Changes to the special EMA arrangements for learners on entry to employment (e2e)
As you will be aware, entry to employment (e2e) is moving into Foundation Learning (FL) for 2010/11; as such the existing special arrangements that apply to e2e learners for EMA (that they receive £30 EMA per week regardless of household income) will cease.
The requirements for EMA to be payable include that the programme takes place at a valid provider, that it is for a minimum of 12 hours a week and lasts for a minimum of 10 weeks. This is not a change and all existing e2e provision must meet this requirement already.
For the 2010/11 Academic Year, all applicants for EMA will be subject to an income assessment, taking account of the household income for the 2009-10 tax year. Applicants who are successfully assessed will then be eligible to receive EMA at the same rate for up to 3 years, or the Academic Year in which they turn 19, whichever is earlier (EMA Guarantee). This is an improvement on the current e2e arrangements in which an applicant must apply each year and offers greater certainty to learners relating to funding for further education or training.
This means that, for courses starting from 28 June 2010, the e2e variant of EMA will not be available to new learners and all learners must be income assessed. To facilitate this, the EMA application form for 2010/11 no longer has a section for an e2e provider to complete their details.
For learners whose programme starts before 28 June, the current arrangements will continue until the end of their course or 10 January 2011, whichever comes first. Learners in this group will need to reapply for EMA should they wish to continue in learning; this is likely to result in a gap in payments whilst the application is assessed.
The majority of learners currently in receipt of EMA, and enrolled on e2e courses, already apply for the income assessed variant of EMA and have been assessed as eligible at the maximum rate (£30 a week). By introducing this change, and the removal of EMA bonuses for all EMA recipients for the 2010/11 year onwards, this will allow an additional 80,000 learners to receive EMA.
If you have any queries about this email please contact the Provider Helpline on 0845 600 7979.
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