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Published: 3/09/2025 · Last Updated: 3/09/2025

Bulletin for August 2025

Academic year (AY) 2025/26

We need you to complete the following administrative tasks in preparation for the new academic year:
  1. Make sure new and returning students sign a new EMA Learning Agreement for each academic year. The EMA scheme start date for AY 2025/26 will be 8 September.

  2. Input signed Learning Agreements into the portal. Please do this within 10 working days of an approved application, or 8 September, whichever is later. If your students return to study earlier and have a signed Learning Agreement, you can confirm their attendance before 8 September.

  3. If you've not already done so, please remember to enter your holidays for AY 2025/26. Over 68% of Learning Centres have done this already. There's more information about how to enter your holidays on the Learning Centre Services website.

  4. Remove any students who are no longer studying with you from the AY 2025/26 portal as soon as possible.

Changes in EMA admin staff at your Learning Centre

If there's been a change in staff administering EMA at your Learning Centre please contact me to arrange a training session either online or face to face.

Learning Centre Services Website

Remember that there's guidance and promotional materials on the Learning Centre Services website.

There's also an example of a fair and realistic Learning Agreement available, should yours need updating.

There's AY 2025/26 Learning Agreements and payment information guides on the LC Portal in the downloads section.

Student applications

New students

New students should apply by filling out a paper application form which we provided to you in April 2025. Paper application forms are also available to download on the NI direct website.

To be eligible for backdated EMA payments to the start of the academic year, students must apply before 30 September. Applications received after this date will still be eligible for backdated pay but only to the approximate time we received the application form.

Please encourage students to apply as early as possible.

Returning students

Returning students do not need to to submit an application. Instead, their signed AY 2025/26 Learning Agreement acts as their application to reapply for support for a further year.

Student Finance NI wrote to returning students during the Spring to let them know the next steps to follow for AY 2025/26.

New outstanding bonus indicator

We've enhanced the homepage of the LC Portal.

There's now an indicator to notify you if you have any bonuses outstanding for both January and June. This will populate for January when the January bonus is due.

We'll issue a reminder of the enhancement nearer the time.

Attendances 

To make sure we pay students on time, you should confirm the previous week's attendances every week before 5pm on a Wednesday. We'll monitor this service standard closely.

EMA support desk

Our support desk team is available to answer any day to day operational questions about individual students, application processing, payments and system issues.

You can contact the support desk on 0300 200 7089 option 5 or email emainfo@slc.co.uk.

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