The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) provides financial support for 16 to 18 year olds who are continuing their education at recognised schools or further education colleges. It is a means-tested, attendance-based weekly allowance, paid every 2 weeks.

EMA is a 'something for something' contract in which eligible students can receive their weekly allowance by attending fully.

These guidance notes logically follow the stages of the EMA scheme, from application to payment. They will give recognised Learning Centres a clear idea of how the scheme works and how your important role fits into the overall processes. You should read these guidelines in conjunction with the Learning Centre Portal user guide.

Schools and colleges play a vital role in the promotion of the EMA scheme. We therefore ask you to promote awareness of the financial support available under the scheme.

From academic year 2023/24 students can apply online. Please encourage your students to apply online if possible and tell them important information and guidance notes can be found online.

We’ll also send you publicity material that includes leaflets, posters, guides and application packs. Please distribute these to students and display them in areas where they can be easily seen.

We also ask you to offer encouragement and advice about completing and returning the form. This could also apply to parents or guardians

Please tell your students that Student Finance Wales provides a bilingual service. The EMA application form and other guidance forms for students and parents are also available in Welsh. They can download these on the bilingual Student Finance Wales website.

Please also promote awareness of the EMA scheme at career days, parent evenings and college open days. You can use the EMA publicity materials we provide each year to share with your students.

These are the main features you can highlight to promote the EMA scheme:

• EMA helps students make informed choices at 16, 17 and 18, giving them the opportunity to think about further education with fewer financial worries
  
  
• EMA is a means-tested, attendance-based weekly allowance, paid every 2 weeks, depending on household income
  
  
• from 17 April 2023, the weekly amount paid to eligible students is £40 (previously £30)
  
  
• EMA is available to students on a range of academic and vocational courses up to level 3, for example GCSEs, A levels, NVQs, pre-entry level, entry level and basic skills courses (this list is not exhaustive)
  
  
• any money students earn from part-time jobs does not affect EMA
  
  
• EMA does not affect any benefits paid to families, such as Child Benefit, tax credits, Universal Credit or Employment Support Allowance
  
  
• to apply for EMA, students must have, or have applied to open, a bank, building society or credit union account that accepts direct credits
  
  
• students must apply within 13 weeks of starting their course to be eligible to receive backdated payments

EMA is a means-tested allowance. You can find more information about household income thresholds in our important dates and information quick guide for the relevant academic year.

Students must provide evidence of their household income for the previous tax year.

If their household income has permanently dropped since the previous tax year, students can be assessed using the current household income. They'll still need to complete the application form providing previous tax year information and evidence. With the completed form, they should send a letter asking to be assessed on current year income. They should also submit evidence of the current year income and details of when the change took place.

To receive EMA, students must be studying an eligible course. This must be provided by or at a recognised education provider.

The school or college is responsible for confirming that the student’s course is valid. You can do this through the Learning Centre Portal, as part of the process to confirm the student’s EMA Learning Agreement.

Course length

All eligible courses must be a programme of full-time academic or vocational education with:

• at least 10 weeks' duration
• at least 12 guided contact hours per week

Full-time is defined as at least 12 guided contact hours per week. However, for any course where the weekly hours are higher, students must attend all allocated hours. For example, if a course has 20 guided contact hours, students must attend all 20 hours to be in attendance for EMA purposes.

Course type

The course criteria for the EMA scheme are wide-ranging and flexible. These must relate to nationally recognised academic or vocational qualifications.

Eligible qualifications are up to and including National Qualifications level 3, issued by a recognised awarding body.

Higher education courses on level 4 or above do not qualify.

The student must show some measure of progression from beginning to end. Both academic and vocational courses are included.

Important elements of an eligible course:

• it is a programme of full-time academic or vocational education or a full-time programme in preparation for life and work
  
  
• the duration of the programme of full-time academic or vocational education is at least 10 weeks
  
  
• it is provided by or at a recognised education provider
  
  
• it leads to qualifications up to and including National Qualifications level 3 issued by a recognised awarding body
  
  
• it leads to the achievement of a personalised learning programme funded by the Welsh Government under the Preparation for Life and Work programme area
  
  
• the student is timetabled to study for at least 12 hours per week

Students are not eligible for EMA support for Work Ready, work-based learning or equivalent schemes and programmes where an allowance or similar is paid.

