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SECTION 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Education Maintenance Allowance
(EMA)
1.1 The EMA provides financial support for 16-19 year
olds from low-income households undertaking appropriate
full-time courses at school or college. Young people from
low income families are less likely to stay in formal
education after compulsory schooling has ended, may leave
school without qualifications, and are thus at risk of
unemployment or insecure employment and of social
exclusion. The EMA aims to reduce financial barriers to
staying on, and thus improve post-16 participation,
retention and achievement rates in education among young
people from low-income families. In Scotland, EMAs were
piloted in East Ayrshire from 1999-2000 (Phase 1), and in
Glasgow, Dundee and West Dunbartonshire from 2001-2 (Phase
2).
1.2 This evaluation of the Phase 1 (East Ayrshire) and
Phase 2 (Glasgow, Dundee and West Dunbartonshire) EMA
pilots is based exclusively on SQA records of national
units and courses over the two years after the S4 Standard
Grade examinations. Post-code based measures of
socio-economic status (SES) have been linked to the SQA
data. Before the introduction of the EMA, all four pilot
areas had higher proportions of young people living in
areas of low SES, and lower average attainment, than the
rest of Scotland. The evaluation compared the EMA pilots
with "control groups" based on schools with similar intake
characteristics, but where the EMA scheme was not in
operation. Comparing trends in the pilot areas with
"control" areas enables us to distinguish the impact of the
EMA from the effects of other initiatives and trends.
1.3 However the picture is complicated by the
introduction in 1999-2000 of the new national
qualifications framework (Higher Still) and the associated
increase in participation and attainment levels. We discuss
this issue in more detail at the end of this summary: for
the moment it is important to note that Higher Still and
the EMA have complementary objectives. Higher Still seeks
to improve participation and attainment through a flexible
system of units and courses appropriate to all levels of
ability, while the EMA pursues the same ends through
reduction of financial barriers to staying on. Both
policies have contributed to the significant national
increase in attainment levels since 2000.
The Key Findings of the Evaluation of the EMA
pilots
The effects of the EMA
- The EMA has a positive, independent effect on
participation and attainment in national
qualifications. Increases in participation and
attainment are significantly greater in the EMA pilot
areas than in the control areas.
- EMA has led to a significant rise in average
attainment among the EMA target group, that is young
people with low Standard Grade attainment.
The effects of the Higher Still reform
- Throughout Scotland there has been a substantial
increase in levels of participation and attainment in
new national qualifications. The steepest increase in
participation has been among young people with low
Standard Grade attainment, but the steepest increase in
attainment has been among those with higher Standard
Grade attainment.
1.4 It should be noted that levels of participation in
national qualifications have risen substantially throughout
Scotland since 2000, as Higher Still has offered more
appropriate provision, and this rise in participation has
contributed to the increase in levels of attainment. It
appears that the two policies (Higher Still, and EMA) have
combined to encourage disadvantaged students to stay on in
full-time education after S4, with subsequent improvements
in attainment.
Main Findings of the Phase 1 EMA Pilot (East
Ayrshire) over three years
1.5 The evaluation of the phase 1 pilot was based on
analysis of entry and attainment in national qualifications
of five cohorts in their first post-compulsory year (S5 or
college equivalent) in 1998 to 2002, and in their second
post-compulsory year (S6 or college equivalent) 1999 to
2003.
In the first post-compulsory year, there is
evidence of a positive EMA effect on attainment both
overall and especially among low-attainers:
- There is some evidence of a positive EMA effect on
overall full-time participation in national
qualifications in the first post-compulsory year, over
and above the general increase in participation that
resulted from Higher Still.
- In 2001 and 2002, overall attainment in the first
year after S4 increased to a greater extent in the
phase 1 pilot than the control area.
- Average attainment by young people with low prior
attainment increased to a greater extent by 2002 in the
phase 1 pilot area than in the control areas.
EMA had a cumulative effect over two
post-compulsory years leading to a significant rise in
attainment, both overall and also among low
attainers:
- There is no evidence that the EMA has had either a
positive or a negative effect on participation in the
second post-compulsory year.
- If attainment over two post-compulsory years is
combined, it is evident that by 2002 and 2003, average
attainment in the phase 1 EMA pilot had risen to a
significantly higher level than that in the control
area, and young people with low standard grade
attainment shared this EMA advantage.
There were different patterns of attainment at
school and college
- Young people who took some or all of the national
qualifications at college tended to have lower
attainment on average, and this did not differ between
pilot and control areas, and did not change over
time.
