Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) From August 2025
EMA is a weekly allowance, which is paid directly into the bank account of eligible young people who have reached the statutory school leaving age.
The scheme will pay into the applicant's account, an allowance of £30 per week provided the young person is willing to keep to conditions, laid out in a document called a learning agreement.
A new application must be submitted for each academic year you wish to be considered for.
The Scottish Government have set deadlines for submission of applications. Where these deadlines are missed, you will not receive back payments. If you do not have the documents required to assess an application to hand, links have been provided in the Other Websites section.
Before you start completing the form, please read the Frequently asked questions and Guidance on completing an application sections of this website to see what documents you will require. If you are unable to access all of the documents you need, you may submit the application without them. The missing documents must be submitted within two weeks. EMA will not be approved until we have all of the information needed to complete assessment of your eligibility.
Documents submitted must be full and complete. We cannot accept partial documents.
Where you disagree with the decision to withhold the payment, you must speak to the school first, before contacting Education Services.
Please ensure you enter your contact details accurately we will use the information you are providing to contact you should we have any questions.