If you are not sure if a course is eligible or not, please email the Welsh Government at studentfinancedivision@gov.wales or isadrancyllidmyfyrwyr@llyw.cymru.

Eligible courses: Independent Living Skills programmes

To be eligible for EMA, students must be on a further education course up to level 3. This is equivalent to A levels or NVQ level 3, leading to a qualification from a recognised awarding body.

From academic year 2019/20, the Welsh Government extended support to students with learning difficulties and disabilities on Independent Living Skills (ILS) programmes that are made up of unaccredited provision.

All Learning Centres offering ILS programmes are responsible for determining the suitability of the students.

ILS programmes follow a robust schedule of processes for:

• initial student assessments
• target setting
• monitored achievement against target

These processes set by the Welsh Government fit with current EMA Learning Agreements.

The revised curriculum was developed in response to recommendations set out in a recent Estyn Thematic Report. Each new programme is designed to provide a practical approach for gaining and consolidating skills, to prepare students for adult life.

Under the new curriculum, ILS students follow tailored individual programmes which develop their skills across 4 pillars of learning:

• health and wellbeing
• employability
• independent living
• community inclusion

To support this new development, students with learning difficulties commencing an ILS programme are eligible for EMA support from academic year 2019/20. This is subject to satisfying all other eligibility criteria. These include personal eligibility, income thresholds and residency requirements.

The programme is wholly non-accredited. It leads to the achievement of a personalised learning programme funded by the Welsh Government under Preparation for Life and Work.

Work-related study

Students cannot be registered to receive EMA at more than one school or college.

If eligible students are attending more than one Learning Centre, EMA is payable through the Learning Centre where they spend most of the week.

The main Learning Centre must have adequate processes in place to confirm the students are meeting the terms of their EMA Learning Agreements.

If you are not the student’s main Learning Centre, you must have procedures in place to send attendance data to the main Learning Centre.

The normal course eligibility rules still apply. The course or program of study at a single school or college must still be at least 12 guided contact hours per week.

Examples

Not eligible

The student is attending Course A at School A for 6 hours.

The student is also attending Course B at School B for 4 hours.

The student is attending for a total of 10 hours over 2 courses. As neither of the courses carries 12 guided contact hours per week, the student is not eligible for EMA.

Eligible

The student is attending Course A at College A for 6 hours.

The student is also attending Course A at College B for 6 hours.

The student is attending a total of 12 hours of the same course, but at different colleges. The student is eligible for EMA.

We no longer perform a sample check of auto-renewal students in the summer before the start of the academic year. The income check process for returners will now work the same as for new students.

As part of the ‘auto-rollover’ process for returners from academic year 2025/26, we'll send them for an income check as part of their assessment process.  This will be a system generated process.

When we've carried out the income check, the student’s application will fall into one of two scenarios:

• The income check keeps the household income below the required threshold and the application will automatically progress to 'approved'
• The income check moves the household income above the required threshold, and the application will automatically progress to 'missing evidence'. We'll then send a request for physical income documentation. This follows the current exception route for new students. No students are automatically rejected without us requesting evidence first

We’ll also ask a sample of new students to provide evidence that they’re dependent on the parents or guardians they listed in their original application.

We’ll remind you when the sample check happens each year.

If students do not supply evidence or fail the sample check, we'll stop future payments and attempt to recover any payments we’ve already made.

You should continue to make attendance confirmations on the Learning Centre Portal throughout the sample check process. This will let us quickly backdate any payments once the students have proven their eligibility.

If a student contacts you to say they’ve not received payments, please check that you’ve confirmed their attendance on the Learning Centre Portal. If you have confirmed the attendance, please ask the student to contact Student Finance Wales for help.

Students may be exempt from a means-tested assessment of household income if they are:

• in local authority care, with foster parents or care leavers
  
  
• responsible for a child of their own
  
  
• in receipt of Income Support or income-based Employment and Support Allowance
  
  
• entitled to Universal Credit under the Universal Credit Regulations 2013
  
  
• in custody or detention within the youth justice system, including a Young Offenders Institution, Secure Training Centre or Secure Children’s Home

If students are not sure if they’re exempt, they should contact Student Finance Wales for advice.

