LEAs in EMA pilot scheme announced

Higher education minister Baroness Blackstone yesterday announced the 12 local education authorities that will run pilot schemes for the government's Pounds 100 million education maintenance allowance scheme. They will be Bolton, Nottingham, Cornwall, Doncaster, Gateshead, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Oldham, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent and Walsall and the London boroughs of Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark and Greenwich will run the 12th pilot jointly. The aim of EMAs is to encourage young people to stay on in education beyond 16. Those aged 16 to 18 will be eligible for a maximum Pounds 40 a-week allowance if annual family income is less than Pounds 13,000 with means-tested eligibility up to a maximum income of Pounds 30,000.