Exceptional Grants Fund
EMA: Education Maintenance Allowance
Available to those in Further Education, including sixth form, EMA is a weekly payment of £10, £20 or £30 a week depending on your household income. You must be at least 16 years old. The money is intended to help with the day-to-day costs when you stay on at school or college, such as travel, books and equipment for your course. You must be a student on a course (up to level 3) for a duration of 12 months in order to claim.
Further information on entitlement, including income thresholds, is available from the Department for Children, Schools and Families 
, where you can also request an Education Maintenance Allowance application pack.
Details of 16+ Education Transport Funding are also available.
School Meals - Free
Free midday meals are available at school for children whose parents receive:
- Income Support
- Job Seekers Allowance (Income based)
- Child Tax Credit based on an annual income below £15,575
- The Guarantee Element of State Pension Credit
- Support under part IV of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
Free school meals are not available to families receiving Working Tax Credit, children in the care of a local authority (e.g. foster children) or children in the care of a voluntary organisation.
Children who receive Income Support or income-based Job Seeker's Allowance in their own right qualify as well. All pupils who do not qualify for free school lunches must be charged the same amount for the same quantity of the same item. Neither the local authority nor the school's governors can provide free meals to any other pupils.
Free school meals are not granted to children who attend independent schools.
To apply, please complete the free school meals application form . Application forms can also be obtained from Schools or when parents apply for Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit.
Student Support for Higher Education Students
If you are considering to enter Higher Education in 2007, financial help and information is available from Student Finance Direct .
You can find out about the following:
- Tuition Fees.
- Tuition Fee Loans.
- Maintenance Grants.
- Student Loans for Maintenance.
- Certain groups of potential students may be eligible for further assistance, in the form of:
- The Parents Learning Allowance.
- Childcare Grant .
- Special Support Grant.
- Adult Dependents' Grant.
- Disabled Students' Allowance .
You can contact the Education Awards Team for a financial support application pack. Alternatively you can complete the PN1 form if you are a new student, or the PR1 form if you are an existing student continuing with your studies. You can also apply online via Student Finance Direct.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has further useful information for students applying for financial help both before and after starting your course.
Students wishing to undertake a non-advanced / further education course at a College of Further Education should contact their college for information about Access to Learning Funds. You can also get further information from the Department for Children, Schools and Families .
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