Once a student has applied for EMA and submitted all the relevant documentation, we'll assess their application. We'll then tell the student the outcome of the assessment. If they’ve been approved for EMA, they will receive an award letter.

Approved students will not receive any payments until they've signed their EMA Learning Agreement at their Learning Centre. We need to receive confirmation of this, along with a submitted attendance confirmation, on the Learning Centre Portal.

You must use the mandatory EMA Agreement template for all students. You can download this from the Learning Centre Portal.

For returning students, signing their EMA Learning Agreement acts as a formal application for EMA support under the terms and conditions for that academic year. This replaces the need for them to complete and return a new application form.

The application of an eligible returning student is automatically rolled over to the next academic year. However, you must still confirm that both you and the returning student have signed the EMA Learning Agreement. This will let us know that the application remains valid.

You must use the mandatory EMA Learning Agreement template for all your students. You can download this from the Learning Centre Portal.

Students who turn 19 during the relevant academic year may be able to apply for EMA support in that year. This applies if:

• they need a further year to complete their programme of study
• they have not had more than 2 years of EMA support in the previous 3 years

This is based on the likelihood that all students who need EMA for a further year, aged 19, are likely to have extenuating or exceptional circumstances.

If a student who has received EMA in the previous academic year is 19 years old, they’ll automatically have their application renewed.

New students must submit their application form to us within 13 weeks from the start of their course. Returning students must sign their EMA Learning Agreement within 13 weeks from the start of their course to have their payments backdated. The start of the course is the date in the Course Start Date field on the Learning Centre Portal.

For first year EMA applicants, the portal will not ask you to enter the date when the student signed their Learning Agreement. It will automatically enter this as the date when you save the agreement on the portal. The system then uses this together with the course start date to determine if first year EMA students are eligible for backdated payments.

For returning students, the portal will ask you to enter the date when they signed their EMA Learning Agreement. You should always go by the signature date rather than the date when you’re entering this on the portal. The system uses the date of the signature together with the course start date to determine if the student is eligible for backdated payments. It is thus very important that you enter this date correctly.

You must avoid any unnecessary delays in confirming EMA Learning Agreements or course start dates, as this will affect backdated payments.

EMA Learning Agreements are a clear and concise way of specifying exactly what students need to do to receive their weekly payments. They are signed by both the student and the Learning Centre.

All eligible EMA students need a new EMA Learning Agreement for each year, whether they are new or returning.

An EMA Learning Agreement sets out the responsibilities of the student and the Learning Centre. It should clearly define:

• acceptable attendance for the course
• what is expected from the student
• the role of the Learning Centre

When students sign their EMA Learning Agreements, they commit to the attendance criteria their Learning Centre has set, in return for a weekly EMA payment.

As a minimum, the EMA Learning Agreement should confirm that:

• the student has enrolled on a valid course
• the student has been made fully aware of how their Learning Centre administers the EMA scheme

The EMA Learning Agreement should be:

• realistic
• adaptable to individual needs
• clear and unambiguous
• not linked to specific grades

The EMA Learning Agreement template includes a question to capture the student’s language preference (English or Welsh). You should select the correct language preference when you confirm on the Learning Centre Portal that the EMA Learning Agreement has been signed.

You must use the EMA Agreement template that is available on the Downloads tab of the Learning Centre Portal.

You can use the Nominated Person EMA Learning Agreement Form if a student is not capable of signing the EMA Learning Agreement. This form lets a nominated third party sign it on their behalf.

The nominated third party could be a parent, guardian or carer responsible for the student’s administrative or financial affairs.

The Nominated Person EMA Agreement Form is available on the Learning Centre Portal.

All new and returning students must sign an EMA Learning Agreement. For returning students, their EMA Learning Agreement signature is their formal application to the EMA scheme. For this reason, you must use the mandatory EMA Learning Agreement template, issued by Student Finance Wales, for both new and returning students.

Learning agreements can be signed in person on a paper form. You can also email the agreements to your students if meeting in person is difficult. You should request an email from the student as confirmation that they agree to their EMA terms. Please store these return emails in an electronic file for audit purposes.

Learning agreements should be signed before you break for the summer holidays. The deadline to sign them is the end of the academic year. If the student cannot do this due to compelling personal reasons, they must sign no later than the end of the first month (September) of the next academic year.

