Government Education maintenance allowance
Discussion
For any of those that dont know what this is, is a 16-19yr old stays on in higher education (AS and A levels) and their household income is less than £30k/year, the govt will give money to the kids to encourage them to stay at school.
The banding is as follows:
£0-£20k = £30/week
£20k-£25k = £20/week
£25-£30k = £10/week
Up to £100 bonuses every term
Just wondering what the opinions of PHers are, as to me this seems pointless. If I'm going to go into higher education then I will, £10/week (and only during term time, not holidays, so the govt expect you not to have a social life ;) ) wont do much IMO.
I could earn £10 in 2 hours work easy, so why should I stay at school to earn £10 when I could earn a hell of a lot more than that doing other stuff?
Do you think its a waste of money, or a good idea?
The banding is as follows:
£0-£20k = £30/week
£20k-£25k = £20/week
£25-£30k = £10/week
Up to £100 bonuses every term
Just wondering what the opinions of PHers are, as to me this seems pointless. If I'm going to go into higher education then I will, £10/week (and only during term time, not holidays, so the govt expect you not to have a social life ;) ) wont do much IMO.
I could earn £10 in 2 hours work easy, so why should I stay at school to earn £10 when I could earn a hell of a lot more than that doing other stuff?
Do you think its a waste of money, or a good idea?
Of course it gives the opportunity for the kids to turn round and say "because you earn too much you (parents) now owe me £30/week plus £100/term".....
......."oh and while we are at it I'll have this weeks pocket money"........
....."it's MY money, just like all that child allowance and tax credit you squirrel away each month"
Gotta lie down in a darkened room, give me strength.
......."oh and while we are at it I'll have this weeks pocket money"........
....."it's MY money, just like all that child allowance and tax credit you squirrel away each month"
Gotta lie down in a darkened room, give me strength.
Flat in Fifth said:
Of course it gives the opportunity for the kids to turn round and say "because you earn too much you (parents) now owe me £30/week plus £100/term".....
......."oh and while we are at it I'll have this weeks pocket money"........
....."it's MY money, just like all that child allowance and tax credit you squirrel away each month"
Gotta lie down in a darkened room, give me strength.
my daugters argument to a tee....
"IT'S SO UNFAIR!"EMA really helped me. I was in the testing zone so had it whilst i was at college from 2002-2004 and got the full £30. You only get it if you don't skip any classes and my attendance went up from under 70% in my last year of school (quite remarkable really) to only having 3 days off in 2 years of college. It was such a pain to sign out that instead of skipping a class and trying to blag an illness you just went. Subsequently my grades went up from having 1A, 3Bs and 5Cs at GCSE, which is average at best to getting 2As and a B at A-Level; which is somewhat better. Also it really got me into a routine of going to work/college/and now uni every single day which has stayed with me.
I come from a genuinly poor background and the money really has been usefull to me, i also worked weekends all throughout college and so managed to put money aside to buy myself a computer for uni, a couple of suits for presentations/interviews and other stuff which really helps. I would have probably gone to college even if there wasn't EMA, but at the several points i thought about jacking it in i might have got a job instead. Sad as it may seem, EMA really helped me out both by firstly getting me to attend my classes and giving me some extra cash so i could live, as opposed to just survive.
I'm in full support of it, and can see how it will persuade other kids from low income backgrounds to stay in education rather than leave. I know a lot of other guys who were charged rent through college aswell and it helped them out as they could get away with working part time and still contribute.
Cheers,
Rob.
I come from a genuinly poor background and the money really has been usefull to me, i also worked weekends all throughout college and so managed to put money aside to buy myself a computer for uni, a couple of suits for presentations/interviews and other stuff which really helps. I would have probably gone to college even if there wasn't EMA, but at the several points i thought about jacking it in i might have got a job instead. Sad as it may seem, EMA really helped me out both by firstly getting me to attend my classes and giving me some extra cash so i could live, as opposed to just survive.
