Cash incentive for exam pass

NEARLY 60,000 teenagers stand to gain up to pounds 140 if they pass exams, under a pilot scheme starting next month to encourage them to stay on at school or college.

But pupils aged 16 to 19 who fail to turn up for lessons or do not complete homework could lose the grants of up to pounds 40 a week, under the government project, to be tested in 15 areas. If the scheme is successful it could be extended across the country.

Grants will be directed at young people from deprived backgrounds. But all teenagers whose parents earn less than pounds 30,000 a year will get some money under the pounds 100m education maintenance allowance scheme. Teenagers from households with pounds 13,000 or less will receive full grants.

Bonuses, ranging from pounds 50 to pounds 140, will be paid as students complete each term and pass exams at the end of the course.

The 15 local authority pilot areas will be Bolton, Nottingham, Cornwall, Doncaster, Gateshead, Leeds, Middles- brough, Oldham, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Walsall, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark and Greenwich.