§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students in the North Shropshire constituency have received the Education Maintenance Allowance. [110071]
§ Margaret HodgeEducation Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is currently running as a pilot scheme in 56 local education authority (LEA) areas in England. Shropshire LEA is not one of the pilot areas. Therefore, no young people living in North Shropshire have benefited from the scheme.
However, young people in North Shropshire will be able to apply for EMA from September 2004, when the national EMA scheme is launched, The first tranche of eligible students will be those who reach compulsory school leaving age in the 2003–04 academic year.