At Uxbridge College we have carried out an analysis of the performance of our students who received the education maintenance allowance (EMA) in the last academic year.

The success rate for those 2,070 enrolments attributed to the 1,251 students in receipt of the EMA in 2009-10 is 94 per cent. The notion of “success rate” refers to the measure of those learners who achieved their qualification compared to the number that actually commenced the qualification.

Uxbridge College has an overall success rate of 86 per cent for 2009-10, which is 7 per cent above the most recently published national average for colleges. It is therefore striking that for enrolments where students are in receipt of the EMA, the success rate is a clear 8 per cent above the college total and 15 per cent above the national average.

This is startlingly positive evidence of achievement for students who are in receipt of this extremely well-targeted benefit.

Laraine Smith, Principal, Uxbridge College.