Hundreds of thousands of England’s poorest sixth form students are still waiting for their grants to help them stay in education a month after the start of term, official figures reveal.

The Government today admitted that 110,000 students had yet to receive their Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) after the collapse of a new software system.

The EMA is a £30 weekly payment for 16-18 year old pupils from low income backgrounds to encourage them to remain in education.

Schools, sixth form and further education colleges fear that if the problems are not resolved quickly, many students may drop out.

An emergency taskforce has been set up to deal with the delayed payments and staff are working weekends and extra shifts but sixth-form heads and college leaders have complained of slow computer systems and jammed help lines.

Jim Knight, the Schools Minister told Barry Sheerman, the chair of the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee that 110,000 payments had yet to be made. “There are still young people who are awaiting their allowances, and we have asked colleges to provide for these students form their hardship funds,” he said.

The admission is a further embarrassment for the Government after a summer of delays to national test results for 11 and 14-year-olds.

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