Click on one of the following links to take you to the relevant section:
Full-time students - who qualifies	Part-time students
Full-time students with children	Informing the benefit office of your change of circumstance
Full-time students with an illness or disability	Useful Links
How student income affects benefits	Claiming benefits at the end of your course

 

Click here for information on Tax Credits.  These are not Social Security Benefits as they are administered and paid by HR Revenue and Customs.  They are paid to some people with children or people who work the required number of hours and are on a low income.

Please note: If you are an international student you should seek advice before claiming any Social Security Benefit as this could affect your immigration status.

 

Full-Time Students

The majority of full time students are not eligible to claim Social Security benefits, including Income Support, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance, for the duration of their course including all vacations.

However there are some students who are eligible to claim benefits while they  study.  These are:

• Some single parents - see below for who qualifies 
• Certain students with disabilities - see below for who qualifies
• Students who are pensioners
• A couple where both partners are full-time students, and who have at least one dependant child, can claim Housing Benefit throughout the year. One of the couple can also claim Jobseeker’s Allowance during the summer vacation, subject to all the other normal rules (i.e. one of you must be able to ‘sign on’)
• Students who have had to suspend their studies because of ill health or caring responsibilities, but who have now recovered or no longer have the caring responsibilities.  Jobseeker’s Allowance can be claimed for the period from the date of recovery or when the caring responsibilities ended until the student rejoins the course, or for a maximum of 12 months, whichever is the shorter period.
• Non-student spouses/partners may be able to claim Housing Benefit, Income Support or Jobseeker’s Allowance on behalf of the couple subject to all the normal rules.  However student income is still taken into account and can reduce benefit entitlement.

 

Even if a student is eligible to claim benefits, student income can reduce the amount of benefit payable.  Please see the section about how student funding can affect and reduce the amount of means-tested benefit payable e.g Housing Benefit, Income Support.

Entitlement to Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit is unchanged by study and student income should not affect the amount paid. 

If you need advice about your benefit entitlement please contact Student Advice.

You can also visit the information about students and benefits on the Direct gov website.

 

Full-time Students with Children

Single Parents and Income Support

Lone parents must be responsible for a child aged seven or under in order to claim Income Support.

Exceptions currently apply for single parents who receive Carer's Allowance, who are fostering or whose child receives the middle or higher rate care element of Disability living Allowance. 

Please bear in mind that if you receive Income Support before you start your course and you are eligible to receive a Student Maintenance Loan (undergraduate students only) this is likely to cancel out any Income Support payments. For first year students the Maintenance Loan cancels out any Income Support payments from the start of the course until the end of the following June.  For students entering a subsequent year of their course,  the loan cancels out payments from approximately 1 September until the end of the following June. If you are a postgraduate student and you receive a Professional and Career Development Loan which includes an element for living costs this will also affect your benefit entitlement as this also counts as income.  For further clarification please see the section that explains how student income affects benefits.  

The Student Loan does not count as income during July and August so it does not affect Income Support payments during this time.  Therefore, if you are a single parent with a child aged under seven you should reclaim Income Support.  However if your child is aged seven or over you should claim Jobseeker's Allowance instead.   See below for details.

 Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) rules for lone parents with dependant children/young person and Student Couples with  dependant children/young person

Students couples responsible for a child can claim JSA during July and August.  In addition, if you are a single parent and you are not eligible to claim Income Support during this time because of the age of your child, you may be eligible for JSA instead. In order to claim a person must:

• meet the usual jobseeking rules and be available for full-time work; and
• their child/young person must either be under 16 years old or under 20 years of age and in full-time non advanced education e.g. studying A levels and therefore Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit are still paid for them.
  

 For details about JSA and how to claim visit the Direct.gov website.

Housing Benefit

If you are a single parent who is eligible to claim either Income Support or JSA (see above for who qualifies), you are also eligible to claim Housing Benefit throughout the year. You do not need to be in receipt of Income Support or JSA in order to qualify.  If you were in receipt of these benefits and they stop e.g. your child turns seven, you should notify the Housing Benefit Office and ask for your Housing Benefit to continue.  A new assessment can be made to establish your entitlement.

