Schoolkids from poor backgrounds in London’s East End wanting to stay on for A-Levels rather than go out to work can apply for £400 grants from their local Town Hall from tomorrow.
Applications for this year’s Tower Hamlets Mayor’s Education Award, now in its third year helping pupils stay in education after their GCSEs, opens formally at 9am.
Successful applicants get £400 a year to towards costs of studying, such as books, travel or field trips.
“No student should be unable to fulfill their potential because of a financial barrier,” said Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman. “I don’t want anyone to slip through the net like this.”
The awards started in 2011 replace the Education Maintenance Allowance which was scrapped by the government. Applicants must be between 16 and 19 on September 1, having lived in Tower Hamlets for at least three years and from a household with less than £20,817 income.
The awards have also led to a sister scheme, the Higher Education Award, helping students go on to university, which was launched in July.
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