Young people are being urged to apply for a weekly payment of up to 30 under the Education Maintenance Allowance scheme to encourage more 16-year-olds to remain in education.
More than half of English 16-year-olds - 353,000 young people - are eligible to apply for the Government's means-tested scheme. Payments of 10-30 are made into bank accounts.
The roll-out in September follows pilots started in 1999. In the pilot areas, participation among 16-year-olds in full-time education increased by 5.9 per cent. The staying-on rate of the lowest socio-economic group increased by a tenth.
www.ema.dfes.gov.uk.
