Stage one: apply
You create an account in EMA, which is Step Up's online platform, and submit an application. It is free, it takes well under an hour, and submitting it commits you to nothing.
For the 2026-2027 school year, new student applications close on 15 November 2026. That date is the single most important one in this article. It is set by the state and it does not move for individual families.
You do not need to have chosen a school to apply. In fact applying early and choosing later is the better order, because an award in hand makes the school conversation much simpler.
Stage two: accept
If your application is approved, you receive an award offer in EMA and you have to actively accept it. For 2026-2027, new students must accept or decline by 15 December 2026.
This is the first place families quietly lose a scholarship. The award arrives, the email gets buried, and the deadline passes with the offer still sitting unaccepted. Set a reminder the day you apply.
Stage three: enrol in EMA
This is the step almost nobody expects, and it is the one that catches people out.
Being accepted at a school and having a scholarship are two separate facts, and neither one produces money on its own. The school has to submit your enrolment in EMA, and then you have to approve that submission. Both halves. A completed enrolment means school submitted and parent approved.
Each funding quarter has its own enrolment deadline. For 2026-2027 the quarter three deadline is 15 December 2026, and the quarter four deadline is 15 February 2027. There is also a hard backstop: a student not enrolled in EMA by 15 January 2027 cannot be considered for any 2026-2027 funding at all.
The practical consequence is that a mid-year start is entirely possible. A family who applies in November, accepts in early December and completes enrolment by 15 December can have a child starting in January, funded from quarter three.
Stage four: funding
Scholarships pay quarterly rather than in one lump. Each quarter the school raises an invoice in EMA, you approve it, and the state releases that quarter's payment to the school.
Your approval is required every time. It is a small task, it takes a minute, and an unapproved invoice means an unpaid quarter.
The dates, in one place
For the 2026-2027 school year, from Step Up's published schedule.
- 15 November 2026. Last day for a new student to apply.
- 15 December 2026. Last day to accept the award, and the quarter three enrolment deadline.
- 15 January 2027. The final backstop for any 2026-2027 funding.
- 15 February 2027. Quarter four enrolment deadline for transfer students.
- Around 1 February 2027. The 2027-2028 application season is expected to open.
What a school should be doing for you
A school that takes scholarships seriously does not hand you a link and wish you luck. It completes the scholarship application alongside your school application, it submits your EMA enrolment promptly, and it tells you when an approval is waiting on you.
If a school leaves all of this to you, that is worth noticing. The steps are not difficult, but they are easy to miss, and the cost of missing one is a whole school year.
Common questions
- What is EMA?
- EMA is the online platform Step Up For Students uses to manage scholarships. You apply through it, accept your award in it, approve your school enrolment in it and approve each quarterly payment in it.
- Can my child start in the middle of the school year?
- Yes. Scholarships fund quarterly. For 2026-2027, completing EMA enrolment by 15 December 2026 funds a student from quarter three, which supports a January start.
- What happens if I miss the 15 November deadline?
- A new student generally waits until the following school year. Narrow exceptions run to April for active-duty military dependents, students in foster or out-of-home care, and students who experienced documented bullying.
- Do I have to choose a school before I apply?
- No, and applying first is usually better. An approved award makes the conversation with a school much more straightforward.