Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) - online application guidance notes 2024/25

Academic Session 2024/25 - All boxes marked with an asterisk (*) are essential information and you will not be able to move to the next page until completed.

In exceptional circumstances, where your documentation is not available, please submit the form and then e-mail the missing documentation as soon as possible to: transport.ema@eastdunbarton.gov.uk.

We are unable to pay the EMA until all documentation is received. However, we may be able to backdate payments if your application is received by the closing date. The deadline to receive EMA applications for this academic session is 31 March 2025. You may not see all fields if they are not relevant to you. For example, if you select that there are no other dependent children in your household then the fields asking for details of them will not show up.

Once you have read this guidance, the EMA policy document and any other information stated on the East Dunbartonshire website (e.g. FAQs), you can tick the box at the bottom of this section.

Enter your full name (if student cannot type own name due to Additional Support Needs, tick the box below signature strip).

Parent/carer(s) to enter full name(s) here

Information required:

• Known As
• Surname
• Forename(s)
• Address
• Town
• Postcode
• Home phone number (optional)
• Mobile phone number
• Email Address (mandatory - all communication is conducted via email)
• Parent/Carer Email Address (if different from the address above)
• Date of Birth.

If you were born in the UK and have a UK birth certificate/passport, we do not require any evidence. If, however, you were not born in the UK we will require proof of your residency status. Suitable documents to show status will be:

• Residence Permit card/ Right to Remain ID card (issued to you from Home Office)
• Letter from Home Office confirming settlement status.

If you mark that you do not attend an East Dunbartonshire Secondary School, this suggests you are home schooled. EDC will seek proof of this from the Education Department.

The SQA number is not essential information. If you do not know your Candidate number, this box can be left blank.

If you did not receive EMA last year or you received EMA from a different local authority, we need to see your birth certificate or passport as proof of your Date of Birth.

If you (the student) receive benefits in your own right, we need evidence of the income you receive. This can be:

• Job Seekers’ Allowance (letter from DWP detailing the amount you received in relevant tax year)
• Universal Credit (Universal Credit monthly statements for relevant tax year).

If living in a lone parent household, evidence is required, such as;

• Council tax bill showing single adult discount
• Tax Credit Award Notice or Tax Credit Annual Review showing adult claimed as an individual
• Universal Credit monthly statement showing adult is claiming as a single person.

If you live with Foster Carers or are living In Care of the Local Authority, we do not require their income information however, we need proof that you are living with Foster Carers/In Care, such as:

• Letter from Social Work Department.

If the adult with whom the student lives with does not receive the Child Benefit for them, we will also require the contact details for the adult who receives this benefit and only their household income information is required. If the student lives with a different adult (e.g. Grandparent) we require the Child Benefit letter.

Enter Parent/Carer information:

• Forename
• Surname
• Address/Postcode
• Contact telephone number
• Marital status
• Date of Birth
• National Insurance Number.

Income evidence - For this academic year, we assess eligibility for EMA based on total household income for tax year 6 April 2023 to 5 April 2024.

• Earnings as an employee
• A P60 for relevant tax year
• Valid week 52 or month 12 payslip
• Tax Credit Award Notice for relevant tax year (this cannot be a Provisional Award Notice and cannot show estimated income. It also cannot be a Tax Credit Annual Review)
• Taxable Income for 6 April 2023 to 5 April 2024 section of HMRC Government Gateway account (a screenshot image of this page is accepted).

Income from self-employment

• If self-employed (either on your own or in partnership), a Self-Assessment Tax Calculation (SA302) 2023/24 should be submitted
• Alternatively, a completed Accountant’s Certificate should be submitted until an SA302 is available. In this case, a provisional award will be made to allow time to obtain the required SA302.
  • Download a blank Accountant’s Certificate form (Parent 1)
  • Download a blank Accountant's Certificate form (Parent 2)

If you have only just started working for yourself or if you do not have an Accountant and need help completing your Self-Assessment Tax Return, call the HMRC Self-Assessment Helpline on 0300 200 3310.

If either parent is in full or part-time education at college or university, we need proof of this:

• SAAS Loan Award Letter for 2023/24 academic year
• College/University Acceptance Letter for 2023/24 academic year.

