2019
Education Maintenance Allowances 2017-18
Scotland’s Chief Statistician published statistics on Education Maintenance Allowances (EMA) in the academic year 2017-18. EMA provides financial support for young people aged 16 to 19 years from low-income households to overcome financial barriers to participate in school or college courses, or in an activity agreement.
Key findings include:
• 29,135 school pupils, college students and individuals on activity agreements received EMA payments in Scotland in the academic year 2017-18, a decrease of 8.0% (-2,540) from 31,675 in 2016-17.
• School pupils accounted for 64.2% of young people in receipt of EMA payment. 31.3% were college students and the remaining 4.5% were young people on activity agreements.
• Of all 16-19 year old school pupils in Scotland, 27% received EMA payments in 2017 18.
• Of the potentially eligible 16-19 year old college students in Scotland, 31% received EMA payments in 2017-18.
• The proportion of EMA recipients living in Scotland’s 20% most deprived areas in 2017 18 increased to 37.2% (10,810). For school pupils receiving EMA, 34.2% (6,390) were living in the 20% most deprived areas. For colleges this was 41.9% (3,800) and for young people on activity agreements this was 47.9% (620).
• The total amount spent on EMA payments in 2017-18 was £23.0 million, a decrease of around £1.7 million from £24.6 million in 2016-17. Of this, £15.7 million (68.4%) was paid out to school pupils, £6.6 million (28.7%) to college students, and the remaining £0.7 million (2.9%) to young people on activity agreements.
Additional information on Education Maintenance Allowances in Scotland can be found at EMA Scotland.
For more information click
here.
2018
Investing in Entrepreneurship
Scotland is known for its vision as a world-leading entrepreneurial and innovative nation, one in which growth and innovation go hand-in-hand with fair work and delivering in a way which benefits everyone.
The £650,000 funding package will support the next generation of entrepreneurs, building on Scotland’s CAN DO vison, to encourage more people set up new businesses and social enterprises and for the government itself to be more entrepreneurial.
Business Minister Jamie Hepburn has announced that the Prince’s Trust will receive £400,000 to strengthen and advance their Enterprise Programme which provides a comprehensive range of employability and enterprise support for young people in all areas of Scotland.
Scotland’s Enterprising School’s, our national platform to foster enterprising mind-sets in schools, will also receive £250,000 funding to further develop the programme and support all partners involved in school enterprise to translate the importance of entrepreneurial mind-sets through the Curriculum for Excellence and Developing the Young Workforce.
For more information please click here.
Education Maintenance Allowances 2016-17
Scotland’s Chief Statistician today published statistics on Education Maintenance Allowances (EMA) in the academic year 2016-17. EMA provides financial support for young people from low-income households to overcome financial barriers to participate in appropriate school or college courses or an activity agreement.
Key findings include:
- 31,675 school pupils, college students and individuals on activity agreements received EMA payments in Scotland in the academic year 2016-17, a slight decrease of 0.2% (-60) from 31,735 in 2015-16.
- School pupils account for 63.5% of young people in receipt of EMA payment, 32.2% being college students and the remaining 4.3% are young people on activity agreements.
- Of all 16-19 year old school pupils in Scotland, 29% received EMA payments in 2016-17.
- Of the potentially eligible 16-19 year old college students in Scotland, 33% received EMA payments in 2016-17.
- The proportion of EMA recipients living in Scotland’s 20% most deprived areas in 2016-17 increased to 36.8% (11,615). Among school pupils and those with an activity agreements receiving EMA, 34.9% (7,460) were living in the 20% most deprived areas, while 40.8% (4,155) of college students receiving EMA were living in the 20% most deprived areas.
- The total amount spent on EMA payments in 2016-17 was £24.6 million, a decrease of £137,855 from £24.8 million in 2015-16. Of this, £17.3 million (70.1%) was paid out to school pupils and those with an activity agreement, and the remaining £7.4 million (29.9%) paid out to young people attending college.
For more information click here.
Quality and equality improve in colleges
The diversity of Scotland’s colleges is increasing, latest figures show.
In 2016-17 a higher proportion of learning hours were delivered to older students, people with a declared disability, from the most deprived areas and from a black and minority ethnic background.
And the number of credits delivered to college students reporting a care-experienced background increased to a record high.
In 2016-17 the college sector delivered 117,502 full-time equivalent (FTE) college places - exceeding the Scottish Government’s commitment to deliver 116,000 FTE college places each year.
The Scottish Funding Council statistics also show the proportion of activity delivered to students studying for a recognised qualification reached its highest ever level last year.
Further and Higher Education Minister Shirley-Anne Somerville said Scotland’s colleges played a vital role in widening access to further and higher education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
For more details please click here.
2017
Youth Employment Strategy
Scotland’s Youth Employment Strategy: Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) aims to reduce youth unemployment levels by 40% by 2021. The 2nd Annual Progress Report was published in December 2016 and sets out progress against key performance indicators, covering academic year 2015/16 and highlighting early progress made in the first part of academic year 2016/17.
Together with Curriculum for Excellence and Getting It Right for Every Child, DYW is at the heart of the Scottish Government’s ambition to create excellence and equity in Scottish education. The strategy aims to create more collaborative partnerships between education and employers by:
- embedding employability skills in education
- creating and expanding vocational learning opportunities for young people in the senior phase of school
- offering enhanced and earlier careers advice
- embedding new standards for careers guidance (3-18), work experience and education/employer partnerships
- ensuring coherence across the emerging and expanding apprenticeship family, from Foundation Apprenticeships, to Modern Apprenticeships, to Graduate Level Apprenticeships
- encouraging diversity in the workforce by removing real or perceived barriers for young people to access training and employment programmes
Headline progress includes:
- 18 employer-led regional groups to facilitate engagement between employers and education
- Vocational provision for young people in the senior phase is growing, including a significant expansion of Foundation Apprenticeships
- Our first increased target for Modern Apprenticeships was exceeded
- A gender action plan for further and higher education including transitions from schools, and an equalities plan for Modern Apprenticeships to ensure we are doing all we can to shift under representation in certain subjects and careers
15-24 Learner Journey
The Scottish Government, in partnership with key stakeholders, is undertaking a review of the effectiveness and efficiency of learning experiences of all 15 to 24 year olds (“the learner journey”). This was a key commitment in the Education Delivery Plan; Programme for Government; and Enterprise and Skills review. Further information, including background summary detail, can be found here.