1 month ago 09th Apr 14:31
Report highlights the success of pay to learn scheme
Recent evidence shows Education Maintenance Allowances (EMA) have succeeded in increasing the number of young people staying on in learning at 16 and the number of learners achieving qualifications at 19.
In fact, figures from 2005/06 saw the highest proportion of 16-year-olds in learning since 1994, with 89.1 per cent[i][i] of the cohort participating in some form of learning. This equates to 1.5 million young people in further education, which is the highest figure ever recorded[ii][ii]. Whilst it is not possible to say that all this increase is attributable to EMA, this has been one of the most important initiatives aimed at increasing participation during this time.
EMA was piloted in 1999 and launched across England in 2004. Two independent reports were commissioned by the LSC; reports by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and RCU suggest that EMA has had important impacts on both participation post-16 and attainment at 19.
The research by RCU found that in its first year of national rollout, EMA encouraged an additional 18,500 young people to participate in further education who would not have done so without the financial support and incentive.
The analysis by IFS suggests that young people are going on to achieve the qualifications required to succeed in life. The reports show that for those learners who received EMA the percentage achieving Level 2 qualifications increased by around 6 percentage points, with specific improvement highlighted among ethnic minority groups[iii][iii].
Additionally, young people in disadvantaged areas are more likely to stay on and achieve more as a result of EMA[iv][iv]. EMA was introduced to combat the financial barriers to learning – proving that resources are being targeted where they are most needed.
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