Active

This status is automatically set by the system when you confirm that a student has signed their EMA Learning Agreement.

If you need to discontinue an EMA Learning Agreement, the method to use for this depends on the student’s circumstances.

Suspended

If a student is absent from your Learning Centre for a longer period and you're not sure if the absence will be permanent, you should suspend the EMA Learning Agreement. This allows you to reactivate it if the student returns.

Even if it seems that the student will not return, it is sometimes best to suspend them. Avoid using the Stop function, as the suspension can be reversed if you’ve made an error or the student changes their mind.

You will not have to make attendance confirmations for students whose EMA Learning Agreements have been suspended until you reactivate them.

Stopped

If a student leaves your Learning Centre permanently, you must stop their EMA Learning Agreement. This places a stop on the student’s record and you will not need to make any more attendance confirmations.

You should only stop an EMA Learning Agreement if you have confirmation that the student will not return.

You should not use the View applications screen of the Learning Centre Portal to remove students who have had an active EMA Agreement during the academic year. You should stop their EMA Learning Agreement instead.

If a student stays at your Learning Centre but transfers mid-year to a different eligible course, you must review their EMA Learning Agreement. You might need to agree a new one if appropriate.

You do not need to tell us about any mid-year changes in a student’s programme of study.

You must keep old and revised versions of EMA Learning Agreements for 7 years for audit purposes.

Student Finance Wales can only accept notification of a change in school or college from the student. If you are the original school or college and the student has left, you must stop their EMA Learning Agreement. The student’s EMA payments will then stop until they tell us they’ve moved to a new school or college.

Once we have the transfer details from the student and can complete the transfer, the new school or college will see the student’s details on the Learning Centre Portal from the following Monday.

The new school or college must confirm that the student is on an eligible EMA course. They must also set up a new EMA Learning Agreement with the student.

Students changing school or college mid-week

Students who change school or college mid-week will still be eligible for the weekly EMA payment, so long as they have attended all scheduled classes that week. The school or college where the student started the week must confirm attendance on the Learning Centre Portal. They should work with the new school or college to confirm attendance for the week of the move.

For example, if a student leaves your school or college on a Wednesday and starts at another one on Thursday in the same week, they’re eligible to receive EMA. You must find out from the new school or college if they attend that Thursday and Friday. You'll need this information to confirm that week’s attendance on the Learning Centre Portal.

If a student moves to another Learning Centre or significantly changes their programme of study during the academic year, we'll need to confirm if:

• the student is repeating their studies
• there is a reason outside of their control for repeating

In any case, to be eligible for EMA, the student must:

• be studying full time
• have signed an EMA Learning Agreement
• be attending a valid further education course

Before you can enter any attendance confirmations, you must enter your Learning Centre's annual holidays on the Learning Centre Portal. This ensures that the 'two day rule' for the start of the academic year is met when deciding which weeks qualify as EMA learning weeks.

You can use the Holidays tab of the Learning Centre Portal to enter your holidays. You must add all your holidays, including summer holidays, for the upcoming academic year before it starts in September. You can add holidays from May.

The holidays must be at least 8 weeks in total. You will not be able to confirm any attendance for students until you've entered this.

You can override the 8 week minimum at student level if there are exceptions. For example, this may apply to a student who attends a placement during holidays as part of their course.

The 'two day rule' means that students must have the opportunity to attend the Learning Centre for at least 2 days of any week to be eligible for EMA. 

For example, if the academic year or new term begins on either Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, students who attend all scheduled classes or have authorised absence are eligible to receive EMA for the first week. However, if the new term begins on a Friday, students are not eligible to receive EMA for the first week.

Students are eligible for EMA payments if the Learning Centre is open for 2 days but they are only timetabled for one of them. EMA will be payable for that week so long as they have attended their timetabled classes.

Students who are not timetabled to be in at all during the shortened week will not be eligible for a payment. The EMA weekly payment is attendance based and they have not been in attendance.

We can only make EMA payments to students if:

• they've signed their EMA Learning Agreement
  
  
• they've met the attendance criteria you've set out (or they have acceptable authorised absences)
  
  
• you've confirmed their attendance on the Learning Centre Portal

If a student has not signed their EMA Learning Agreement, they will not get a weekly EMA payment. Similarly, if a student has not attended every class or learning session, they will not receive a weekly payment unless you've authorised their absence.

