£180m bursary for poor students

Oldham’s schools and colleges will learn this month how much money they will have to help poorer teenagers to stay in education.

The Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA) last night began notifying schools and colleges of the allocations they will receive under the new £180 million 16-19 bursary scheme.

The scheme, which replaces the Educational Maintenance Allowance, will help youngsters aged 16 to 19 to continue in full-time education, where they might otherwise struggle for financial reasons. It is made up of two parts — a bursary of £1,200 a year to the most vulnerable young people and a discretionary fund for schools and colleges to distribute.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said: “Sadly, we have been falling behind other nations in our educational performance. We have one of the most unequal education systems in the developed world. We have an insufficient supply of high-quality vocational education. We have a system of education spending which is fundamentally inefficient.

“We are expanding apprenticeships, expanding technical Academies, and we are providing targeted financial support for the most vulnerable 16-19 year-olds.

“£180 million will be available for this bursary fund — enough to ensure that every child eligible for free school meals who chooses to stay on could be paid £800 per year — more than many receive under the current EMA arrangements.”

Around 12,000 youngsters will be given guaranteed bursaries of £1,200 a year and the Government says schools and colleges can distribute the rest of the money to support any student who faces genuine financial barriers to participation, such as costs of transport, food or equipment.

Schools will have the freedom to decide the scale and frequency of bursary payments but government insists conditions are put on the cash, for example regarding attendance and behaviour.

Official allocations will be published by Government in August.