If you are part of a student couple with a dependant child you are also eligible to claim Housing Benefit throughout the year. You do not need to be in receipt of Income Support or JSA in order to qualify.

Whether you receive Housing Benefit will depend upon your income e.g. earnings from work, and your rent.  If you are a full-time undergraduate student and are eligible for a Maintenance Loan this counts as income and will affect and reduce the amount of benefit payable.  Although the Maintenance Loan will reduce the amount payable, it does not usually cancel out Housing Benefit completely during term-time (including the short vacations). Also, the loan does not count as income during July and August so you should be entitled to a higher rate of Housing Benefit during the summer vacation.  Therefore towards the end of June you should notify your Housing Benefit Office of the change in your income for your entitlement to be re-assessed. 

If you are a postgraduate student and you receive a Professional and Career Development Loan which includes an element for living costs this will also affect your benefit entitlement as this also counts as income.

For clarification on what student income is used and how this affects your benefit entitlement please see the section that explains how student income affects benefits.

 

Studying full-time and claiming benefits because of illness or disability

In most cases, to be eligible to claim benefits as a full-time student you must receive Disability Living Allowance (DLA).  However if you receive a non means-tested benefit such as Incapacity Benefit or Contributory Employment Support Allowance please contact Student Advice for advice about your entitlement to claim as a student. If you receive Income Support, Incapacity Benefit or Employment Support Allowance (ESA) your ability to work can sometimes be questioned because of your full-time study and this may affect your entitlement to receive these benefits.  Skill, the National Bureau for Students with Disabilities has a number of useful information sheets about claiming benefits while you study and the difference between work and study.  For details visit the Skill website.

Please bear in mind that if you are eligible to claim benefits and you receive a Student Maintenance Loan (undergraduate full-time students only), this can can affect and reduce any Income Support, income related Employment Support Allowance payments and Housing Benefit as these benefits are means-tested against your income.  In most cases the Student Loan cancels out any payments altogether because the weekly loan income is higher each week than the maximum weekly benefit payable. For clarification on what student income is used, see the section below "How full-time student funding affects benefits".  Although the Student Loan is usually high enough to cancel out any Income Support/income related ESA payments during term-time (including the short vacations) it does not count as income during July and August so benefits can be paid in full during this time.  Towards the end of June you will need to notify the relevant Benefit department of the change in your income for your entitlement to be re-assessed and you may have to complete a new application form.    

Incapacity Benefit, DLA and non income based ESA are not reduced by your student income.

PLEASE NOTE:  ESA has replaced Income Support and Incapacity Benefit.  If you are in receipt of Income Support before the start of your course or there is a break in your claim, it may not be possible to reclaim this benefit in the future or during the following summer vacation. Please seek advice from the Student Advisers about your entitlement.

If you receive any other Social Security Benefit because of illness and disability e.g. Incapacity Benefit,  and you want advice about your entitlement to claim this benefit while you study please contact Student Advice for advice.

Housing Benefit

If you are eligible for Income Support, ESA or Incapacity Benefit you are also eligible to claim Housing Benefit. 

Your Student Maintenance Loan income will affect and reduce the amount of Housing Benefit payable as the same rules mentioned above for Income Support and ESA also apply. If you receive Incapacity Benefit this will also be used as income to reduce your Housing Benefit payments. You are likely to receive a reduced amount of Housing Benefit during term-time (including the short vacations) but should be entitled to a higher rate of Housing Benefit during the Summer vacation (July and August) when your Student Loan does not count as income.  Towards the end of June you will need to notify your Housing Benefit Office of the change in your income for your entitlement to be re-assessed for the summer period.

NHS Health Costs

Please be aware that if your Income Support or ESA payments stop because you are a student or because you loan income cancels out any payments you will not be entitled to free NHS prescriptions.  You can apply to be assessed for help meeting NHS costs. Information about this can be found on the NHS website.  However your student funding counts as income so this may affect your eligibility to receive help and you may be liable to pay these costs yourself.