You must keep records of attendance monitoring and payment decisions. This includes details of authorised and unauthorised absences.

You must enter the student’s course start date on the Learning Centre Portal before you can confirm their EMA Learning Agreement or attendance.

The start date determines when the student becomes eligible for EMA payments. For example, did they have an opportunity to attend for 2 or more days during the first week? Once you’ve recorded the start date on the portal, you cannot change it.

If the course starts on a Friday, the student will not have the opportunity to attend on 2 days during the first week. In this case, EMA will not be payable for that week. The attendance confirmations for the student will start on the following Monday. However, the student will be eligible for the EMA payment if the course starts on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. You’ll be able to confirm attendance for that week to authorise the payment.

Recording attendance

As attendance monitoring is such a crucial part of the EMA scheme, you can use or enhance your existing systems to record attendance.

Each attendance check needs to be recorded, ready for collation at the end of the week. You can use any method that suits your Learning Centre, including manual or online recording.

Collating attendance

You need to collate your attendance data each week, as it is used for authorising the weekly EMA payment. This is the evidence that lets you decide if the student is in attendance or not.

You should use the processes your Learning Centre already has for collating the attendance data.

Attendance confirmations at the end of the academic year – May, June and July

There are 3 attendance confirmation options you can use up to the end of the academic year.

1. In attendance – students are entitled to EMA while they are in learning. This can include full time study, study leave and blended learning.
   
   
2. Not in attendance – students are not in learning and their absence is not authorised.
   
   
3. Holiday – students are still on the school register but are not undertaking learning. They should therefore not receive payments. We recommend using this option for students who are no longer in learning. This means they will not receive payment texts that might otherwise cause confusion and unnecessary administrative work.

Most students will be eligible for payment provided they're in learning up to their final exams. If the academic year extends past the final exam date, we recommend using the holiday option. This is because there will generally not be any further learning at that point.

The EMA Learning Agreement includes a question about extenuating circumstances. This may prompt a discussion between you and the student about whether they’re experiencing extenuating circumstances that may affect their attendance.

The purpose of this is to support vulnerable students who are at risk of not participating in education. This may include, but is not limited to, caring responsibilities, such as looking after a family member who is ill or a disabled.

If the student has highlighted extenuating circumstances, you can capture this on the EMA Learning Agreement and the Learning Centre Portal, but you must have the student’s consent first. We recommend that you follow your own established processes for supporting vulnerable students, rather than record the circumstances on the EMA Learning Agreement.

You should acknowledge the circumstances when you confirm weekly attendance. Please consider the circumstances of your students case by case when you decide if they should receive their EMA payments.

Once you’ve decided if a student was in attendance or not, you must submit the attendance confirmation on the Learning Centre Portal by selecting either In attendance or Not in attendance. You should do this weekly.

If you are not sure if a student has attended, you must submit Not in attendance for that week until you have confirmation of attendance.

Each academic week must have a confirmation of In attendance, Not in attendance or On holiday. You should not leave this blank.

You can submit attendance confirmations for a given week between the Friday of that week and the Wednesday of the following week (before 5pm). This leaves enough time for the payments to reach the students’ accounts by the following Monday.

You may change your original attendance confirmation after submitting it if:

• an absence decision has changed from unauthorised to authorised
• an absence decision has changed from authorised to unauthorised
• an appeal against an unauthorised absence decision is successful
• there were delays in submitting attendance data on the part of your Learning Centre

If you do not have evidence to authorise an absence, you should mark the student as not in attendance until you have sufficient evidence from them.

You should only change an absence from authorised to unauthorised in exceptional circumstances and after you have reviewed sufficient evidence to do so.

If a student has not fulfilled the attendance criteria, they will not receive an EMA payment for that week. You must ensure they understand the reasons for that.

If a student has provided a mobile number, they’ll get a text message every 2 weeks to confirm if they’ve been marked in attendance for EMA purposes and whether they’ll receive a payment.

If students contact us with any questions about their attendance, we'll tell them to come to you instead. This is because it is at your discretion to decide whether students are in attendance and to authorise payments.

