Is EMA Fair???

looby75

mumps wrote: »

My son couldn't get a job and as a final resort tried care work, he gets lots of hours and the bonus is he absolutely loves it. He is rethinking his university plans and is looking at social work which he had never thought of. Might be worth suggesting to her?

don't you have to be 18 to do care work?

patchwork_cat

karenccs67 wrote: »

My daughter get £20 EMA but she has to work hard at college for it. The teachers are able to withdraw EMA on a weekly basis if students do not behave, do their assignements etc. One girl in my daughters tutor misbehaved so the whole class lost their EMA for that week which annoyed them all but it was made clear to them that EMA is not a "freebie" you have to work for it, which my daughter does. I do believe all students should receive the same amount rather than it being means tested.

Seriously - you are kidding. They are not children and should not be treated as such.

My DS receives £10 per week EMA and it pays his bus fare - for those that believe a sixth form should be in walking distance have you not heard of the collegiate system? My son's bus pass is £30 per month he gets the huge sum of £10 per month left. Before he even started we paid £70 for various things - lab coat etc. He has since been asked for lots more money and has to buy his text books.

Incidentally my son is not a waster he acheived 12.5 GCSE's, 2.5 A*, 5 A, 2B , 2 C and a D. Although we are not a low socio-economic group being A/B, despite our income! Socio - economic group is not based on salary!

Tax credits and child benefit both assumed that the September after GCSE's my son would leave education and I had to notify them for reassesment.

rev_henry

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

The amount of time you spend on a subject is no indication of its academic rigour.

Do you really mean "2 hours of homework per subject per week "? Surely you mean per night?

Indeed. That doesn't sound like a lot of work to me. If Media Studies etc is so academic and difficult why do the likes of Oxbridge refuse to acknowledge it or take it seriously?

Good grief 6 A levels. May I ask why on Earth that was necessary? Just 3 As will get you into almost any university/course.

Some of your stories here make my life seem very easy indeed. I catch a (free) train 10 mins down the road at 8AM, and half the time come home at lunchtime, and I'm studying at a very good state grammar school.

hells_2

Some people obviously have short memories or haven't themselves entered into further or higher education..
I was a student 22 years ago. I received a grant (remember them, grants!) of, wait for it.. FIFTY POUNDS A YEAR! That's it. Not a penny more. My 'grant' was for 'books'. Interesting, as I took art and photography.
The LEA refused me a bus pass although I travelled in excess of 3 miles to my college, it was with a 'rival' education authority. They tried to argue that they offered similar courses in our area which I could attend. (They weren't and were indeed, inferior).

What did I do about it? I took the fifty notes, and went and got a part time job.

How hard can it be?

EMA - money for old rope (in some circumstances!)

bumpoowee

bestpud wrote: »

So it's unfair for children from low income families to receive an incentive to go to college but it's not unfair to make them take a loan for something wealthier families will provide anyway?

Many say they cannot afford to give their child £30 a week, and I'm sure that is correct, but they will be providing a lot that lower income families cannot. It may not be in the form of cash, of course, but on the whole they will lead an advantaged life in comparison to the families EMA targets.

Do you disagree with student loans for university students then? As some students don't get paid for by their parents and end up with £20k of debt but many of the wealthier ones don't need to take out the loans because their parents pay for them?

bestpud

bumpoowee wrote: »

Do you disagree with student loans for university students then? As some students don't get paid for by their parents and end up with £20k of debt but many of the wealthier ones don't need to take out the loans because their parents pay for them?

I don't agree with tuition fees but that is a different debate...

It will only be the very wealthy parents who entirely fund their children through university and we will never stop that.

However, funding is tiered according to parental income in HE so it is the same principle as EMA really, just on a different level:

Everyone is entitled to a loan for tuition fees in HE and the maintenace part of student finance is tiered. It takes into account students leaving home and needing to keep themselves, and recognises some parents are able to help out more than others.

Tuition fees are free for all school leavers in FE and EMA is restricted to students from the lowest income families. Most live at home so don't need money to keep themselves as such but those from lower income families will almost invariably have less than those from better off families.

But HE is different from FE anyway.

Many students will stop at FE and then go on to work in various jobs that do not require a degree. They may never earn enough to pay back a loan and therefore the cost of implementing such a scheme may well be higher than the cost of EMA.

Plus, following your argument, students from low income families should come out with even more debt while others are funded through FE and then also have help from their families at HE?

Oldernotwiser

bumpoowee wrote: »

Do you disagree with student loans for university students then? As some students don't get paid for by their parents and end up with £20k of debt but many of the wealthier ones don't need to take out the loans because their parents pay for them?

You can't right all society's wrongs through the student finance system!

People from wealthy families are always going to have advantages over those from poorer families - unless we have a revolution, there's nothing much to be done about it.

surrobeth

In a few years time the school leaving age rises to 18, I would imagine that will be the ideal time for the government to have a think about EMA, I wouldn't be surprised if it became a smaller sum and/or a lower threshold and paid to parents (aka voters) instead..

mumps

rev_henry wrote: »

Indeed. That doesn't sound like a lot of work to me. If Media Studies etc is so academic and difficult why do the likes of Oxbridge refuse to acknowledge it or take it seriously?

Good grief 6 A levels. May I ask why on Earth that was necessary? Just 3 As will get you into almost any university/course.

Some of your stories here make my life seem very easy indeed. I catch a (free) train 10 mins down the road at 8AM, and half the time come home at lunchtime, and I'm studying at a very good state grammar school.

She needed four A's at A level for her course, her school insisted on General Studies and she couldn't decide which one to drop so kept them all on. She did maths a year early and didn't do any work for General Studies so it didn't seem that bad. Also maths, further maths and physics did complement each other to some extent, she loves history so didn't find that "work" and she just liked psychology. It seemed logical at the time although I did have to put my foot down about her doing French, enough is enough.

Soubrette

To be honest I would imagine if the any party except Labour get in then EMA will disappear.

After all, without Tracey Emin - who's going to pay for it

Sou