Education Maintenance Allowances: 2017-18

1. Background information

The EMA programme aims to provide support for young people aged 16 to 19 from low income families to overcome financial barriers to stay on in post-16 education; either in school or on a college course, or to take up an activity agreement.

The programme is an entitlement and demand led programme which is administered by local authorities and colleges on behalf of Scottish Ministers. A weekly payment of £30 is made to a young person and is subject to attendance and agreement of a learning plan.

A history of the use of EMAs is given in Appendix A. Additional information can be found at www.mygov.scot/ema. This release is accompanied by online tables that cover more detailed analysis.