EMA scrapped in Scotland past December?

[Describe]

Has anybody else heard about this? It was in my local newspaper yesterday. After describing what EMA was it then went on and said:

However, a bonus element worth up to £300 per year to each student has now been scrapped and colleges are told the EMAs are only guaranteed until December. The Scottish Funding Council, which distributes public money to universities and colleges explained, "The change to the economic climate has led to more young people staying in learning over the past year. This had led to a significant increase in the demand for EMAs. The Scottish Government anticipates a similar level of demand in the next coming academic year." With no extra money available, ministers have decided to cut the bonus payments to help cope with the added pressure on the £31m EMA budget.
Do they not realise that cutting EMA puts even more pressure on family's with a low income?

[Nemo]

Lets be fair now, only a very small amount of that EMA is actually used for what its meant to. for most people atleast.

[Jamiie]

Lets be fair now, only a very small amount of that EMA is actually used for what its meant to. for most people atleast.


Have to agree with you there i got £30 a Week and tbf my Bus costs £11 a Week and next year my college is getting
Discount for all students with busses so i hardly use my EMA For what it is intended for

[Nemo]

Have to agree with you there i got £30 a Week and tbf my Bus costs £11 a Week and next year my college is getting
Discount for all students with busses so i hardly use my EMA For what it is intended for
Its gonna cost me......nothing to get to school. So unless ive got books to buy, i get an easy £30 a week

[buttons]

it's just the bonuses? - "ministers have decided to cut the bonus payments to help cope with the added pressure on the £31m EMA budget". they've said they're scraping that for a while, not just in Scotland.

good riddance tbh, everyone here gets it 'cause their parents are lazy, drug addicts and they spend their money on **** it's so annoying. yeah there are exceptions to low income (my mum being one, she's a qualified nurse, hairdresser, beautician, history teacher & classroom assistant yet she picks a lower income job because she enjoys it), but my brother spent his payments on his car which he ****** up not long after lol... this is exactly why people think that everyone who gets EMA are chavs and don't do well at school and a lot of time they are right.



"Do they not realise that cutting EMA puts even more pressure on family's with a low income?"

well no, like i said my mum has a low income but we get by because we only buy what we need, not what we want. even then she puts a lot of her money in to my account, my 2 brothers, my nephew's bank and one for herself :S idk how it is everywhere else but at college i get seperate money for travel monthly, money for equipment at the beginning of the year then EMA and on top of that the bonuses. although my travel costs don't cover my £64 a month bus ticket i'm not complaining because i get enough as it is anyway, jfc i even got £100 for 'equipment' last year when all i needed was pen/paper!!! (fyi i bought new shoes and a bag, rest went to bank x).



no-one deserves the bonuses. i didn't get any of my fortnightly EMA payments for the 2nd half of the year because i couldn't even do a full week at college (need 100% attendance for the whole 2 weeks) nevermind a fortnight, yet i just got my EMA bonus the other day:S easy money = lazy people. get rid of the dole too, sick of people like my mum working low paying jobs yet my brother gets money for sitting on his arse all day or getting drunk.


see i'm all for the fortnightly payments (i am entitled to £30 a fortnight so i'm biased :eusa_whis) because you NEED to be at every class, every day to get it. the bonuses are stupid, all of mine has went straight to my bank (spending it to see my dad otherwise it'd probably be on clothes). some people argue it can be used for future uni/driving lessons or whatever but that's not the point, you're not gonna be worse off if you don't get the bonus so you don't NEED it.


anyone who complains about bonuses being cut is really selfish. actually ema should be scraped altogether only because i turn 18 in december + no longer entitled to it *sob*

[beth]

to the post above, yr entitled to ema til the end of yr second academic year at college/sixth form.
and if its yr third (i did two years at college and a year at sixth form) get yrself on ALG the 19-22 equivilant.

i literally survived on ema last year when my dad lost his job so to see i scrapped is quite disheartening. i know from experience that it can make a difference.

