply could not afford it."

In his opinion it was a success; "participation in full-time education has risen markedly year on year for 16 to 17-year-olds".

Although admitting that other forces may also be at work he did say that "it is true that EMA was the largest single policy initiative specifically designed to raise post-16 participation in that period".

He stated that he did not agree with what was being done in Scotland.

"People from lower and middle income households will be deprived of the chance to stay on in school, college or training from the age of 16 onwards. That is not what this Government want, and I heartily disapprove of such a policy."

He added; "I am not entirely certain about this, but I believe that the Conservatives wish to abolish the EMA".

He offered "a straight answer" to Robertson regarding the future of the EMA. He said that a total of £8.2 billion would be invested in 2010-11 to fund learning for 1.6 million young people, and that funding for 16-to-19 learning would be increased by 0.9 per cent. in real terms, in both 2011-12 and 2012-13.

The minister explained that this would allow for continuation of the September guarantee, which guarantees a place in college or training for 16 to 17-year-olds.

He also made clear that "we will continue the EMA when the participation age is raised".

His reasoning behind removing the bonuses from the system was that "the savings that the ending of bonuses will produce, alongside additional investment announced in the Budget and pre-Budget report, would mean that an extra 80,000 learners will be able to claim EMA from 2010-11".

He said it was "not as essential as the weekly payment for participation in learning".