MORE than 2,000 students in York and North Yorkshire will be in line for the Government's £30 allowance for staying on at school.

The Education Maintenance Allowance for Year 11 pupils is aimed at reducing the number of students who drop out of school.

Currently the UK has one of the highest post-16 drop-out rates in the western world.

From September 2004 students living in households with an income of less than £30,000 a year will be able to get between £10 and £30 a week.

A total of 600 students in York will be entitled to the cash, along with 1,960 students in North Yorkshire and 1,320 in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Students are now being asked to pick up application forms from schools, sixth form colleges or branches of Connexions.

Students will be means tested for the money which will be paid directly into their bank accounts.

The Government expects just over half of the country's population of teenagers to be eligible.

Education Secretary Charles Clarke said: "There is no point having improving GCSE results and higher education participation rising towards 50 per cent if there remains a huge chunk in the middle that continue to drop out and enter into a cycle of continuous low-paid work or unemployment."

Updated: 10:10 Wednesday, April 28, 2004