Tick all the boxes that apply then provide the suitable documentation to show this income:

• Tax Credit Award Notice (this cannot be a Provisional Award Notice and cannot show estimated income. It also cannot be a Tax Credit Annual Review)
• Universal Credit Monthly statements for both April 2023 and April 2024
• Letter from DWP confirming the amount of benefit/credit to receive in relevant tax year
• State Pension/Widow’s Pension letter from DWP confirming the amount to receive in relevant tax year.

Carers allowance (Preston) - 0345 608 4321

Child benefit helpline - 0300 200 3100

• P60 for relevant tax year
• Month 12/week 52 Pension payslip for relevant tax year.

• Annual Pension Statement (for tax year ending 5 April 2024).

• Income from savings and investments
  This is the income from interest from any personal or joint bank or building society accounts (the gross interest). Your passbook or Annual statement from your bank will provide this figure.

Ignore tax-free savings (for example, ISAs, TESSAs, PEPs, Index Linked and Fixed Interest National Savings Certificates and Children’s Bonus Bonds).

If you received company dividends from any UK company (including dividends from a company of which you or your partner, or both of you are directors), add the tax credit shown on the voucher supplied by the company, to the dividend. This income should be declared to HMRC and therefore an SA302 is required for the relevant tax year

• Property Income
  Include income from property or land in the UK that you owned or leased out. If this was part of your business income (if you were self-employed) include it here. Ignore any income covered by the ‘Rent a Room’ scheme. This income should be declared to HMRC and therefore an SA302 is required for the relevant tax year.
• Trust Income
  If you received income from a trust, settlement or a deceased person’s estate, the trustees or administrators will have given you a certificate telling you what income was paid to you.
• Benefits from your employer(s)
  This can include company car and fuel, taxable vouchers and payments in kind from all jobs.
  You may have received benefits from your employer which were not paid out in wages but which were taxable. These are called benefits in kind. Your employer should have given you information about these. You should not have to work out the amount of each individual benefit – your employer will be able to tell you the taxable values.If you received benefits from your employer, you will be required to provide documents from your employer confirming the type of benefits, dates and the amount.
• Foreign income
  For example, income from investments and property overseas, non-UK pensions and social security payments from overseas governments. We require evidence of the gross income (the amount before any foreign tax was taken off) in British Pounds, not the foreign currency. We will require the equivalent official documents of that country as evidence of this income (eg P60 equivalent, SA302 self-assessment tax calculation equivalent, etc.)

The sum total income under the sections:

• UK pensions
• Other UK pensions
• Income from savings and investments
• Property income
• Trust income
• Foreign income

Are subject to a £300 disregard. If the sum total of your income from the above is £300 or less, it is treated as nil. If the sum total is more than £300, only the excess is taken into account.

Please provide details of any other dependent children living in the household (other than yourself). We will require proof of these other dependent children:

• Tax Credit Award Notice
• Child Benefit letter
• Birth certificate (only if the child is under 5 years old or does not attend an EDC education establishment)
• University/College acceptance letter.

This section is only relevant if the student lives with Foster Carers or is living In Care of the Local Authority. The information required on this page is:

• Name of carer
• Address of carer
• Contact telephone number of carer

(If student lives in any other setting, you will skip this page and move directly onto page 6)

Scottish Government require the bank details to be in the student’s own name. If not in student’s name an explanation to why is required. (Only in exceptional circumstances can a parent’s bank account be accepted – this will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis).

If your bank account changes at any time throughout the academic year, you must inform the EMA team immediately. You will be asked to complete a Change of Bank Details form. This can be found on the EDC website (search EMA and click on the link to download the form).

If you have any other information you feel is relevant to your application, enter this here. Any evidence (if required) to support your statement can be uploaded at this point.

At this point, you should read over your application. Once you are satisfied all the information is correct, click SUBMIT.

Once you have submitted your application you will receive a unique reference number. Take a note of this reference number, as you will be required to quote this if you call or email with any enquiries regarding your application.

All communication from the EMA team is via email. Please make sure that our email address transport.ema@eastdunbarton.gov.uk is added to your list of contacts, otherwise our emails will go into your Junk folder. This could result in the loss/delay of EMA payments.

If you are contacted to provide further document evidence, this should be emailed to the EMA team. DO NOT SUBMIT A NEW APPLICATION FORM