Finance

EMAEducation Maintenance Allowance

The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) can be applied for by all young people aged 16 who are planning to continue their education at Braintree Sixth Form. The EMA is a financial award to help with the cost of books, travel and equipment to continue learning.

The EMA is a weekly payment of up to £30, paid directly to students who stay on in further education at school or college. This financial support is paid by the government.

Key points:

EMA is means tested with weekly payments of £10, £20 or £30 dependent upon household income. The maximum household yearly income parents/ carers of students can have, but still claim EMA, is £30,810 before tax. Details of different levels of allowance are as follows:

  • £30 up to £20,817
  • £20 up to £20,818 to £25,521
  • £10 from £25,521 to £30,810

Eligible students may also receive bonus payments of £100 if they remain on their course and make good progress with their learning. Bonuses are payable in January and July. There is an extra bonus payment payable in September when you return for a second year of study

Requirements: Students must attend all their course sessions and sign an EMA Contract with the school or college. This contract will set out what is expected in terms of attendance, coursework and progress. EMA payments will only be paid to students who have satisfied the attendance requirements. 100% attendance is the requirement for EMA payment. Only certain authorized absences will not prevent the payment being made. Details of which absences affect payments will be outlined in the EMA contract.

If a student was awarded EMA in the first year of their course, they do not need to reapply for the second year of payment. The EMA guarantee means students will receive the same level of EMA until the end of the academic year in which they turn 19. (Students can reapply if their household income goes down.) If needed, EMA support will be available for three full academic years.

Receipt of EMA will not affect any money earned from a part time job.

EMA is paid in addition to any other support and benefits provided by the Government to your family, including Child Benefit, income support and Tax Credits.

Students must have a bank account to receive EMA payments. If students do not have one, they will need to open the bank account in order to apply for the allowance. The bank accounts must allow the payments to be made directly into it (BACs payments).

It makes sense to apply early. If a student leaves their application until they’ve got their GCSE results they may have to wait to receive payments.

Students don’t need to know which course they want to do or even where they want to study in order to apply. If they're entitled to EMA, they'll get a "Notice of Entitlement" (NoE) which is valid at any school or college.

A parent or carer will need to provide evidence of their income during the application process.

Need more information? Visit www.direct.gov.uk/ema or call 0800 121 8989.

Student EMA checklist

  • Now: find out about EMAs and open a bank account if you haven't got one already
  • May onwards: get your EMA application form, fill in the form with your parents or carers and return it to the APB. Make sure you have evidence of your household income to send with the form. This might include TCAN (Tax Credit Award Notice) , P60 for employment or SA302 for self employment (obtained from Inland Revenue) for the last complete tax year (2006/2007) and receive your 'Notice of Entitlement' (this should happen shortly after returning your form)
  • August: get your GCSE results
    September: discuss and sign up to your EMA contract part 1 (attendance) with your teacher or tutor. (This is usually done when you enroll.)
  • September onwards: attend all lessons and ensure that you are completing all the work required in class and at home

Please refer any questions about the content of this page to Mr D.O’Brien, Assistant Director of Sixth Form, denis.obrien@braintreesixthform.com