Students struggling to benefit from grant changes

“It motivates me to come to college because without it, it would be a struggle,” says 17-year-old Nia Kay, from Caerphilly.

She is one of 16,000 sixth-form or college students in Wales who receive education maintenance allowance (EMA) – Overall is likely to rise from September.

The Welsh Government said that the household income limit for EMA, which has been frozen since 2010, would go up, meaning an additional 3,500 students would benefit.

The head of Coleg y Cymoedd – which has campuses in south Wales – Jonathan Morgan said the economic loss had had a “huge” impact on education and the uplift was “a step in the right direction”.

Rhondda Cynon TAF, a student at the College of Nantgarw, said that receiving the £80 payment every fortnight took away the stress of worrying about money “because I know I’ll be able to come up with the stuff I need. I need”.

“It allows me to come to college with the essentials that I need like writing pens, notebooks…and revision resources,” she said.

Because no one at home is at work, EMA sometimes helps with meals, she said.

Nia said: “It encourages me to come to college so I can help with the house and buy stuff, like bread.”

Roxy, 16, also says the grant helps shoulder the “financial burden” at home in Trelawn, Rhondda, where she lives with her aunt, uncle and twin brother.

The allowance is paid directly to her bank account and she says she feels “empowered” by it.

“I spend it on food for college and studying stuff,” she said.

“I think it gives you more freedom and a chance to sort out and decide for yourself what you want and what you’re going to get for yourself.”

The lift of the household annual income limit, under which students qualify for EMA, comes after a report to the Welsh Government said the number of students claiming benefits had been falling for several years. Is.

It said 41% of the 16 to 18-year-old student population were receiving grants in 2015-16, but this was down to 15% by 2022-23.

From the next academic year, the threshold will go from £20,817 to £23,400 for households with one dependent and from £23,077 to £25,974 for households with two or more dependents.

Coleg y Cymoedd principal Jonathan Morgan said raising the threshold would help more students come to college from September.

“We’ve got a large proportion of learners who come from low economic backgrounds,” he said.

But at the same time he said many students face losing their free transportation. Changes in council policies,

He said there is “still more work to do” in addressing the costs facing college students but called the changes to EMA thresholds “absolutely the right thing to do.”

The EMA is a fortnightly payment of £80 to 16 to 18-year-olds who remain in education after the end of compulsory school-leaving age.

It is means tested and from September 2025 students will qualify if they live in a household where the annual income is £23,400 or less if they only have dependents, or up to £25,974 if there are other dependents.

It can be claimed by students in sixth forms or further education colleges studying an academic or vocational course such as GCSE, A-levels, BTEC or basic skills courses.

Your sixth form or college can help with the application process.

In April 2023, the allowance went from £30 to £40 per week.

Victoria Winkler from the anti-primary think tank The Bevan Foundation welcomed the change to the threshold, saying that it “has been arguing long and hard for a raise”.

“This should be the first step as we feel that the grants and allowances developed should be reviewed regularly,” he said.

Vicky Howells, Minister for Further and Higher Education, called the changes to EMA a “really generous package” which she wanted to “keep under review annually”.

Acknowledging that the cost of travel was a challenge for many young people, she said this was an area where she was keen to see progress “to help learners travel to their schools and colleges, To be able to do that there needs to be more infrastructure and that means that public transportation is also available”.