EMA Administrators
Frequently Asked Questions - General Issues
Q - What are the residency requirements?
A - These are outlined in the EMA Guidance Document 2010-11.
Q - Which Local Education Authority will be responsible for the payment of a pupil who resides in one authority but attends an education establishment in another?
A - It will be based on place of education.
Q - Are EMAs taxable?
A - No
Q - Does it count towards personal allowance?
A - No
Q - What will the Learning Agreement contain?
A - All Local Authorities and colleges now have templates for the learning agreement on the required fields and there will also be advice in the Guidance Document 2008-09. The content of each Learning Agreement can be individual to each pupil.
Q - How is a payment stopped?
A - The school should have procedures to enable the stopping of a payment and will be responsible for initiating this and also for deciding if and when it should be restarted. There should be a series of checks and warnings long before the payment is stopped.
Q - Should withdraws involve the LA process?
A - Not unless there are appeals.
Q - Can the EMA be withdrawn for failure to adhere to the school's policy on uniforms?
A - Shouldn't be used to do so. The school should have other procedures for dealing with this kind of behaviour and it would be unfair to use the EMA program in this way. However if a pupil was excluded for failing to adhere to the rules then the EMA would be stopped.
Q - Is it 16 on a particular date?
A - Dates of eligibility can be found at the Students section of this website.
Q - Will there be any flexibility with the fortnightly payments?
A - No, fortnightly payments will be the norm for all LAs in Scotland.
Q - The household income definition for Her Majesty Revenue and Customs (HMRC) only includes Mum and Dad, is this right?
A - No, HMRC ask for the income details of the parent and if they are part of a couple then the tax credit award is based on the joint income. So partners that are not parents would count as they are both contributing to the household.
Q - Is the Application form for both Local Education Authorities and FE colleges the same template.
A - No, Local Education Authorities now have a national application form which is used by all Local Authorities in Scotland. FE colleges use their own template for applications as these forms are also used to calculate additional bursary requirements whilst attending an FE college.
Q - Why not issue one application form for all to use?
A - See above.
Q - Will Local Authorities have to establish a policy for the EMA programme?
A - EMA is a national programme, however there a few areas for discretion by the Local Authority which are more clearly explained in the guidance document.
Q - What courses are eligible?
A - The guidance document will outline this and it will also be contained in the best practice guide.
Q - What about young people in care e.g. foster care, homes, supported housing?
A - Any young person in the care of their local authority would be deemed eligible and assessed as "independent".
Q - Do sixth year students have to have a full timetable?
A - Yes but elements of this timetable will be at the individual schools discretion eg
time spent mentoring etc.
Q - Are pupils who are educated at home eligible?
A - Yes. Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs) will be available to all students who meet the criteria for EMAs, and are undertaking learning with a learning centre recognised and approved by the Local Authority (which may include Home Education).
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