Student bonuses 'waste of £100m'

Bonuses are negotiated for individual learners

Teenagers in England should not be getting financial bonuses for attending classes and handing in schoolwork on time, the Liberal Democrats say.

Figures show £100m was spent on bonuses for 16 to 18-year-olds last year.

The bonuses are on top of the weekly education maintenance allowances (EMAs) of £10, £20 or £30 for poorer students.

The administrative delays which have blighted EMA payments this year are likely to have hit the bonuses too.

Learners in receipt of EMA can earn up to four bonus payments over two years.

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC), which runs EMAs for the government, said they were designed to encourage progression and achievement by learners from lower income households.

"To earn a bonus payment a learner must meet the terms of their learning contract which will include progress against or achievement of their learning goals, and evidence of effort and good behaviour."

Funding gap

But the Liberal Democrat children, schools and families spokesman David Laws said: "Spending £100m on EMA bonuses will seem incredibly unfair to many people.

"Some of the bonuses are being awarded for getting work in on time and it will seem totally unjust to students that some will be rewarded financially, not because of the high quality of their work, but on how much their parents happen to earn."

The extra money could be used to "make a real difference" in other areas, such as closing the funding gap between schools and colleges, he said.

The LSC said the bonuses paid since the scheme was made available across England were:

2004-05 - £44.9m
2005-06 - £78.8m
2006-07 - £96.8m
2007-08 - £100.5m

LSC chief executive Mark Haysom told Mr Laws in a letter: "Bonus payments are paid based on an agreement between the individual learning provider and the individual learner and upon the learner achieving the aims of this agreement.

"It is not possible to say how many learners achieved a bonus for submitting coursework on time."