§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of children he expects will be persuaded to remain at school beyond their GCSEs through the earn as you learn scheme. [169482]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisExtensive independent evaluation of the Education Maintenance Allowance pilots shows that EMA increased participation by eligible 16-year-olds in education by 5.9 percentage points. Judged against historic trends, this represents a major increase. Based on evidence from the pilots, the evaluators predict that in the first year of the national scheme, some 35,000 additional young people will participate in post-16 education in colleges and schools as a result of EMA, and that this will rise to over 70,000 per year when EMA is fully in place.