Apply for an Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)

You can complete this form without registering or signing in.

By continuing with this form, you agree to the privacy statement below.

Before you start

Use this form to apply for EMA if you

  • attend a school
  • have a No One Left Behind (NOLB) activity agreement 
  • are being home educated

within the City of Edinburgh Council area.

Only 1 application form is required each school year.

Contact your college to apply for an EMA at college.

Read the EMA terms and conditions (PDF) as you will be asked to agree to this before completing the form.

After you submit your form, you will receive an automated email confirming your form has been received.

Evidence required

You must provide evidence of

  • your bank account
  • your parents' income (including benefits and tax credits)

If your parents do not receive Tax Credits or Universal Credit, read the household income help sheet (PDF) to find out what you need to provide.

You may also be required to provide evidence of your residency status, so make sure you have these details to hand.

You can upload documents to provide the evidence. You may want to scan documents before you start the form. PDF files are best for scanned documents.

If you are unable to upload any of the required documents, you should still complete the form. We will contact you to ask for any information we require.

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Privacy statement

We, the City of Edinburgh Council, use the information you provide to process your claim for Educational Maintenance Allowance.

Where allowed by law, we may pass your information to organisations such as

  • the Scottish Government
  • SEEMIS
  • Department for Work and Pensions
  • HM Revenue and Customs

We may check information you have provided, or information about you that someone else has provided, with information we hold.

We may get information about you from third parties, or give them information to

  • make sure the information is accurate
  • prevent or detect crime
  • protect public funds.

These third parties include

  • government departments
  • local authorities
  • private-sector companies, such as banks and organisations that lend you money.

We will not give information about you to anyone else, or use information about you for other purposes, unless the law requires us to. 

We may use your information to identify whether you are eligible for other benefits, such as Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction.

We are the data controllers for the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation.

Your application will be subject to automated processing but not to automated decision making.

Read our privacy policy for details.