Are unaccompanied asylum seeking children and children of asylum seekers entitled to the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)?
There are two main types of statutory student support in Further Education (FE). These are Learner Support Funds (LSF) and the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA).
The Education Maintenance Allowance - the provision of up to £30 a week to help with the costs of staying in learning after 16 - is intended to help with the day-to-day costs incurred by a young person in FE, such as travel, books and equipment. It is dependant on household income, and is not available to either accompanied or unaccompanied asylum seeking children or those with discretionary leave (DL) or exceptional leave to remain (ELR) anywhere in the UK other than Scotland.
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland EMA is available to non-British nationals aged between 16 and 19 who have been granted indefinite leave to remain (ILR), refugee status or humanitarian protection (HP) irrespective of the length of time spent living in the UK- this would apply both to former unaccompanied asylum seeking children recognised as refugees or granted HP and the dependant children of those granted any of these two forms of leave (who will be given the same status as their parents). Availability would still be subject to the means test applicable to all applicants. [1]
The children of former asylum seekers from the accession states who are now European Union (EU) nationals will qualify along with other EU and European Economic Area (EEA) nationals subject to them having been ordinarily resident in the EEA for the three years immediately prior to the start of the learning programme.
If during the year a young person becomes eligible they may re-apply for EMA.
In Scotland, the EMA is available to applicants (and their spouses, civil partners, children) who have been refused refuge status but granted any limited leave to remain, including ELR, HP and DL, providing they:
- are ordinarily resident in Scotland on the qualifying date
- have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands at all times since receiving that status (see para 4.1.3.8 of EMA Scotland Guidance Document 2008-09)
To claim:
Application forms for EMA should be signed by the student and stamped and signed by social services, if hte student is a child in care, confirming eligibility according to the accompanying rules, and sent to national EMA administration. If the application is accepted, the student will receive an EMA Notice of Entitlement (NoE) outlining how much payments will be. Money will only be received if the school, college or learning provider confirms that the student has enrolled on a valid learning programme and is attending as agreed – so the NoE should be taken to the college/school sixth form, preferably before the course begins.
Revised 18/09/08
Notes
[1] See Guidance Notes for EMA Year 2008/09
