16-19 bursary FAQs

The 16 to 19 bursary is a new £180 million scheme to help the most vulnerable young people continue in full-time education.

The scheme is made up of two parts:

• There are bursaries of £1,200 a year for the most vulnerable. Around 12,000 young people are in this group, made up of children in care, care leavers and those on income support. Income support is paid to young people such as teenage parents, teenagers living away from their parents and young people whose parents have died.
• Schools, colleges and training providers will then be able to award bursaries to any student who faces genuine financial barriers to staying on in education and training to help with costs such as transport, food or equipment.

Transitional arrangements will help those who are part-way through their studies and are currently receiving the EMA.

• The most vulnerable students currently receiving EMA (young people in care, care leavers and those on income support) will be eligible for a bursary of £1,200 a year, in place of their current weekly payments.
• All other students who successfully applied for EMA in 2009/10 will continue to receive payments at the level set out in their EMA guarantee for each week they are in education or training, until the end of the 2011/12 academic year.
• Those students who successfully applied for the maximum weekly EMA payment of £30 in 2010/11 will be eligible for £20 for each week they are in education or training, until the end of the 2011/12 academic year.

This will depend on their circumstances. Vulnerable young people will receive bursaries of £1,200 a year (around £40 per week over a 30 week teaching year). This is more than they would have received through the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA). Schools and colleges will have flexibility to pay more to young people who need it.

For other young people it will be entirely down to their college how much they get. Students currently receiving EMA are also eligible for funds as above.

As an illustration, the new fund would be sufficient to provide a bursary of £800 a year to more than 15 per cent of 16 to 19 year olds in full-time education, to cover the costs of food, transport, books and other course-related essentials.

The new scheme will start in September 2011 and the money will be distributed directly by schools, colleges and training providers during the 2011/12 academic year.

Those in one of the defined groups of vulnerable young people are guaranteed funds. For all others, colleges will decide and have the flexibility to pay larger or smaller bursaries to the young people who most need funds to stay on in education or training.

Young people in vulnerable groups – young people in care, care leavers and young people in receipt of income support (typically, young people living independently of their parents, young people whose parents have died, some teenage parents) will receive a bursary of at least £1,200, administered by schools, colleges and training providers. Schools, colleges and training providers will be able to decide to pay more to young people in this group if the young person’s needs merit a higher level of bursary. 

Schools, colleges and training providers will have discretion to award bursaries to other students in ways that best fit local needs and circumstances. We will not set an expectation of the level of support that individual students should receive from this discretionary fund. As an illustration, the new fund would be sufficient to provide a bursary of £800 a year to over 15% of 16-19 year olds in full-time education – more than covering all students who would have qualified for free school meals and who would have attracted the pupil premium while in school to 16. 

No, only teenage parents who are in receipt of income support will get this guaranteed level of bursary. However, other teenage parents not in receipt of income support will be able to apply for a bursary from their school or college.

We expect that schools and colleges will make receipt of a bursary conditional on a student meeting expected standards, for example, of attendance, behaviour or standard of work. Similar systems are already in place for EMA, and schools and colleges have told us that the ability to set conditions is important for promoting a positive attitude to learning.

Schools and colleges will determine the way in which young people receive their bursary. They will have the flexibility to pay it as a lump sum or in instalments.  Any conditions, such as what happens if a young person leaves the course, will be a matter for the school or college.

Schools and colleges will have the flexibility to pay the full bursary as a cash payment or to provide ‘in kind’ support under the bursary scheme.

We will issue short, focused guidance to schools and colleges following the end of the consultation.

We intend to make allocations to schools, colleges and work-based training providers shortly after the end of the consultation.

They will be allowed to use up to 5 per cent of the 16-19 Bursary Fund to meet the costs of administering the scheme. The new scheme will be less bureaucratic and better targeted than EMA.

A teenage mum, living on her own with her child and receiving income support

This person will receive a bursary of at least £1,200 from her school, college or training provider. She will, as a result, be better off than she would be if she continued to receive EMA. She will not receive weekly payments.

A young person who re-took her GCSEs after leaving school and then started an A-level course in September 2010

This person will receive weekly payments as set out in her EMA ‘guarantee’ i.e. if they  currently receiving £30 they will continue to do so until the end of the 2011/12 academic year.

A young person who started a course in September 2009, left it to get a job, and who wants to return to learning in September 2011

This person will also hold an EMA ‘guarantee’ and will continue to receive weekly payments as set out in their letter of continuing entitlement i.e. if he is currently receiving £20 he will continue to do so until the end of the 2011/12 academic year.

A young person who started in year 12 in September 2010 and is on the maximum weekly EMA payment

This person will receive weekly payments of £20 until the end of the 2011/12 academic year.

A young person who started in year 12 in September 2010 and is receiving £20 a week EMA

This person will not receive EMA, or transitional support, after the end of the 2010/11 academic year. They will be able to apply for a bursary from  the school or college.

A young person who started in year 12 in September 2010 and is receiving £10 a week EMA

This person will not receive EMA, or transitional support, after the end of the 2010/11 academic year. They will be able to apply for a bursary from the school or college.

A young person who applied successfully for EMA for the first time in November 2010, is eligible for £30 a week but who has not yet started a course

This person, should they start a course during either the 2010/11 or 2011/12 academic years, will receive weekly payments of £20 until the end of the 2011/12 academic year.

The money is for the books, meals, transport or other course-related costs needed to help a young person stay in education. Schools and colleges may choose to pay the full bursary as a cash payment or may provide ‘in kind’ support under the bursary scheme, for example, by bulk purchasing equipment that students need for particular courses.

The EMA scheme cost £560 million a year. The evidence showed around 90 per cent of those who received EMA would have carried on their education without it. The high cost is no longer affordable and we believe it’s more appropriate to give vulnerable young people support than give all young people an incentive to stay in education. The new fund is a better use of public money and guarantees protection for the most vulnerable young people in need.

The ‘vulnerable’ group is made up of children in care, care leavers and those on income support. Income support is paid to young people such as some teenage parents, teenagers who are estranged from their parents and some young people whose parents have died.

All bursaries – including those for the most vulnerable young people – will be administered by schools, colleges and training providers, who will set out details of how the scheme will operate locally.

Yes. However, the school, college or training provider will be expected to take into account the fact that a young person is receiving regular weekly payments in determining what they should receive.

The new 16 to 19 bursary fund will start from September 2011. Schools, colleges and training providers will have the flexibility to decide when payments should be made.

The Department for Education will monitor the use of the 16 to 19 bursary fund closely in the first year of its operation. Schools, colleges and work-based training providers should all have established complaints processes. They are the first place to go for any young person who thinks that they have been treated unfairly.