[buttons]

to the post above, yr entitled to ema til the end of yr second academic year at college/sixth form.
and if its yr third (i did two years at college and a year at sixth form) get yrself on ALG the 19-22 equivilant.

i literally survived on ema last year when my dad lost his job so to see i scrapped is quite disheartening. i know from experience that it can make a difference.
yeah i know, i first started getting ema january 2009, half way through 5th year (idk what that is in england) so i've had 3 bonuses now iirc, i'm still entitled to ema for this year.
& may i ask, was your dad the only source of income in your family? and how did you use your bonuses, how did they help you? they don't help me in anyway but the fortnight payments did. it's just the bonuses that are going.

[kk.]

Good. If only they scrapped the bonuses in england now..

[JackBuddy]

Has anybody else heard about this? It was in my local newspaper yesterday. After describing what EMA was it then went on and said:

Do they not realise that cutting EMA puts even more pressure on family's with a low income?

Good point, how else are 'students' going to be able to pay for their iPhone and alcohol?

[Callum.]

tbh, the bonus' are even more of a joke than ema. ema helps me eat lunch and stuff, not what it's meant to be used for but I just wouldn't buy lunch if i didn't have it, still go to school.#

the bonus' are pointless. £100 given out for nothing, terrible in a recesion and just get spent on summer.

[Nemo]

tbh, the bonus' are even more of a joke than ema. ema helps me eat lunch and stuff, not what it's meant to be used for but I just wouldn't buy lunch if i didn't have it, still go to school.#

the bonus' are pointless. £100 given out for nothing, terrible in a recesion and just get spent on summer.
It's true. Although, i am a bit saddened that im not gonna get the bonuses whilst my sister lived it up with her £100s whilst i get the £30 a week only (not that that is bad, im lovin it). But what ya gonna do.

[alexxxxx]

i can understand the need for some people to get £30/week but the bonuses made no sense to me. a bonus!? i thought EMA was a means tested benefit.. not to bribe people into education.

[kk.]

The bonus was if you attended school all term wasn't it? So pointless. You only get the £30 a week if you go school anyway, so it makes no difference

[Pyroka]

the bonuses are ******* stupid but they should really get rid of it altogether

im sure the world wouldnt come to a standstill if there was no ema... well alot of teenagers would whinge and ***** but meh get over it lol

[-:Undertaker:-]

i can understand the need for some people to get £30/week but the bonuses made no sense to me. a bonus!? i thought EMA was a means tested benefit.. not to bribe people into education.

..and to bribe people into voting for the 'correct party' come election time.

This is a good move considering Scotland already has University fees paid for courtesy of the English taxpayer. I have said before anyway on this topic, EMA is spent mainly on sweets/alcohol and chippy at dinnertime lets be honest its a waste of money.

[Callum.]

Not sure how many people are on EMA, but the first result on Google comes in at 400,000 in 2006, so going by that number I'd say atleast £60 million was given out in bonus' alone.

[Alexx..]

The bonus' are a joke, I dropped out of college in December last year and I still got my EMA bonus in January, i'm not complaining cause I got £100 but still. Also, I need my EMA for this year when I go back to college, I need it to pay for the bus/train, eat lunch, go on any college trips etc also, when I pass my driving test i'll need it to pay for petrol to get to college and back.

Edit - Also, EMA aren't bribes, they're rewards for going to college... aka a bribe i suppose.

[Caution]

I'm meant to be getting it in November haha. I really don't see the point in it, when I get it (if it's still being given out), it will just be put in the bank or spent on clothes or whatever. I don't really see the logic in a bonus either, a bonus for going to school like everyone else earning above 30 grand? :L

[crazed]

My dad works, but he doesn't live with me or give my mom the money he should and at the moment my mom isn't fit enough for a job for reasons that I'm not really comforable talking about so EMA is the only bit of money I'm going to be getting other than goign out and findnind a job. It's not that I don't want to but most places wouldn't look twice if I told them my limited hours due to education/ being home to look after brothers w.e

[Callum.]

Got an EMA letter today as it goes. It says that for the 2010/2011 year the bonus scheme is no longer.