EMA Discussion Area

gizmoleeds

dotty_the_spotty_doggy wrote:

I am in a similar position. After reading all the EMA stuff, I wrongly thought that my daughter could claim for this Sept, her first year at college. I earn under the £20,000 odd mark, so she should be able to claim £30. However, I separated from my husband in April & therefore have found out (by ringing the EMA help line) that as its taken from the previous tax year,(which would inc my ex's earning & would taken us over the max income allowed), she can't claim. How unfair is this, surely it should be from your household earnings at the time your child starts the course. What's so annoying is all the advertising about this never mentions this fact.

They have been trying to make the rules fairer - it used to go on natural parents income rather than household. Unfotunately for me, the switch to household put me over the treashold for the second year.

I can't argue though, as household income is a better refection of the student's need for the money.

Tell your MP - they probably won't be able to do anything (as the EMA people are following set rules, not failing to follow them) but it will alert them to the problem - if enough people do it, the issue might get sorted.

wallace_3

Is EMA not double standards from the government? On the one hand they bring in tuition fees because they refuse to give full funding for university students, but then they start paying people to go to college?

I also think that people should go to college because they want to, not because they are being paid. We risk all the disruptive kids from schools going onto college and disrupting others, simply because they want free money.

If the government wnated to give some sort of encouragement, they should give book tokens or credits towards university tuition fees. These would be of use to genuine students who want to learn, but no interest to people who just want the cash to avoid having to get a job following school.

Rikki

My son has chosen to stay on in the sixth form whether he was paid or not. The payment is a bonus to him.

has_2

I was wondering, are you entitled to anything if your parents joint income is above £30,000?

(The reason i post this is due to me hearing from a friend that your still entitled to the bonuses if the £30000 income is the case)

gizmoleeds

wallace wrote:

Is EMA not double standards from the government? On the one hand they bring in tuition fees because they refuse to give full funding for university students, but then they start paying people to go to college?

I also think that people should go to college because they want to, not because they are being paid. We risk all the disruptive kids from schools going onto college and disrupting others, simply because they want free money.

If the government wnated to give some sort of encouragement, they should give book tokens or credits towards university tuition fees. These would be of use to genuine students who want to learn, but no interest to people who just want the cash to avoid having to get a job following school.

I just want to stress here that top-up fees were not introduced because the govenment had cut university funding, but in order to increase university funding (as they had been underfunded for years by the Tories). The only other options were to increase general taxes (as the Lib Dems would do), cut places and add interest to student loans (as the Tories would do) or do nothing and leave our universities to sink.

The top-up fees system is in many ways fairer than the old system - you will no longer pay upfront, the loan repayment threashold has been raised to £15,000 pa. and grants have been reintroduced to help students from the poorest backgrounds.

The EMA is designed to help people from the poorest backgrounds go to college, and then on to university. Before it, many were excluded by simple costs such as transport, books and clothing (without uniforms, students need many more changes of clothes) which their parents had trouble streaching to.

I have known many people who got the EMA and none of them got it as they "want(ed) the cash to avoid having to get a job following school". They got it and found they had more time to concentrate on their studies as they didn't have to work as hard part-time while they were at college. It is £30 a week, maximum, remember (that is only when your household income is £19,630 or less (ie. both parents earning under £10k)) - that is the equivalent of just 6 hours work at minimum wage for spending 17hrs+ at college.

gizmoleeds

has wrote:

I was wondering, are you entitled to anything if your parents joint income is above £30,000?

(The reason i post this is due to me hearing from a friend that your still entitled to the bonuses if the £30000 income is the case)

No, it is to help the poor, and £30k pa is just not considered poor.

SKIPPY

In the same boat, our income is just and i mean just over the limit so our son gets nothing. Regarding the bonuses I think they should be available to all students not just those receiving the grant. Why should some students be rewarded for working hard on a course and not others. Not good for self esteem I think, what a kick in the teeth to hear someone bragging about receiving 100.00 or more when you could have been working twice as hard!

mistyarthur

gizmoleeds you say that student grants have been re-introduced to help those from the poorest backgrounds, they may have been brought back but those at the very bottom earnings will still work out about 300 pound a year worse of than in the current system!

gizmoleeds

mistyarthur wrote:

gizmoleeds you say that student grants have been re-introduced to help those from the poorest backgrounds, they may have been brought back but those at the very bottom earnings will still work out about 300 pound a year worse of than in the current system!

Why? They will have had £2,700 of grants, per year, but will have only paid £1,800 of fees per year (as the first £1,200 are still means tested). In effect, it is the equivalent of being given £1,800 more loan and £900 grant per year.

M2R_2

gizmoleeds wrote:

No, it is to help the poor, and £30k pa is just not considered poor.

i wouldnt say POOR !, just people that not earning 'enough', the government just giving a helping hand, which i think is about time..... now if they can only scrap those uni tuition fees.....