EMA and bus travel

12helensp

Hi,
I have applied for an EMA and my college information pack said that you can get discounted Bus Travel, but it doesn't say how much....is it half price or 3/4's off. Can anyone give me some information. Like I said I have applied for EMA last month and how would I get my money off bus travel??
Thanks

rammy007

i dont know about the bus fares but my daughter gets ema and its really a good idea but the payments are a bit erratic sometimes she doesnt get the money on time because they havent processed it in time at college,she was going to london for a 3 day job assessment and was relying on this money and it didnt go in on time and she was gutted if you are going to rely on the money i would get a parttime job as well

chugalug

I think concessions for travelling are decided by the Local Authority and/or the travel companies in your area. There isn't a nationwide scheme of any sort. Best to contact your LA education department first and go from there.

matty_c608

I Know some councils will give out free 1 Year Bus Passes.

Check your local council website, or call them.

*kingpin*

Most councils are different eg Bromely council give nothing towards travel if you are in receipt of EMA.Whilst Croydon council does.

Quick Vent

After going through the whole EMA system I have come to realise that It has not been set up correctly and that there are so many flaws with the system that I just decided not to even try and get it .There is no true regulation and my experiences were based on prejudices and favouritism or targets that were only obtainable for a few and not many. LSC should change the whole thing and make it more centrally controlled rather then every educational institute making their own rules for it.

lleck

I disagree with the EMA vent, i think it's a good idea and is reasonably easy to apply for and receive. It does depend on the 6th form/college but in general I think it does the job it's intended to do i.e. let the students who may have dropped out because of money problems have more of a chance.



Good Luck

SeanW

Shouldn't the £30 a week be used to pay the travel costs, unless they are excessive and would eat most of this away?

*kingpin* wrote:

After going through the whole EMA system I have come to realise that It has not been set up correctly and that there are so many flaws with the system that I just decided not to even try and get it .There is no true regulation and my experiences were based on prejudices and favouritism or targets that were only obtainable for a few and not many. LSC should change the whole thing and make it more centrally controlled rather then every educational institute making their own rules for it.

:beer: (but not with your EMA)

In my opinion the system is flawed because its just given away to people who's parents earn less than so much pre-tax and mortgage etc... As a student, my ability and willingness to study at college isn't just about my parents pre-tax salary.

I went through Sixth form without such EMA support, my parents earned over the limit pre-tax, of course mortgage and everything else has to come off this, and their own spending and dependants. My parents supported me though, but this isn't necessarily the case for all, just because the money is there, doesn't mean the parents are going to support them through it, but thats the number they look at on your application isnt it?

I think all you have to do is register a certain attendance too, but from my experiences, sixth form colleges dont exactly keep great attendance records or do a register like school, so this number is probably just made up. It must have registered in some peoples minds too that students might go to college and sit in the social room all day and collect their £30 +"bonuses", or do micky-mouse subjects? This is what some students do.

I am not saying you give money based on success, because not everybody who is worthy of the money can get A*s, but they have to look at this more. Somebody who got an A at GCSE and gets EMA and is getting Es at college is "probably" wasting tax payers money.

This is free money too, I found it appalling to sit in a class at college and have my peers whine about their bonus being a day or two late, when I wasn't looking forward to any such bonus at all, and I would have to work weeks to make such money.

Like most things this government does, its not thought out, and those who work hard are once again being punished. You must not take any of this wrong, people do deserve it who receive it now, and need it, and study, but not all, and some of that could go to those who dont meet the stupid criteria but could do with the money. I did what I did, and got where I did, based on me wanting to, not because I was paid too.

lleck

EMA is not supposed to be a payment for turning up, it is supposed to be a payment to enable students who may have had to leave education to help support the family by contributing to the household or by not extracting from the household. It is for bus fares, books, lunches etc........ although I know it's not usually used for that.

EMA does not mean you can turn up and do nothing learn. The bonuses are based on attendance and progression throughout the course not just for turning up. At our college, the students have registers for every single class, which are scanned, if there are any absences, the student is not paid. You are allowed 3 days off per year for illness, after that you have to provide a sick note.

There may be people who turn up and hope but most colleges are paid for results so they are not going to put up with people not trying. Plus for £10 per week, would it not be easier just to work for a living if you were really not committed to your education ? There are easier ways to earn a living !

see link below if you don't believe me............. our college

http://www.stcoll.ac.uk/studentinfo.asp?story=256&z=1

SeanW

lleck wrote:

see link below if you don't believe me............. our college

http://www.stcoll.ac.uk/studentinfo.asp?story=256&z=1

I do believe you, and I am in favour of it:T

But I think some can, and are abusing it. My point about attendance is that you have to attend to receive it, not that you are paid to attend, but attendance is easily gotten around. We had registers, but they were easily altered(really, i used to sit in key skills lessons with maybe 2 or 3 others, so did the other 25 just sacrifice their EMA or was something going on with the figures, a lot of teacher excused marks going down there I bet???).

My main point is, my parents could earn £100 000 a year, it doesn't mean they want me to go to college and will support me through it. On the other hand they could earn 1p above the limit, but it doesn't mean they dont have massive outgoings. But the criteria is practically 1 number, pre tax salary.

I doubt people do what I said for £10 a week, but maybe they do for £30, its only £4.60 off JSA and they wont have to look for work, and they could do part time work during or after college hours to top it up.