Questions and answers on Education Maintenance Allowance

Popular questions that are asked in respect of Education Maintenance Allowance and the relevant answers.

Q. Why is the government providing this financial support?

A. We recognise that for some young people there are financial barriers to participating in education, particularly for those from low income households. Evidence from the pilot scheme in England and Scotland has shown EMAs have had a positive impact by increasing the numbers of young people participating in post-16 education, reducing the numbers who drop out of education and by providing incentives that contribute to higher attainment.

Q. For how long will each young person receive their EMA?

A Young people may be entitled to receive their EMA for a maximum of three years (as long as the household income does not rise above the upper income threshold) or until they have received a maximum 117 attendance confirmations.  The EMA will be available over a four year period for those young people who may need additional time in education to achieve their full potential.

Q. What does the EMA scheme provider do?

A. As well as assessing applications and making payments to young people, the EMA Scheme Provider (EMA SP) provides a help-line - 0845 601 7646. The EMA SP also makes information on payments and stoppages available to schools and colleges.

Q. What courses are covered by an EMA?

A. EMA is available to any eligible student who is enrolled on an eligible course of study. This includes a wide range of different courses from NVQ Level 1 Basic Skills up to and including Level 3, others like AS/A2, GCSEs, GNVQs, and other vocational qualifications.

Q. What can young people spend their EMA on?

A. In order for EMA to be effective young people are given the choice to spend their money as they want. EMA allowances are generally spent on a variety of items such as books, equipment, transport, contributing to family income and other costs incurred during a course of study.

Q. Does it affect benefits?

A. No, it is specifically aimed at helping low-income families overcome barriers to further study caused by the cost of supporting young people. It is therefore paid in addition to other support provided by the government such as the Working Family Tax Credit, Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit. It doesn't affect any money the student earns from a part-time job.

Q. Whose income is assessed and how will the income assessment work?

A. The household income assessment is applied to the home in which the student lives. The scheme provider assesses the income of the adults in that home who have a caring/parental responsibility for the student. In the vast majority of cases this will be mum and dad, including step-mum or step-father.

The assessment of household income is the same kind of assessment that you may have already gone through to claim the new Tax Credits. We will need evidence of your household income for the last complete tax year. Many families will have already given this information to the Inland Revenue when their Tax Credits are reviewed in April.

This means that for many EMA applications, the only evidence of income you will need to provide is your Tax Credit Award Notice (TCAN). Please note that the only version of the TCAN that we can accept is the TC602E version.

Not all income is counted. For example where a student's parents no longer live together, any maintenance paid by the non-resident parent will not be counted. A student's own income will not be counted unless they are living independently.

Q. What is the closing date for EMA applications?

A. The closing date for applications throughout the academic year 2012/2013 is 31 March 2013.

Q. Can my claim be backdated?

A. If you apply for an EMA after the start of the academic year but your application is received before 30th September 2012, your claim may be backdated to the start of term.

Q. What evidence of income do I need to provide?

A. In cases where there is no up-to-date Tax Credit Award Notice (TCAN) available, we will need to gather other evidence of income such as a P60 for the last complete year.

If you don't have a TCAN, there are four main categories of income that we will assess:

• income you earn as an employee
• gross profits from your business if you are self-employed (or your share of profits if you are in partnership)
• income from taxable benefits. A list of taxable benefits and how to get proof of how much you have received will be included in the EMA application pack
• Other income, such as interest on savings and investments. More information on other income will be available in the EMA application pack