110,000 facing student grant delay

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Schools minister Jim Knight said that staff were working at weekends and doing extra shifts to try to clear the backlog of claims for Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) received by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC).

And he revealed that he has urged colleges to use their hardship funds to support students who are still awaiting a decision.

Teenagers aged 16-18 are entitled to claim up to £30 a week EMA if they remain in full-time education at school or college after the end of compulsory schooling, or undertake an LSC-funded diploma or entry to employment course.

The cash is available to youngsters from households with a total income of less than £30,810.

In a letter to the chairman of the House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Committee Barry Sheerman, Mr Knight revealed that 111,000 applications for this academic year remain to be processed.

Of the 556,829 applications which have been dealt with, some 283,880 young people have been awarded allowances.

Mr Knight said he had been assured by the LSC that clearing the backlog is their "absolute priority". The applications are being processed for the LSC by a contractor.

Shadow children's secretary Michael Gove said that the problems followed the late delivery of results for SAT tests earlier this year.

Mr Gove said: "Tens of thousands of people still have not received the payments that they are due. Just weeks after the SATs fiasco we have another project overseen by Ed Balls's department mired in chaos. Yet ministers still refuse to take responsibility and apologise for the fiasco."