If an administrative problem causes a delay in submitting attendance data, you must ensure that your EMA students know about potential payment delays. You should also contact our Partners Support Desk to let us know.

You should apply your Learning Centre’s general attendance and absence policy to decide if an absence was authorised or unauthorised. Your attendance and absence policy should be the same for EMA and non-EMA students. 

You should submit a positive attendance confirmation for an authorised absence and a negative one for unauthorised absence.

Reasons for authorising or not authorising absences must be clear. You need to apply all rules governing these decisions uniformly to all students at your Learning Centre. This helps to ensure that no students are in doubt about what the criteria are and how they're applied.

The following examples could be acceptable reasons for authorising absences:

• a visit to a university open day or a career-related interview
  
  
• a work placement, which is an integral part of the student’s course and for which the student does not receive payment
  
  
• attending a funeral, wedding or civil ceremony of a close family member 
  
  
• attending a probation meeting
  
  
• severe disruption to a student’s method of transport that leaves the student with no method of travelling to school or college
  
  
• a driving lesson (not during taught classes)
  
  
• a driving test
  
  
• a family emergency, such as the need to look after a family member – this may be important to students who have caring responsibilities, such as young and young adult carers
  
  
• extracurricular activities that represent a significant personal achievement, such as sports participation at national or county level or voluntary work
  
  
• medical appointments that could not be made outside of school or college hours
  
  
• for young or young adult carers, attending medical appointments for the person they care for
  
  
• extracurricular trips organised and authorised by the Learning Centre during term time, for example ski trips and days out
  
  
• delayed or cancelled public transport
  
  
• attending accommodation or housing viewing appointments when this is unavailable outside of school hours
  
  
• signing accommodation or housing agreements and contracts when required to do so during school hours

This list is an example and not exhaustive. If in doubt, please check with our Partners Support Desk.

You should assess each absence on its own merits, as you would for non-EMA students. For example, you might consider the following questions:

• Was the absence reasonable?
  
  
• Was it backed up by authentic evidence?
  
  
• Has the student had many absences before this one?
  
  
• Has the student used the same reason before?
  
  
• Has the student told you in advance, or as soon as is practicable?

Some students, for example young and young adult carers or students with disabilities, may have special circumstances which may unavoidably affect their attendance. You should consider all circumstances when you decide if an absence is authorised or unauthorised.

The following reasons are not acceptable on their own for authorising an absence:

• holidays, as students are expected to take these outside of term time
  
  
• part-time or full-time work that is not part of the study programme
  
  
• leisure activities
  
  
• birthdays or family celebrations (not including weddings or civil ceremonies)
  
  
• babysitting siblings (not including family emergencies)

This list is not exhaustive and is for guidance only.

You can count isolated periods of illness as authorised absence if you're convinced the illness was genuine. Please ensure the students provide appropriate evidence. You have the right to turn down a request for authorisation if you suspect the reason was not genuine.

We recommend that you apply your Learning Centre's current procedures for illness absences for EMA purposes. This is in line with the general rule for authorised absences. For example, a student might self-certify an absence for up to 5 days, but it is at your discretion how many 5-day certifications you accept. Beyond this period, the student must produce evidence such as a medical certificate.

EMA is designed to help with the costs of attending a post-compulsory course at a school or further education college. For this reason, long-term illness is not an acceptable reason for authorising absences.

You must review any medical absence of 3 weeks or more and decide whether it should be categorised as long-term illness.

In exceptional cases, an eligible student might be unable to meet the attendance criteria of the EMA scheme due to the nature of their disability. If a student appears to meet the exceptional case criteria, you should contact our Partners Support Desk.

You should use your general attendance and absence policy when dealing with EMA for students not in attendance for pregnancy, maternity or paternity related reasons.

If you deem pregnancy, maternity or paternity related absence to be authorised, then EMA will be payable. You should use your discretion for maternity related absence and assess each case as unique depending on individual circumstances.

You should apply the same approach to students not in attendance for paternity related reasons.

You should apply your absence policy for maternity and paternity consistently to all your students, whether they receive EMA or not.

The EMA scheme is paid for by public funds. As such, it is subject to both internal and external auditing at levels similar to those of other education schemes involving public funds.

