Well that's a lot less than what we have to pay!

It balances out :p

I'd say there's a dramatic difference between paying school children money for staying on and paying the tuition fees of University students :tongue:.

WHAT?! Hell no, where on earth did you hear that? :eek:

I never got my EMA anyway, because my local authority were arseholes and refused funding to anybody who studied outside the council's boundaries.

They're not studying away from home and are still dependent on their parents/guardians so I don't see why they should need money. I think any full time mature students should be entitled to something though.

Yeah, another hairbrained scheme introduced by the profligate and incompetent Labour Party - as usual chucking money around that isn't theirs. No wonder this country is in such a mess.

It was passed about 2 years ago - the leaving age for school is becoming 18 very soon. Might be next year.

Yes but this was probably in the 1960s :joker:

Birth control isn't 100% effective btw

I heard that too. But that's different to college becoming compulsory, I thought...

It depends what you define as college. For most people its where you go after leaving school at 16, but some people call college Uni and go when you're 18+.

Not all schools have a 6th form so if it becomes compulsory then they need to go somewhere

I got EMA when i was at college and i did spend it on its intended use, i paid for my train fare with it. everything else i used my job to pay for

If you got a train to school everyday then you're in very unusual circumstances. There are some people I know, they live easily within walking distance, the school provides all the equipment & textbooks etc. that they need and they're being paid £30 a week, it's ridiculous.

If you have legitimate need for money to pay for travel or something like that then they could ask those who are in need to apply for bus/train passes and give those to students instead. Not sure what the practicality and costs of doing that would be though.

I had EMA and I admit, I didn't use it for what it was meant to be for - there is no way I needed that much money to go to college. I had a job to pay for fun, and EMA paid for my driving lessons. I think the system is easily abused, although I still think some 'bonus' scheme on exam results could be used.

I am glad it's stopping it's not used correctly. The amount of times i have heard teenagers say they spend it on drink it's a joke im sick to death of the chav chavs riding each other and producing more chavs they are breading monsters.

MOST people spend their EMA on other things. NOT stationary.. etc..

However in colleges there should be books in the library and free computers and paper to use. So you don't have to spend EMA on that.

Yes.. you should try and get a job when you are 16 part time if you are at college.

But hello.. it is hard to get a job!! However you have to keep trying!

Anyway back to EMA... You only get it if your mum and dad jointly earn less than 30 grand a year or something. You will then get a tenner, 20 quid or 30 quid a week depending on how much your parents earn.

MOST students will be able to live and travel without the EMA. However when they do scrap the EMA. I hope colleges make sure there are enough books, computers, paper and equipment for students to use during their studies!

However.. travelling.. if you are 16-18 you only have to pay 40p for the bus anyway! I am sure MOST people parent's give their kiddies a bit of money when they are 16-18 during their studies.

Also apparently if it is longer than 3 miles to get to college then you can receive a travel grant of 140 quid a year or something!

LOL, I don't think EMA is quite to blame for the 'chav' culture you talk of...

I got EMA when I was at college. However for me it didn't really make a difference whether I got it or not. I paid for 1 or 2 textbooks with it! Or just used the library books and the college's computer and paper! I also used the money if I went on college trips!!

Why should you get a pat on the head for doing what you're supposed to be doing anyway, ie studying and passing your exams? Education is it's own reward, surely.

That's correct. It would be unfair of me to generalise by saying that everyone who gets pregnant by accident isn't smart enough to use birth control.

That would be like making a sweeping statement about 16 year old school leavers.

Oh wait.

I thought it was a sly dig if anything.

But these days, in general, only tramps and no hopers leave at school and don't really go on to do much. it was probably different when you left because of less emphasis on A levels & uni

It is simply not true that you have to get A levels and degrees to succeed in life - I know plenty of over educated tramps and no hopers. Some of the most destructive and least contributing members of society have been privately educated and gone to top universities - look at Tony Blair as a prime example.

I know you don't need them to go far but I'm speaking purely in general terms. If you look at the ratio of career successes from school leavers and then from college leavers over a 5-10 year period I bet you'd see a big difference

These days even the people who don't want A Levels go on to do a vocational course in construction or hair and beauty or something like that.

Years ago it was a lot different, but these days some schools report figures of at least 90% going on to further education which in a year group of 200 people means that 180 leave education at that point.

A levels are also the qualifications that most employers look at.

There are plenty of careers that offer on the job training and education - and this obsession with sending kids into further education to the extent they are in no gainful employment until they are in their early 20s is, quite frankly, ludicrous. It gives kids a false and unrealistic sense of entitlement to a job in a world where it's dog eat dog and the early bird catches the worm.

Vocational courses are the way to go, earn while you learn and end up with a useful skill that will enable you to earn a living. It is even more imperative that student fees are raised and not funded by the taxpayer if such high percentages are opting to stay in education for a further 3 years.

I have two sons who both spurned uni and they're the ones laughing now, as they are in secure, full time employment, whilst many of their contemporaries who opted for a degree are unemployed. Because so many people are getting degrees, it has devalued the qualification to the extent that you literally have to have one to work behind the counter at KFC or McDonalds.

I think the problem lies in the over exaggeration of the economy and "lack of jobs". That gets people into the mentality of not being bothered to get a job because they don't think they'll find one and instead opt for gaining a pointless degree.

And if worst comes to worst when you're struggling for a job, if you can't get a christmas temp job in retail then the problem lies with you, not the economy.

I don't necessarily think vocational courses are the way to go, but I do think if something practical isn't for you then you can't go wrong with getting some A Levels. I just think too many people go to Uni when they don't need to and gain pointless degrees, a load of debt and a huge lack of experience. I'm doing a degree myself but through open uni whilst I'm working full time but hoping that leads to something else (Sports Rehabilitation), but I'm talking about people who just go and do Media or Sociology because they cba getting a job

I gained more useful qualifications after I left school. My employer sent a select group of us to college on day-release to get our HND in Business. So I was working 4 days, at college for one, and getting my wages at the end of the month. The employer paid for our tuition, and we had no need to claim anything from the government.

My post about birth-control wasn't a 'sly dig'. It was merely to point out how you can't generalise as everyone's situation is different. It's insulting to those of us who have gained further qualifications without being full-time students.

That kind of thing counts as further education now.