Annex 1: Note of an informal meeting with
students at BSix Brooke House Sixth Form College
The Committee held a meeting on 18 May 2011 with
four students from BSix (Brooke House Sixth Form College) in Hackney.
Two were in the first year of study; two were in their second
year. All were receiving EMA.
The following points were made:
- Even under the special transitional
arrangements for existing EMA claimants, students who would in
future receive £20 per week rather than £30 were still
worse off
- There would be a stigma in having to declare
poverty to the college
- EMA might not necessarily lead to A* grades,
but it helped to keep young people in education and constructive
activity
- Some people studied at college because it was
a stepping-stone to university; others studied in order to make
more informed career moves
- Students had had difficulty in finding jobs,
for instance in local shops
- EMA imposed discipline on students and was a
motive to attend college; it also actively attracted students
to college
- EMA allowed students from families which were
not well-off to feel parity with those who were better-off financially
- The replacement bursary fund had indeed been
raised to £180 million, but only because of public pressure
- Travel difficulties for students in rural areas
were acknowledged. Although students had the benefit of free bus
travel in London, there were students from other more distant
parts of London for whom it was more practical to use trains to
get to and from the college. These students had to cover the cost
of tickets themselves; so removal of EMA would be a deterrent
in their case
- Most of the group believed that education should
be compulsory only to 16, although one suggested that it was best
to continue to 18 if the right provision was available. It was
also said that there should be more Apprenticeships, which offered
a way into the workforce
- For one of the group, careers guidance at school
had been "laughable"; another had used the local Connexions
office and had tried a number of different courses before knowing
"where they were going". Another mentioned that the
careers advice on DirectGov was "quite good".
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