The Disability Service

For help with any disability-related aspect of your studies at the University, or for further advice and assistance with Disabled Students’ Allowances, please contact the Disability Service.

 

How full-time student funding affects benefits

The treatment of student income for full-time undergraduate students is quite complicated and there are different rules for final year students.  

Period for which the Student Loan is counted as income

For all students apart from final year students, the Student Loan counts as income from 1 Sept to the end of June (42/43 weeks). This applies regardless of your actual term dates, so even students on ‘year long’ courses should have their loan divided by 42/43 weeks to arrive at the term-time income figure used to calculate benefits. 

However, students starting the first year of their course should not have their benefits reduced by this income until the beginning of the course. Although the Student Loan and Supplementary Grants are treated as income from 1 September, they cannot be taken into account as income until a student actually starts a full-time course.

Students in their final year should have the loan treated as income from 1 September until the last day of the course.  This is usually the last day of the summer term, but for final year students on ‘year long’ courses, it will be the date you complete your course in August.

In most cases the Student Loan cancels out any payments of Income Support or ESA during term-time altogether (including the short vacations) because the weekly loan income is higher than the maximum weekly benefit payable.  As the loan does not count as income during July and August benefits can be paid in full during this time.  You will need to contact the relevant benefit office to either update them of your circumstances or in some cases, submit a new application in order for your benefit entitlement to be assessed during this period.

Income disregards

Some of your Student Loan and most grants are disregarded (ignored) when your benefit is worked out.  The following are disregarded:

• the Higher Education Grant (only for ‘old funded’ pre 2006 undergraduate students)
• the Special Support Grant(only for ‘new funded’ undergraduate students since 2006) - see the important information below
  
• the Parent Learning Allowance
  
• the Childcare Grant
• the Tuition Fee Loan
  
• a fixed amount for books and equipment of approximately £390 per year for 2010/11 - rate for 2011/12 not yet released
  
• a fixed amount for travel of £303 per year for 2010/11 - rates for 2011/12 not yet released
  
• £10 per week, which is normally set against the Student Loan
• most Access to Learning Fund payments
• any allowance to meet extra expenses because you are a student with disabilities (i.e. Disabled Students’ Allowances)

 

The following grants do count as income for benefits and will be taken into account for the same period as the student loan:

• The Maintenance Grant
• The Adult Dependants' Grant

 

IMPORTANT: Should I receive the Special Support Grant or the Maintenance Grant?

If you are entitled to receive benefits while you study you should make sure you receive the Special Support Grant instead of the Maintenance Grant.  Even though these are for the same amount of money, only the Special Support Grant is ignored as income when calculating entitlement to benefits.  So, if you receive the Maintenance Grant in error it will be used as income and will reduce your benefits and you will loose out on money.  Please be aware that you will normally get the Maintenance Grant instead of the Special Support Grant if you are part of a couple and your non-student partner is the person who is claiming benefit.

What if I don't want to take out my Maintenance Loan?

The Jobcentre Plus (Social Security Office) and Housing Benefit Office will assume that you have taken out your full Maintenance Loan entitlement whether or not you have.  If you choose not to take the loan out it will still be counted as income.  The Loan is only ignored if you are not eligible to receive it, and you can prove this to the relevant benefit department.

I am a Postgraduate Student and have a Professional Loan.

If you receive a Career Development Loan or other professional study loan this can be used as income and can reduce your benefit entitlement if any part of the loan is paid for living costs. Postgraduate Maintenance Grants awarded by a Research Council can also affect benefits and are used in the same way as Undergraduate Student Loans and Grants - see above for details.

 

Part-time Students

Part-time students studying a part-time course can claim benefits under the usual benefit rules.  Your study should not affect your eligibility providing you meet the eligibility rules of the benefit for which you are applying.  The part-time funding available to you is not high enough to affect your benefit entitlement but you should notify the different benefit departments of your study and funding entitlement as it is income and is a change in your circumstances.  

