Students "face uncertainty" in allowances delay

Students who are eligible for EMAs can pocket up to £30 a week to carry on with their studies post-16.

They are available to students who come from households with an annual income of less than £30,810 and do not include any part-time work the student may be doing.
However, CYP Now understands this year the payment of EMAs, run by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has been delayed in some cases.

A joint statement from the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills said: "The LSC has assured us the reported delays will be sorted out as soon as possible and they will ensure that any delays are kept to an absolute minimum.

"They have assured us that every young person who is entitled to money will get their money in full, and that if the payment they receive is delayed it will be back dated to when they started their course.

"The LSC have guaranteed that no young person will miss out."

However shadow children's secretary Michael Gove has blasted the government, saying: "Just weeks after thousands of children did not receive their exam results on time, Ed Balls's department has delivered another fiasco.

"The Government seems unable to administer relatively straightforward tasks and thousands of teenagers now face uncertainty about whether they will get their allowances for staying on at school."