The Wales Audit Office and the Welsh Government may carry out validation inspections in all Learning Centres that participate in the EMA scheme.

You must keep all school and college records relating to financial data for at least 7 years. This includes:

• student data
  
  
• EMA Learning Agreements
  
  
• authorised absences
  
  
• attendance evidence
  
  
• correspondence in relation to EMA
  
  
• supporting documentation of eligibility, such as course and academic year
  
  
• management information

This includes electronic and paper-based records.

In compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018, you must keep your records in a secure and suitable format and environment.

Our audit team has identified some common errors made each year in the administration of the EMA scheme. This is a summary of their recommendations.

Inconsistent or missing attendance records

It is vital for the effective administration of EMA that your attendance data is coded and entered accurately for each student every week. This includes notifications of absence as well as attendance.

You should only mark a student as in attendance for the week if you have full attendance or properly approved absences for them. Any absences are unauthorised unless proven otherwise. It is the student's responsibility to provide a reason why their absence should be authorised. 

Out of date or incorrectly completed EMA Learning Agreements

You should always use the most recent version of the EMA Learning Agreement template.

The EMA Learning Agreement must show that the student understands the attendance you expect from them in return for their EMA.

EMA authorised absence policy unclear or insufficient

You should have an authorised absence policy for EMA that is clear and reasonable.

It should be in line with both the guidance provided here and your general attendance and absence policy. The same rules should apply uniformly to all students, whether they receive EMA or not.

However, as EMA helps with the costs incurred while attending an educational course, absence due to long term sickness should not be authorised.

Holiday weeks overpaid

Most students receiving EMA are not due payments over Christmas, half term and summer holidays and you should be alert to this. In previous years, most overpayments were a result of students being paid in error while on holiday.

Students have the right to appeal about:

• EMA entitlement
• scheme rules
• attendance payments

If students have any questions about the amount of their EMA entitlement, they should contact Student Finance Wales.

If students have any questions about EMA policy or scheme rules, they should email the Welsh Government at studentfinancedivision@gov.wales or isadrancyllidmyfyrwyr@llyw.cymru.

It is up to your Learning Centre to decide whether a student is entitled to weekly attendance-based EMA payments or not. Appeals about these decisions should therefore come to you first. We expect you to have your own established appeal process which is published and available to your students.

Any subsequent appeals about weekly payments should go to Student Finance Wales.

As part of our work to comply with the Data Protection Act 2018, we'll delete some information from our systems that we no longer have a reason to keep.

This includes deleting applications and customer information where:

• no payment has ever been made
• agreed retention triggers and periods have passed

There are some exceptions where we will be keeping the data for longer, such as cases of fraud.

The normal retention triggers are:

• EMA applications that have not been approved – the end of the current academic year (31 August)
  
  
• EMA applications that have been approved – the end of the following academic year (31 August) if no payment has been made

The retention period after the trigger is 6 months for all applications.

The main tasks you need to do are:

• promote awareness of EMA to all current and prospective students

• ensure that students are identified on the Learning Centre Portal
  
  
• ensure your Learning Centre Portal users are properly trained in the administration of EMA
  
  
• ensure eligible students know how your school or college administers EMA
  
  
• confirm on the Learning Centre Portal that the student is enrolling on an eligible course
  
  
• confirm the date that the student has commenced their course on the Learning Centre Portal
  
  
• confirm on the Learning Centre Portal that you and the eligible student have signed the EMA Learning Agreement
  
  
• retain all records relating to EMA, including attendance records and EMA Learning Agreements, for 7 years
  
  
• submit weekly attendance confirmations on the Learning Centre Portal, showing whether or not eligible students are in attendance for EMA purposes
  
  
• ensure eligible students know about an established appeals process at your school or college
  
  
• make your appeals process available if students want to appeal about the signing of their EMA Learning Agreements or about the weekly attendance confirmations
  
  
• tell us immediately if you become aware that a student may be committing fraud in applying for EMA – you can find fraud guidance on the Learning Centre Portal

• ensure students know they can apply online but can have a paper application if needed

You can use the Award Letter that all EMA students receive to help identify them on the Learning Centre Portal. However, keep in mind that this letter contains personal and financial information, so students have the right to refuse to show it to you.