A number of further education colleges have expressed concern over the amount they are being given under the governments new bursary scheme.

The bursary fund has been established as a replacement for Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) payments, which were axed by the government earlier this year.

Julian Gravatt, Assistant Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges, said over 20 further education colleges have voiced concerns about this.

“The colleges have done the sums and they reckon theyve got more students in the priority groups than theyll be able to properly fund with the money theyve got,” he told the BBC.

“Weve had a number of calls from college principals and managers who are concerned that they wont have enough money to meet the needs of their students who are going to be enrolling this September.”

A spokesman for the Department for Education said the 16-19 bursary fund is worth £180 million a year.

He noted that in total the government will spend more than £300 million on financial support for young people over the next 12 months.

The representative claimed that the EMA was “very expensive” and only encouraged a small proportion of students to stay on in education.

Under the governments new initiative, 12,000 of the countrys most vulnerable youngsters will be guaranteed bursaries of up to £1,200 a year.

Shadow Education Secretary Andy Burnham said the EMAs replacement has been “mismanaged from start to finish”.

“[Education Secretary] Michael Gove has taken a successful scheme that provided good value to the taxpayer and turned it into a complete shambles, leaving many students in the dark over what financial support will be available,” he added.