Why fewer teens get help with the costs of college

When Maddie first began studying A-levels at sixth form, she had to drop out because her part-time job was affecting her schoolwork and her attendance.

But since starting A-levels again at college she has been claiming Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and has been able to focus on her studies.

She said the £40-a-week payment "lessens the concerns that I have about money" and now does not need to have a job alongside college work - but fewer 16 to 18-year-olds in Wales now qualify for the means-tested benefit and the income threshold has not changed for 13 years.

The Welsh government said it was considering whether the household income threshold should be raised slightly.

College staff and students said the rules should change so more young people are eligible for financial help.

When Maddie restarted her studies last year at further education college, Coleg y Cymoedd in Nantgarw in Rhondda Cynon Taf, she was encouraged to apply for EMA.

The 18-year-old would have been eligible for EMA when she was in school sixth form, but did not claim it.

A bus pass covers the cost of the 80-minute journey from her home in Treorchy to the college campus 15 miles (24km) away, but there are many other outgoings.

"I need to pick up food, books, stationery, pens, pencils... clothes in general and bags", she said.

"I don't have to go and ask my parents for money which is more pressure on them. I'm pretty OK for things.

"In comparison, when I was going to sixth form I was putting a lot of pressure on my parents.

"I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to ask them for money for the things I needed for school.

"I started working because I felt pressured because I didn't have enough money to support myself."

She started "prioritising work over sixth form" and could not keep track of her schoolwork or exams, her attendance suffered and she ended up leaving.

But the extra financial support she received through EMA meant she had enough money to quit her job, adding: "I had the time then to come into college and the time to revise."

Her friend Olwen, 17, said she could now see how some of her fellow students struggled with costs at college.

"There were definitely people in my school that were struggling, but it didn't click for me," she said.

"I've seen that while there is more support here that's easily accessible, it's clear that there are more issues with transport and with food and supplies."

The number of students getting EMA has more than halved since the 2010-11 academic year, from just above 36,000 to a little more than 16,000 by 2023-24, according to a report for the Welsh government.

At Coleg y Cymoedd, 10 years ago 55 to 60% of students were getting the allowance, said college principal Jonathan Morgan.

"With the threshold being frozen, that's continually being reduced and we are now down to around 40%".

He said students "on the borderline" felt the impact.

"They don't quite make the EMA threshold and their families may earn just slightly over it. It would be absolutely key to supporting more learners if that threshold was looked at and a change made."

At the same time council cuts could mean about 1,000 Coleg y Cymoedd students are missing out on free transport, he added.

EMA is a fortnightly payment to 16-18-year-olds who stay on after the end of compulsory education.

It is means tested and students qualify if they live in a household where the annual income is £20,817 or less if they are the only dependant, or up to £23,077 if there are other dependants.

In April 2023, the Welsh government increased the allowance from £30 to £40 a week.

It can be claimed by students in sixth forms or further education colleges but 76% of approved claims in 2023/24 were in colleges.

EMA started as a UK-wide benefit, but it was scrapped in England in 2011 and replaced with a bursary scheme. It is still in place in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

For Cloie-May, 17, from Bangor, Gwynedd, extra support via EMA means she can buy a drink or snack from the vending machine without worrying too much about the cost.

"When I'm in college I do performing arts so I will bring a water bottle with me, but if I want another drink I need to go to the vending machine.

"We do a lot of dancing so I need more than one drink and it can be a lot of money sometimes", the Coleg Menai student said.

"Normally I'm a person that really worries about everything. But when I've got EMA I know the money's there for me when I need it."

Dr Steffan Evans from anti-poverty think tank the Bevan Foundation said EMA allowed young people to carry on in education "when they might otherwise have to go into low-paid work".

He said low-income families had been squeezed out of receiving the benefit because of the threshold freeze.

"There will be young people who might now be dropping out of further education because whilst their family lives in poverty, they'll no longer be deemed poor enough to get the real vital support that EMA provides - and that will be having a real squeeze on family incomes," said Dr Evans.

A review for the Welsh government said there was a broad consensus that the income threshold for receiving EMA was now too low and had not kept pace with rising incomes and inflation.

A Welsh government spokesperson said it was currently considering the review findings "including the recommendation that the household income threshold should be raised slightly".

EMA had been protected in Wales unlike in England where it was scrapped, the spokesperson added.