Education Maintenance Allowances Awarded in Wales Update, Month Ending May 2008

Statistics on EMAs include data for Wales for the period up to the end of May 2008. The latest release updates the statistics previously released on 7 May 2008.

The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) Wales scheme was introduced for 16 year olds for the first time in 2004/05. In 2005/06, the scheme was extended to include 16 and 17 year olds and, in 2006/07, 18 year olds. The scheme is designed to provide an incentive for students from lower-income families to continue and remain in full-time education. The principal component of the EMA is a weekly allowance, linked to satisfactory attendance, for eligible students attending learning centres in Wales.  Students can qualify for awards of £10, £20 or £30 depending on household income. They can also qualify for periodic additional bonuses of £100 if agreed learning objectives are met.

The key point from the latest release is:

• In the 2007/08 academic year to date, 33,740 applications for EMA have been received. Of these, 31,410 have been approved whilst 740 have been rejected.

Further information can be found on the StatsWales website.

Contact:
Tel: 029 2082 3895
E-mail: he.stats@wales.gsi.gov.uk

Next update:
July 2008 (provisional - to be confirmed on the Due Out Soon page)

Please note these data are taken from monthly SLC Management Reports which are not based on the same definitions used for the Statistical First Release, and therefore the figures published in January differ slightly from this report.

Associated previous Releases:
Statistical release SDR 10/2008 presented provisional information on EMA awarded during 2007/08
Statistical Release SDR 175/2007 presented information on EMA awarded during 2006/07
Statistical Release SDR 115/2006 presented information on EMA awarded during 2005/06.
Statistical Release SDR 83/2005 presented information on EMA awarded during 2004/05.