SIR

I am 17 and get Education Maintenance Allowance because I live in Wales not in England. This allows me to go to college, without it I would not be able to study a course in child care. It pays for survival costs including transport. Friends of mine in England are and will really struggle without it.

If I want to go to university in England the fees are too high, but in Wales they are OK. I don't like the news but this week I saw two things which made me angry. There is the push to make GCSE's redundant. Thank you very much – I worked really hard for my grades and now the British government says they are too easy.

Now they want to cut housing benefit for people under 25. Youth unemployment is very high and England offers no way into higher education without huge debt. I am very worried about people my age in Monmouth; we didn't gamble with people's money or create a big deficit.

This will exclude many of us from a fair chance in life. It's very unfair.

Eloise Davies

(Monmouth)