Please note: full-time students who are retrieving modules in order to progress on to the next year of your course are usually classed by the University as a "part-time module retriever". Part-time module retrievers are still full-time students and therefore they cannot claim any benefits unless they belong to one of the groups of full-time students who can claim.  They can still apply for their full-time student Maintenance Loan instead.

Social Security Benefits for Living costs

Depending on the age of your child you may be entitled to claim Income Support if you are a single parent or Employment Support Allowance if you have a limited capability for work because of illness or disability.  Visit the Directgov site for information about these benefits.  If you are single, with no dependant children and are looking for work you could claim Jobseeker's Allowance.

Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
Students attending part-time courses may remain eligible for JSA providing you are available for and actively seeking work. In order to qualify for JSA all claimants have to sign a Jobseeker’s Agreement. The Agreement is based on information given on the form "Helping you back to Work" which you are given when you first sign on. The questions on this form will determine whether you are genuinely available for work. If you are planning to study part-time, you may also need to fill in the Student Questionnaire  (see below).

The Student Questionnaire
You are required to tell the Jobcentre Plus if you intend to take a part-time course.  You will then be given a form to fill in to assess whether you are still genuinely available for work.  It is very important to get advice before filling in this form and you do not have to complete it on the spot.  Take the form away with you, and ask for help from Student Advice.

The questionnaire is designed to test your commitment to the course and whether you are genuinely available for work.  If you are not available for work you will lose your benefit. You will need to show:

• that you are a part-time student (the Jobcentre/ Benefits Agency will ask for evidence from the University that your course is part-time) and
• that you did not give up a job or training to do the course and
• that you are willing and able to take time off your course to attend any job interview, and
• that you can be contacted easily when you are on the course and
• that you can rearrange the time you attend the course to fit in with a job or
• that you would be willing to give up the course immediately if a job becomes available even if you are nearing the end of your course.

 

You could also lose benefit if the Jobcentre believe you are committed to your course rather than finding work.  For example the following could indicate your commitment to a course rather than finding work and you could loose benefit if:

• you have to complete the course to get the sort of job you want  or
• you have paid a large fee which will not be refunded if you leave the course or
• you have been given a grant which you will have to repay if you drop out.

 

For further information about the JSA rules visit the Direct gov website.

Housing Benefit

Even if you do not qualify for JSA, Income Support or other similar benefit payable for living costs, you can still claim Housing Benefit as a part-time student.  Housing Benefit does not depend on ‘meeting the Labour Market conditions’ and being available for work. Instead it depends upon your the level of your income.  If you have a low enough income you may receive some Housing Benefit.

For further information about the rules visit the Direct gov website

Council Tax Benefit

Part time students are not exempt from Council Tax liability however you may be eligible to claim Council Tax Benefit to help meet this cost.  It is assessed against the level of your income.  You need to claim through your local Council Housing Benefit department. 

For further information about the general benefit rules visit the Direct gov website  and also their information about students and benefits. 

 

Informing the Benefit Office of your change in circumstance

If you are a full-time student who is eligible to claim Social Security benefits or a part-time student it is important to let the Jobcentre and Housing Benefit office know.  If you receive student funding you will need to notify them of the change in your income or you will end up having to repay overpaid benefits or possibly even being prosecuted for fraud.  If you are a full-time student, for your benefit entitlement to be re-assessed you should provide your Student Finance Breakdown document as this clearly details the funding you receive, rather than your payment schedule. You will need to do this at the start of each year of your course.  If you are a full-time student who is eligible to receive a Student Maintenance Loan your maximum entitlement will be taken into account whether or not you apply for it. 

Benefit entitlements for students are very complicated and the DWP, the Inland Revenue and Housing Benefit office sometimes make mistakes on student claims.  If you would like help working out your benefit entitlements please contact Student Advice for further advice. 

We also have a designated page that explains about other financial options for student parents.

