Education maintenance allowance

You must complete an application form. These are available from all schools, libraries and leisure centres in the City of Edinburgh Council area. Please note that forms are available ONLY from the outlets above. Do not request one from the Directgov website - this is for England & Wales only.

Deadlines for submitting your form. Please note that these dates refer only to applicants attending school - those engaging in activity agreements can apply all year round.

We will send you a letter to let you know we have received your form within 2 weeks of receipt.  

What you need to send

You need to ask your parent(s)/carer(s) for original evidence of their household income - normally this will be a tax credits award for '06/04/2012 to 31/08/2012 or 05/04/2013' OR Final tax credits decision for '06/04/2011 to 05/04/2012' - send this with your application form in the pre-paid envelope.

If your parent(s)/carer(s) do not receive tax credits you must send us alternative evidence of their household income, guardianship and lone parent status (if applicable). The most common types of evidence we accept are P60 certificates for employment, SA302 or tax calculation certificates for self-employment.  Child benefit award letters usually confirm guardianship and dependant children within the household, and Council Tax demand notices are normally suitable for proving lone parent status if a single occupancy discount is applied. All documents should be for tax year 2011-2012.

If you are living on your own, in care or a care leaver you only need to send us written confirmation of your status, i.e. a letter from your social worker - household income is not used for assessment.

More info

For more information about EMA including policy please visit the EMA Scotland website.