Education maintenance allowance

Education maintenance allowance (EMA) is a weekly allowance of £30, paid directly to young people.

It provides financial assistance to help young people from low-income households to stay on at school and continue their education. EMA is available to people between 16 and 19 years of age.

Assessment is based on:

• gross taxable household income
• the number of dependent children living within the household

The income thresholds for the period 1 August 2025 to 31 July 2026 are:

• £24,421 where the Education Maintenance Allowance applicant is the only dependant in the household
• £26,884 where there are additional dependant children in the household

'Dependent children' are people:

• up to the age of 16
• between the ages of 16 and 25 who are in further or higher education

Apply for EMA

You must make a new application for every academic year.

You will need

• proof of your household income for the financial year
• your full birth certificate
• your and your parent/carer's contact details, including email address
• your bank or building society account details for payment (the account must be in the name of the young person applying for EMA unless the young person has additional support needs which make this impractical)

We prefer supporting documents to be scanned or digitally photographed and uploaded with the application. Documents of more than one page, for example Universal Credit statements, should be scanned as one file. Use portrait format and check that text can be clearly read. Use one of these formats:

• pdf
• jpeg
• png

Apply for 2025 to 2026 EMA if you:

• were born between 1 March 2006 and 28 February 2010
• are a resident in the UK and have been for the past three years (some exceptions may apply)
• live in a household with annual gross taxable income as noted above

Learning agreement and absences

Part of your application is a learning agreement that will be verified, as acceptable, by your school. You must meet the conditions of your agreement to receive EMA, for example:

• attend school or college for a minimum of 21 guided learning hours per week
• 100% attendance (exceptions for sickness absence)

Payment may be withheld without warning if you:

• are persistently late
• don't follow your school's discipline policy
• don't progress in your studies

For absences due to sickness, note that:

• you can self certify for up to 5 days (10 half days) sickness absence during an academic session
• absences of 5 days, or more, must be covered by a doctor's medical certificate for your EMA payment to be made
• if you're absent for a period of more than 3 weeks because of illness your allowance will be reviewed

EMA payments

EMA payments will only be made once we have assessed your eligibility and your school has confirmed an acceptable learning agreement is in place.

Payments are made fortnightly, in arrears, directly into the applicant's (young person's) bank account. EMA is only paid in term time.

Change bank or building society account details

Let us know if your bank or building society account details have changed since you applied for EMA. You will need the case reference number from your original application.

More information

• EMA information from Scottish Government
• EMA allowance policy document

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