Will COVID-19 affect my child’s EMA payment being backdated to the start of term?

For academic year 2020/21 the period for applicants to be considered for backdated EMA is being extended.

Usually, if students submit their EMA application to the Student Loans Company before 30th September, they will have their weekly allowance payments backdated to the beginning of term. However, for the academic year 2020/21, students who submit their application before the 3rd December 2020 will have their weekly allowance backdated to the beginning of term.

Any applications which are submitted after 3rd December 2020 will only be backdated to the date that it was received by the Student Loans Company.

Please note that the EMA application packs for academic year 2020/21 were printed prior to the impact of COVID-19, and therefore some printed EMA forms refer to 30th September to qualify for backdated weekly allowance payments.