EMA is a weekly allowance of £30, paid directly to young people.
It provides financial assistance to help young people from low-income households to stay on at school and continue their education.
Can I get EMA?
EMAs are available to young people between 16 and 19 years of age.
The assessment is based on:
- gross taxable household income
- the number of dependent children living within the household
Allowance details
| Income | Number of dependent children in household | Award |
|---|
| £0 to £24,421 |
1 |
£30 |
| £0 to £26,884 |
2+ |
£30 |
The income thresholds for the period 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2025 are:
- £24,421 where the Education Maintenance Allowance applicant is the only dependant in the household
- £26,884 where there are additional dependant children in the household
'Dependent children' are young people:
- up to the age of 16
- between the ages of 16 and 25 who are in further or higher education
Apply for EMA
You must make a new application for every academic year.
You can apply for 2024 to 2025 EMA if you:
- were born between 1 March 2005 and 28 February 2009
- are a resident in the UK and have been for the past 3 years (some exceptions may apply)
- live in a household with annual gross taxable income as above
We have launched MyNAC, which is our new customer account. This uses the national MyAccount to create your account and to sign in. You can use this account to automatically fill in your details on forms, view your history of service requests and view the status on current requests.
You will need to create a MyNAC account to submit your Education Maintenance Allowance application. To create a MyNAC account you need to have a MyAccount. If you already have a MyAccount that you created to access another service like National Entitlement Card, you can sign in with that and then opt into the MyNAC account.
If you do not have a MyAccount you can select 'Create an account' when you select "Apply for Education Maintenance Allowance" or on the MyNAC sign in page.
Apply for Education Maintenance Allowance
Learning agreement
In addition to your EMA application, you must have an acceptable Learning Agreement in place to receive the EMA award. For the majority of EMA applicants, the timetable agreed and held by your school will be the Learning Agreement equivalent.
You must meet the conditions of your agreement to receive an EMA, for example:
- attend school or college for a minimum of 21 guided learning hours per week
- 100% attendance (exceptions for sickness absence)
Your payment can be withheld without warning if you:
- are persistently late
- don't follow your school's discipline policy
- don't progress in your studies
Absences
Please note:
- you can self certify for up to 5 days (10 half days) sickness absence during an academic session
- absences of 5 days, or more, must be covered by a doctor's medical certificate
- if you're absent for a period of more than 3 weeks because of illness your allowance will be reviewed
You will need
- proof of your household income for the financial year 6 April 2023 to 5 April 2024
- your full birth certificate
- your and your parent/carer's contact details, including email address
- your bank or building society account details for payment (please note that the account must be in the name of the young person applying for EMA unless the young person has additional support needs which make this impractical)
- subject/course details for academic year 2024 to 2025
Supporting documents
It is our preference that supporting documents are uploaded when you are applying for EMA as this will ensure that your application is processed timeously.
If you are unable to provide supporting documentation at the time of application, you can do this at a later stage, using the case reference number provided when original application was submitted, by accessing the online EMA services.
Scanned or digitally photographed supporting documents can be uploaded as a:
Please use portrait format and make sure all the text can be clearly read. Documents of more than one page should be scanned as one file (e.g. Universal Credit Statements).
Documents
EMA payments will only be made once we have assessed your eligibility and your school has confirmed an acceptable Learning Agreement is in place.
Payments are made fortnightly, in arrears, directly into the applicant's (young person's) bank account. EMA is only paid in term time. EMA payment dates (PDF, 153kb).
Amendments to Bank/Bank Building Society Account Details
Where there is a change of bank/building society account, following submission of an EMA application form, please complete our EMA bank details amendment form.
Please note: you will require the case reference number provided when you made your original application.
College/university students
Contact your higher/further education institution for an application for financial assistance.
Further information
Please see EMA information from the Scottish Government.