I'm in full support of it, and can see how it will persuade other kids from low income backgrounds to stay in education rather than leave. I know a lot of other guys who were charged rent through college aswell and it helped them out as they could get away with working part time and still contribute.
Cheers,
Rob.
Rob_F said:
EMA really helped me. I was in the testing zone so had it whilst i was at college from 2002-2004 and got the full £30. You only get it if you don't skip any classes and my attendance went up from under 70% in my last year of school (quite remarkable really) to only having 3 days off in 2 years of college. It was such a pain to sign out that instead of skipping a class and trying to blag an illness you just went. Subsequently my grades went up from having 1A, 3Bs and 5Cs at GCSE, which is average at best to getting 2As and a B at A-Level; which is somewhat better. Also it really got me into a routine of going to work/college/and now uni every single day which has stayed with me.
I come from a genuinly poor background and the money really has been usefull to me, i also worked weekends all throughout college and so managed to put money aside to buy myself a computer for uni, a couple of suits for presentations/interviews and other stuff which really helps. I would have probably gone to college even if there wasn't EMA, but at the several points i thought about jacking it in i might have got a job instead. Sad as it may seem, EMA really helped me out both by firstly getting me to attend my classes and giving me some extra cash so i could live, as opposed to just survive.
I'm in full support of it, and can see how it will persuade other kids from low income backgrounds to stay in education rather than leave. I know a lot of other guys who were charged rent through college aswell and it helped them out as they could get away with working part time and still contribute.
Cheers,
Rob.
Oh dear if its dependant on attendance thats bad. Boring t
ts wearing sandals and cardigans with copies of the Guardian under their arm deserve to have their lessons skipped and be subsequently sacked. 
I found when I started A levels that all the Kids who had no interest in school left at 16.
There was no more disruption or indeed the slightest problem with classroom discipline.
My Sister is doing her A Levels and found that many of the 'problem' children are staying on, perhaps because they are being paid £30 p.w to be there?
There was no more disruption or indeed the slightest problem with classroom discipline.
My Sister is doing her A Levels and found that many of the 'problem' children are staying on, perhaps because they are being paid £30 p.w to be there?
jessica said:
Of course it gives the opportunity for the kids to turn round and say "because you earn too much you (parents) now owe me £30/week plus £100/term".....
......."oh and while we are at it I'll have this weeks pocket money"........
....."it's MY money, just like all that child allowance and tax credit you squirrel away each month"
Gotta lie down in a darkened room, give me strength.
my daugters argument to a tee....
just give her the £30 a week, .... after deductions for food, washing, heating, shelter,TV, depreciation on bedroom goods, ware and tearon carpets/household items, insurance, petrol, etc etc.... she should owe you a fortune....
john75 said:
EMA is a major opportunity to creat opportunity for those from poorer back grounds to do A levels and then go onto university and gain the skills to aid the development of the British economy into a modern successful one.
I worked on the EMA project so know a bit about the background.....
The scheme was set up to help people just like Rob_F to carry on education if money was a problem.
While encouraging kids to go on to do A-levels and go to Uni, much effort was made into making it as attractive as possible for kids to stay on and do vocational courses, get a taste for it and then are equipped with more skills to enter the workplace & carry on training whilst on the job - and ultimately the economy benefits as you said.
Getting EMA is not solely based on attendance. If you arse around, the college has every right to block the payment. The facility is there to do that, if kids are staying on & being disruptive just so they get their money, then the administration at the school & college is at fault.
I left the project after it rolled out nationally, however in the pilot areas, the retention rate of kids from poor families increased by a reasonable amount which was the aim of the scheme, despite the best attempts of the outsourcing partner to botch everything.
bga said:
The scheme was set up to help people just like Rob_F to carry on education if money was a problem.
