We are committed to encouraging more students to continue in school, further education or training, and to raising attainment levels. Therefore we are developing a suite of measures to offer young people incentives and support while they stay in learning. The access funds are used to help pay for transport, books, equipment, and other expenditure associated with remaining in education, such as residential charges and childcare costs. EMAs are a weekly allowance paid to the student or in some cases to the student's family, in return for the student's continuing attendance of an education programme. They aim to encourage young people to remain in full-time education and complete their courses successfully.
Payments are means tested on the basis of parental income.
Evaluation of the first year of the EMA scheme showed that EMAs lead to a significant increase in the numbers of 16 year olds deciding to remain in full-time education. The Government are considering the case for introducing a national EMA scheme. We are also introducing the Connexions Card, which will be available to all young people aged 16-19. It will provide a range of incentives to stay in learning, ranging from help with transport costs to discounts on the sorts of goods and activities which young people value. The benefits attached to the Card will be earned through regular attendance and effort.