§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what plans she has to extend educational maintenance allowances to all areas of all local education authorities; [15554]
(2) what evaluation she intends to make of the educational maintenance allowance pilots; and when. [15469]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisThe educational maintenance allowance (EMA) scheme is still in the pilot stage. There are currently eight different variants of the scheme being tested in a total of 56 local education authorities.
The Department has commissioned the Centre for Research and Social Policy to carry out a rigorous three-year evaluation study of the pilots which is now in its third year of data collection. The study is examining each of the EMA variants to determine their effect upon participation, retention and achievement in further education. It is an extensive study not only of hard figures on take-up of EMAs but also includes interviews with local practitioners and partners. 20,000 interviews will be carried out with young people from both pilot and control areas to examine what factors influence their decisions at age 16 when considering post-compulsory education.
930WEarly findings of the study show that EMAs are having a positive effect not only on participation and retention but also on student behaviour. However, it is important that we do not make any decisions on the future of EMAs until we have received satisfactory evaluation conclusions.