Cost of living: Student EMA to increase after 20 years

Around 16,000 young people in Wales currently receive the payment

Sixth form and college students from low income households will receive a £10 grant increase to help with travel and food costs, the Welsh government has announced.

The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) had been frozen at £30 for nearly 20 years.

The new higher payment is available from the beginning of the summer term.

But student representatives said more must be done to address further education costs.

Announcing the increase on Monday, Wales' education minister Jeremy Miles said there would also be a "comprehensive review" of the scheme.

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Further education students are eligible if their household income is £20,817 or less if they are the only young person in the household, or £23,077 if there is more than one young person in the household.

Around 16,000 young people in Wales currently receive the payment.

Student Lily said that sometimes she doesn't have enough money to get by

Lily, 17, who studies her A Levels at Gower College in Swansea, said she relies on EMA for college supplies.

She said it's hard to say what impact the extra £10 a week will have, but added: "I'd like to think it's a good start and it will help in the future".

Tiana, 19, from Swansea said some students struggle with the cost of travel, which can be a significant barrier to accessing education.

"I often feel that students struggle to get to college so they don't come which obviously impact their learning dramatically - missing lessons can make you fail".

Tiana said she feels that students "struggle" with travel costs

She said most students on her course drive to college so they have to pay for petrol.

"Food, drink, snacks, printing, printing paper and resources, buying pens, books, pencil cases, calculators - all of that stuff is going up which is making it hard for students across the board," she said.

According to the Bank of England's inflation calculator, the £30 payment - which was first introduced in 2004 - would now be £50.13 if the payment had kept up with inflation.

Jeremy Miles said the boost to EMA would help students with "the reality of the cost of learning".

"We appreciate that the rate of EMA has not increased for some time, and during the current cost of living crisis, we understand young people are also feeling the financial strain", he said.

"While we work to undertake an independent review of EMA, this raise will provide additional help to remove barriers to learning."

He said the increase would be in place for the next two academic years while the review of EMA is conducted.

Mr Miles added that there will be funding to allow more students from poorer backgrounds to appeal exam results for free in summer 2023.

National Union of Students Wales president Orla Tarn said the union was pleased the government had taken measures to stop young people being "priced out of education".

But they warned there is more work to do.

"Students across Wales are facing a perfect storm of rising rent, bloated bills, massive increases in food prices, and transport costs which are forcing learners to choose between attending classes and paying for food," they said.