When was ema axed

The protests come a day before MPs are due to vote on a Labour motion calling on the government to rethink its plan. Education Maintenance Allowances were introduced by Labour to encourage young people from deprived backgrounds to stay in education and training after they reach These can be spent however the student chooses, and used by many students to cover the cost of course equipment, books and transport.

For young people in low-income families, the EMA offers the knowledge that your family will not have to make sacrifices to support you through college. This is not simply about having less money in your pocket. This is about a fundamental shift in culture towards staying on in post education.

The schools minister, Nick Gibb, told MPs last week that attitudes to staying on in education post had "changed" and that young people no longer needed an incentive payment. He is right that attitudes have changed — but that is directly linked to the impact EMA has had on low-income families, and the decision to kill the allowance that offered so many a better future will raise the barriers to participation and change attitudes right back again, especially when support to poorer families is being cut elsewhere.

A modern society cannot tolerate an education system that closes itself off to poorer students by failing to support them. Students will not accept the government turning the clock back on their ambitions, for if they succeed, the consequences will be devastating.

There were major protests earlier this year when the government voted to get rid of the Education Maintenance Allowance EMA in England. Now the Association of Colleges AoC says nearly half of England's colleges have taken on fewer students this term. It claims the decision to scrap EMA is one of the main reasons, as some students are worried about the cost of getting to and from college. Some of this money is given as a grant to those pupils most in need, while schools and colleges get to decide what to do with the rest.

About young people who would have come to us, have not come to us. He accepts many may be studying or working elsewhere, but is worried that others may be doing nothing. It helps me get here - it goes on equipment and my bus pass. It's not promoting equal opportunities. Last week the debate around tuition fees focused on whether it would put people from low-income backgrounds off going to university.

But if this still does not convince you to their importance, at least the weight of evidence supporting the EMA far outweighs the arguments of any naysayers. For example, research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows attainment at GCSE and A-level by recipients of the EMA has risen by 5 to 7 percentage points since its introduction, and by even more for those living in the most deprived neighbourhoods.

This report reached similar conclusions to the RCU research:.