While encouraging kids to go on to do A-levels and go to Uni, much effort was made into making it as attractive as possible for kids to stay on and do vocational courses, get a taste for it and then are equipped with more skills to enter the workplace & carry on training whilst on the job - and ultimately the economy benefits as you said.
Getting EMA is not solely based on attendance. If you arse around, the college has every right to block the payment. The facility is there to do that, if kids are staying on & being disruptive just so they get their money, then the administration at the school & college is at fault.
I left the project after it rolled out nationally, however in the pilot areas, the retention rate of kids from poor families increased by a reasonable amount which was the aim of the scheme, despite the best attempts of the outsourcing partner to botch everything.
I'm actully surprised that it has helped that much. TBH, in my case, its just £10p.w. extra, that I'm getting for doing something I'd be doing anyway. Free money? Yeh please
I accept that £30p.w. will make more of a difference, but £10 I can't see making THAT much difference. Its all going away towards insurnce for me next year and to help pay for a bigger bike
Still, its interesting to see that it does seem to increase attendance, but is it because kids WANT to do A levels or because they want money that they don't have to get a proper job for?
It's all well and good giving kids £30 per week to saty in school which the government kindly pays, but who has to administer all this extra work? The school I've just left have had to hire someone to come in just to sort out the paperwork that goes along with the EMA. Who pays for that extra person? The school, not the governemt.
Expect a lot more of these rants as I'm now out of working in education...
Expect a lot more of these rants as I'm now out of working in education...
I suppose it's cheaper for the gov. to do this than to pay the dole.Why do we pay kids to stop on for A levels etc,then charge 'em to go to Uni?I've a lad of 17 who's doing his A levels and will get not a bean 'cos me and his mum work hard (and have done for 30 years)My daughter will be doing hers from next year and also will get nowt.This gov. supports hard working families yeah...right.
Plotloss said:
Anyone care to tell me why the emphasis to provide during further education is on the state for the poor yet on the parents for the rich?
Labour Youth and nothing more.
Tossers.
You could see it instead as the state stepping in to help kids who don't have any kind of parental financial support so that everybody has the same chances in life. I can see and accept the fact that some children from richer families don't have any financial help either but this is rare in my experience. Quite simply from someone who has been through the system and observed his peers go through it too I can honestly say i think it works. As to it being a way of recruiting a younger generation of labour voters I think you're much mistaken, I do realise though that it takes a particularly brave person to come out in support of any Labour government initiative on this forum though....
Cheers,
Rob.
Plotloss said:
Anyone care to tell me why the emphasis to provide during further education is on the state for the poor yet on the parents for the rich?
Labour Youth and nothing more.
Tossers.
I agree with Rob F on this one, I think you've just answered your own question. Rich kids (in my experience) have things bought for them, are provided for, and are sometimes, if not often, spoilt. By this I doin't necessarily mean bought anything they want, but they get driven round in nicer cars, live in nicer areas, and so don't necessarily need this money which could for example go towards paying for travel to and from school.
Of course, you have a slightly communist viewpoint by the fact that your point seems to say everyone should be equal. Labour = communist? Its not as if they want to remove our civil liberties and take away our freedom and rights
m1spw said:
Anyone care to tell me why the emphasis to provide during further education is on the state for the poor yet on the parents for the rich?
Labour Youth and nothing more.
Tossers.
I agree with Rob F on this one, I think you've just answered your own question. Rich kids (in my experience) have things bought for them, are provided for, and are sometimes, if not often, spoilt. By this I doin't necessarily mean bought anything they want, but they get driven round in nicer cars, live in nicer areas, and so don't necessarily need this money which could for example go towards paying for travel to and from school.
Of course, you have a slightly communist viewpoint by the fact that your point seems to say everyone should be equal. Labour = communist? Its not as if they want to remove our civil liberties and take away our freedom and rights
If they need money for bus fares etc why can't they do what my son has done and get a part time job? (Or is that a dirty word in some places?)
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