The Secretary of State for Education said last week that education maintenance allowances (EMAs) would no longer be necessary when the age is raised in 2015.
Giving evidence to the Education and Skills Select Committee inquiry into 14-19 education, Alan Johnson said: "The EMA is there as an incentive to stay on. We will not need to incentivise after 2015."
EMAs give 16- to 18-year-olds from households where the combined income is less that 30,810 a year a payment of 30 a week to stay in education, and the scheme is regarded as a success.
Steve Stewart, chief executive of Connexions Coventry and Warwickshire, warned replacing EMAs with compulsion would backfire: "If some young people didn't have the EMA, it would increase our not in education, employment or training figures."
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