THE principals of Oxfordshire’s further education colleges said teenagers will be put off further education if the Government scraps a “cash for studies” scheme.

Education Maintenance Allowance of up to £30 a week is paid to 16- to 18-year-olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, encouraging them to stay on at college instead of looking for work.

Almost 1,500 Students at Oxford and Cherwell Valley College (OCVC) and 850 at Abingdon and Witney College receive the allowance each week.

But the Government said the scheme is inefficient, and no new students will be able to enrol for the weekly grant from January.

All payments will stop from July.

Now the heads of both colleges have called for the Government to reconsider, saying hundreds of students put off education could have their careers ended before they even start.

OCVC acting principal Lesley Donoghue said: “We have just under 3,000 16- to 18-year-old students, and approximately half of them are receiving EMA.

“I know for a fact because of talking to students that ending EMA is really making them wonder whether to finish two-year programmes of study next year. Without doubt, it is making them question whether they can progress.”

Abingdon and Witney College principal Teresa Kelly said: “Students tell me the major thing they use the money for is transport, which can be up to £20 a week. Particularly in west Oxfordshire, students are travelling big distances and are totally dependent on the EMA.”

Students from households earning less than £30,810 currently receive £10 a week if lecturers sign attendence sheets, rising to £30 a week for those whose household income is less than £20,817.

Both principals said although the Government had signalled new means-tested support for students from the poorest backgrounds, the funding for any programme would be slashed from £574m to as little as £75m.

Sean Dukes, president of OCVC’s Student Union, which is organising a petition, said: “It is going to ruin quite a few people’s futures.”

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said 90 per cent of students receiving EMA would have stayed on in education without it. He said: “Given the state of the public finances and the very difficult decisions we have had to make, it is only right that we should find a better, way of targeting support.”