Claiming Benefits at the end of your course

Once your course has ended and you are no longer a student, you are entitled to claim Social Security Benefits under the normal rules.

If you are a lone parent with a child aged under 7 you may be entitled to claim Income Support. 

If you are unable to work due to illness or disability you may be eligible for Employment and Support Allowance. 

If you are able to work and looking for work you could claim Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) while you find work.

All these benefits are to help with general living costs. 

For more detailed information about these benefits visit the directgov website.

If you are entitled to a benefit to cover your general living costs e.g. JSA, Income Support or Employment Support Allowance or you have a low income from work you may also be entitled to claim Housing Benefit for help paying your rent and Council Tax Benefit for help with your Council Tax. The amount of benefit paid depends upon your income and your rent. You should claim either through your local Council Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Office or you may be able to claim when you apply for JSA at your local Jobcentre Plus.

For more detailed information about Housing Benefit and Council tax Benefit visit the directgov website.

If you are working you may also be entitled to Working Tax Credit. Eligibility and the amount awarded depends upon your earnings and the number of hours you work. For details about the eligibility rules and how to apply visit the HMRC Tax Credits website and /or see below.
  

Tax Credits

There are two types of Tax Credit,  Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Working Tax Credit (WTC).  They are administered and paid by the HM Revenue and Customs.

If you have children you may be eligible to claim Child Tax Credit and if you are working you may also be eligible for Working Tax Credit.  Tax Credits are not taxable.

 

Child Tax Credit
CTC is paid to families with one or more dependant children normally living with them. You do not have to be working to get Child Tax Credit.  CTC is made up of a Family Element and a Child Element for each child plus a Baby Element for children under 1 year old. There is also a Disability Element and a Severe Disability Element if you are receiving certain disability benefits for your child/ren. For details of who qualifies and the rates payable visit the HMRC website.

How is it paid?
CTC is paid directly into your bank account, either weekly or four weekly (like Child Benefit) – you can choose by indicating this on your application form.

How do I claim?
You complete a Tax Credit claim form which can be obtained by phoning the Tax Credits helpline on 0845 300 3900 (8am to 8pm). For details visit the HMRC website.

You are eligible to CTC if you receive Income Support or Income based- JSA.  If you are not receiving it and you or your partner  currently receive either of these benefits, contact Student Advice for further advice.

 

Working Tax Credit
WTC is for working people on a low income who work the required number of hours per week. The amount paid depends upon your earnings.  Visit the HMRC website for details of who is eligible to claim.

The Childcare element of Working Tax Credit
There is a childcare element of Working Tax Credit but full-time students will normally be better off claiming the Student Finance Childcare Grant, if eligible. Part-time students or their partners who are eligible for Working Tax Credit can claim help towards approved childcare costs. For information about who is eligible please visit the HMRC website.

How will my student income affect CTC and WTC
The amount you get is assessed against your income and your partner’s income.  The Student Finance England Adult Dependant’s Grant counts as income but all other student income does not count as income.  Child Benefit (CB), Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit do not count as income but taxable Social Security Benefits do count as income.

How will WTC and CTC affect my student funding and benefits?
CTC and WTC do count as income for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.  Most people who claim Income Support because they have children, will receive Child Tax Credit and Child Benefit (CB) for their children separately. In this instance, CB and CTC is not taken into account as income for IS.  CTC and WTC do not count as income for Student Finance England funding.

If you want to find out more about CTC or WTC for you or your partner telephone the Tax Credits Helpline on 0845 300 3900 (8 am to 8 pm) or visit HM Revenue and Customs website

 

Useful Links

• Direct gov website
• Gingerbread - advice for single parent families
  
• Tax Credits Online (tells you if you are eligible)
• Skill -  information for students with disabilities
  
• Department for Work and Pensions website
• Citizens Advice Bureau Benefits Page                                              
• Student Finance England/Direct Gov (view/download a copy of the guide to the Childcare Grant and other support for full-time student parents, funding guide for disabled students)