- If we take account of differences in attainment by
college students we find that attainment at school in
the EMA pilot area rose to a significantly greater
extent than attainment at school in the control
area.
Main Findings of the Phase 2 EMA pilots
(Glasgow, Dundee and West Dunbartonshire) in their
first year
1.6 The evaluation of the phase 2 pilots was based on
analysis of entry and attainment in national qualifications
of three cohorts in their first post-compulsory year in
2000 to 2002, and in their second post-compulsory year 2001
to 2003.
The EMA pilots had a positive effect on
participation and attainment in the first year of
operation, both overall and among low
attainers.
- Full-time study of national qualifications in the
first year after S4 (S5 or its college equivalent) rose
substantially between 2000 and 2002, and the increase
was greater in the Phase 2 pilot areas than the control
areas. Rising participation was evident in the Phase 2
pilot areas before the introduction of the EMA, and
increased thereafter. Upward trends in participation
among young people with low Standard Grade attainment
were greater on average in the EMA pilots.
- Participation in the second year after S4 increased
between 2001 and 2003 in both pilot and control areas,
but there is no evidence that the increase was
different in the EMA pilots than in the control
areas.
- Attainment of national qualifications in the first
year after S4 rose substantially between 2000 and 2002.
Average attainment rose to a greater extent in the
Phase 2 pilot areas than the control areas. Rising
attainment was evident in the Phase 2 pilot areas
before the start of the EMA, and increased further in
2002 after the start of the EMA.
- Average attainment increased among young people
with low Standard Grade attainment, and the increase
was greater on average in the EMA pilots.
The EMA pilots had a positive effect on
attainment that was cumulative in the two
post-compulsory years.
- Between 2001 and 2003 cumulative attainment over
two post-compulsory years rose substantially. In 2001,
before the start of the EMA, there was no difference in
attainment between Phase 2 pilot and control areas,
while the increase in attainment in 2002 and 2003 was
significantly greater on average in the Phase 2 pilots
than in the control areas. The beneficial effect was
evident for the whole sample and among low
attainers.
There were different patterns of attainment at
school and college
- Young people who took all or part of their national
qualifications at college had higher average attainment
in 2000 but did not share in rising levels of
attainment to the same extent as those who took all
their national qualifications at school. This pattern
did not differ between pilot and control areas.
There were differences between the Phase 2
pilots
- Participation and attainment rose more steeply in
West Dunbartonshire than elsewhere.
Issues arising from the evaluation
1.7 As indicated above, the start of the first EMA
pilot, in session 1999-2000, coincided with the
introduction of a new system of national qualifications as
a result of the Higher Still reforms. These policies had
complementary objectives which seem to be being achieved:
however their co-existence creates some complexity for the
evaluation of the EMA pilots.
1.8 Throughout Scotland, levels of participation in
national qualifications have risen substantially since
2000, and the steepest increase has been among young people
with low Standard Grade attainment, for whom previously
there had been few appropriate courses. Levels of
attainment have also risen since 2000, partly as a result
of increased participation. There has been a significant
rise in average attainment among young people with low
Standard Grade attainment, although the increase has not
been as great as that for young people with higher Standard
Grade attainment.
1.9 Amongst young people in the EMA pilot and control
areas, participation and attainment in national
qualifications have increased since the Higher Still
reform. However, these increases are significantly greater
in the pilot areas than in the control areas, suggesting
that Higher Still and EMA policies have been mutually
reinforcing. It could be argued that both the provision of
appropriate courses and the reduction of financial barriers
have played a part in encouraging disadvantaged students to
stay on in full-time education after S4 with subsequent
improvements in attainment.
1.10 These findings refute the predictions of some
critics that the EMA would depress overall attainment
because disruptive and disaffected students might be
encouraged to stay-on at school just for the money. Far
from depressing attainment, the EMA pilots have increased
overall attainment to a significantly greater extent than
the control areas.
1.11 It is not possible to say very much about the
impact of EMA on young people at college as the analysis of
national qualifications at college has been relatively
limited in this evaluation because of limitations in the
college data. The impact of the EMA on college provision is
an area that needs more research, because colleges often
provide a second chance to young people who have not done
well at school.
1.12 Overall, this study confirms that young people from
low-income households tend to have low attainment at
school, and are less likely to participate in
post-compulsory education. Policies such as EMA address
this deep rooted structural disadvantage, and by
encouraging young people to continue their education offer
longer-term benefits to the wider society and to the
individual by improving young people's educational and
labour market opportunities.
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