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THE EVALUATION OF EDUCATION
MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE PILOTS
This has been the largest single evaluation ever
funded by the then Department for Education and Skills and has been undertaken
by a consortium of organisations, led by CRSP. Commissioned in 1999,
the evaluation aimed to assess the effect of providing young people
from poorer homes with a weekly allowance to encourage them to remain
in full-time education post-16 years, in terms of improvements in
participation, retention and achievement.
The Policy
Problem
Despite very large increases in the proportions of young people
remaining in post-16 education during the early 1990s, there was
concern that levels had peaked at around 70 per cent, below those
in other similar countries. Participation in post-17 education was
particularly low among young men and those from lower socio-economic
groups.
- In 1997 only 66.2 per cent of 16 year old men
remained in post-16 education compared with 72.8 per cent of young
women.
- By 1998 only 48 per cent of young people from
unskilled manual backgrounds remained in full-time education after
the end of compulsory schooling compared with 85 per cent of those
from professional/managerial backgrounds.
Lack of money was thought to be one of the main
reasons why young people from these backgrounds were not staying
on.
There have, in fact, been a number of EMA Evaluations.
In addition to the main evaluation in 10 of the original 15 pilot
areas and 11 control areas, separate evaluations have taken place:
- in the remaining five pilot areas (Leeds and
four London Boroughs);
- in four of the original 15 pilot areas where
extensions to the main EMA scheme were introduced to encourage
'vulnerable' young people to remain in education;
- in a further five pilot areas where a variant
of EMA to assist young people with the costs of transport was
tested.
Methods
The evaluation involved a range
of qualitative and quantitative methods, all of which included a
longitudinal element. Methods employed for the main EMA evaluation
were:
- Large longitudinal surveys of an initial random
sample of 22,500 young people (and their parents at first interview)
in 10 pilot areas and 11 control areas. Young people from two
cohorts, those who finished compulsory education in 1999 and 2000,
were interviewed four times at annual intervals to track their
post-16 activities and progress. Data from these surveys provided
impact measures of gains in participation, retention and achievement
arising from the availability of EMA, using Propensity Score Matching
techniques. They also provided a wealth of descriptive data to
contextualise and extend the impact analysis.
- Studies of how EMA was implemented in the pilot
areas involving annual interviews with the main stakeholders in
the evaluation at local level;
- Area studies to collect contextual socio-economic
and demographic data in the pilot and control areas;
- Qualitative interviews with young people and
parents over the first twelve months of the pilot to explore the
processes underlying young people's decisions to remain
in education and to claim EMA.
Findings
The evaluation produced a wealth
of findings about young people as they make the transition from
compulsory education to higher education and the labour market.
Full reports and research summaries are available on the DfES website.
In terms of the main evaluation, our best estimate
of the impact of EMA was that it has increased participation in
full-time education in Year 12 among eligible young people in the
pilot areas by 5.9 percentage points. These gains were even larger
among young men in urban areas, the group that had been a particular
focus of policy concern. There was also evidence that EMA has improved
retention among eligible young people beyond initial participation
at the start of Year 12 and into Year 13 by some 3.2 percentage
points. At the time of writing indications suggest that EMA has
had little impact on achievement or on entry into Higher Education.
The evaluation consortium comprised researchers
from CRSP, the
Institute for Fiscal
Studies, National
Centre for Social Research, National
Institute for Careers Education and Counselling and the Centre
for Education and Industry.
Dates
April 1999 - March 2005
Project team
Sue Middleton, Yvette
Hartfree, Kim Perren.
Sponsor
Department for Education and Skills
Publications
Middleton, S., Perren, K., Maguire, S. and Rennison, J., Battistin, E., Emmerson, C. and Fitzsimons, E. (2005) Evaluation of Education Maintenance Allowance Pilots: Young People Aged 16-19 Years, Final Report of the Quantitative Evaluation, Department for Education and Skills Research Report No. 678. Nottingham: DfES Publications.
Middleton, S., Rennison, J., Cebulla, A., Perren, K. and De-Beaman, S. (2005) Young People from Ethnic Minority Backgrounds: Evidence from the Education Maintenance Allowance Pilots Database, Department for Education and Skills Research Report No. 627. Nottingham: DfES Publications.
