Into the new academic year

Both new and returning learners need a new EMA Learning Agreement for each academic year. The EMA scheme start date for academic year 2022/23 will be 12 September.

If an application is already approved, the Learning Agreement must be signed within 10 working days of this date. 

If an application is still going through the administration and approval process, the Learning Agreement must be signed within 10 days of the application being approved.

You may have learners who have returned to study earlier and have a signed Learning Agreement in place. If so, you can confirm their attendance before 12 September.

For academic year 2022/23, you may continue emailing Learning Agreements to students if meeting in person is difficult. You should keep all email confirmations for audit purposes. There is more information about emailing the Learning Agreement in the guidance notes.

Please also remember to enter your holidays for academic year 2022/23, if you have not already done so. There is more information about how to enter your holidays in the guidance notes.

Learning Centre Services website

All of our EMA guidance documents can now be found on this website. Please familiarise yourself with the layout.

Academic year 2022/23 Learning Agreements and payment information guides can still be found on the portal under the downloads section.

All Ireland Scholarships

If you can, please remind your students who are headed to university this autumn to apply for this year’s All Ireland Scholarships.

The scholarships provide financial support to the top-performing students from low-income households. They're available to students who intend to do an undergraduate course in the UK or Republic of Ireland.

The scholarships offer students financial support of £5,500 a year for the duration of their undergraduate degree course.

There are a total of 25 scholarships available to:

• the top 19 A level students in grant-aided post-primary schools
• the top 6 Level 3 Extended Diploma students in further education colleges

Applicants must have been in receipt of EMA at the time of examination. They must also be due to start an undergraduate degree at a university in September or October 2022.

Applications for the 2022 scholarships will open on Thursday 18 August. The deadline is 4pm on Tuesday 30 August.

Students can find out more information and how to apply on the following websites:

• nidirect: All Ireland Scholarships
• Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA): All Ireland Scholarship Scheme 2022

EMA service review forums

Thank you again to everyone who attended virtually or face-to-face at the 2022 forums.

The presentation slides are now available to view on the Events page, along with the FAQs.