Perren, K. and Middleton, S. (2005) Teenage Mothers and Young People with Special Needs: Evidence from the Education Maintenance Allowance Pilots Database, Department for Education and Skills Research Report No. 629. Nottingham: DfES Publications.
Rennison, J., Maguire, S., Middleton, S. and Ashworth, K. (2005) Young People not in Education, Employment or Training: Evidence from the Education Maintenance Allowance Pilots Database, Department for Education and Skills Research Report No. 628. Nottingham: DfES Publications.
Hartfree, Y. and Middleton, S. (2004) Education Maintenance Allowance in Leeds and London: The Third Year, CRSP Research Report 1.
Maguire, S. and Maguire, M. (2004) Implementation of the Education Maintenance Allowance Pilots: The Fourth Year, Department for Education and Skills Research Report No. 540. Nottingham: DfES Publications.
Allen, T., Dobson, B., Hardman, J., Maguire, S., Middleton, S., Graham, J., Woodfield, K. and Maguire, M. (2003) Education Maintenance Allowance Pilots for Vulnerable Young People and Childcare Pilots: Implementation and Reported Impacts in the First Year, Department for Education and Skills Research Report No. 396. Nottingham: DfES Publications.
Dobson, B., Hardman, J., Maguire, S., Middleton, S., Allen, T., Graham, J., Hill, E., Woodfield, K. and Maguire, M. (2003) Education Maintenance Allowance Pilots for Vulnerable Young People and Childcare Pilots: Implementation and Reported Impacts in the First Two Years (2000-2001/2001-2002), Department for Education and Skills Research Report No. 470. Nottingham: DfES Publications.
Knight, T. and White, C. (2003) The Reflections of Early Leavers and Second Year Participants on the Education Maintenance Allowance Scheme. A Qualitative Study, Department for Education and Skills Research Report No. 411. Nottingham: DfES Publications.
Middleton, S., Maguire, S., Ashworth, K., Legge, K., Allen, T., Perren, K., Battistin, E., Dearden, L., Emmerson, C., Fitzsimons, E. and Meghir, C. (2003) The Evaluation of Education Maintenance Allowance Pilots: Three Years Evidence. A Quantitative Evaluation, Department for Education and Skills Research Report No. 499. Nottingham: DfES Publications.
Perren, K., Middleton, S. and Emmerson, C. (2003) Education Maintenance Allowance Transport Pilots – Quantitative Findings from Year 1 and 2 (2000-2001/2001-2002), Department for Education and Skills Research Report No. 471. Nottingham: DfES Publications.
Ashworth, K., Hardman, J., Hartfree, Y., Maguire, S., Middleton, S., Smith, D., Dearden, L., Emmerson, C., Frayne, C. and Meghir, C. (2002) Education Maintenance Allowance: The First Two Years A Quantitative Evaluation, Department for Education and Skills, Research Report No. 352. Nottingham: DfES Publications.
Heaver, C., Maguire, M., Middleton, S., Maguire, S., Youngs, R., Dobson, B., Hardman, J. (2002) Evaluation of Education Maintenance Allowance Pilots: Leeds and London First Year Evidence, Department for Education and Skills Research Report No. 353. Nottingham: DfES Publications.
Maguire, M., Maguire, S. and Heaver, C. (2002) Implementation of the Education Maintenance Allowance Pilots: The Second Year, Department for Education and Skills Research Report No. 333. Nottingham: DfES Publications.
Ashworth, K., Hardman, J., Liu, W., Maguire, S. and Middleton, S., Dearden, L., Emmerson, C., Frayne, C., Goodman, A., Ichimura, H. and Meghir, C. (2001) Education Maintenance Allowance: The First Year - A Quantitative Evaluation, Department for Education and Employment Research Report No. 257, Nottingham: DfEE Publications.
Maguire, M., Maguire, S. and Vincent, J. (2001) Implementation of the Education Maintenance Allowance Pilots: The First Year, Department for Education and Employment Research Report No. 255. Nottingham: DfEE Publications.
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