Skip to content

Types of benefit

There are some types of benefits that are available for students.

Council Tax Benefit

All full-time students (including international and intermitting students) are EXEMPT from paying Council Tax.

If you are already in receipt of benefits and you have a Council Tax liability, you may be able to apply for Council Tax Benefit. The eligibility rules follow the same criteria as Housing Benefit

How to apply: contact the Benefits department in your local council who will advise you on making an application

Housing Benefit

Housing Benefit is paid to people who are on a low income and who pay rent.

You may apply if you are a single parent with a child under 16, or aged under 20 as long as you are still receiving Child Benefit for them.

You may apply if you and your partner are both full-time students and are responsible for a child. Unlike Income Support and Jobseekers Allowance, this applies throughout the whole year.

You may apply if you are claiming a disability benefit or in receipt of a disability premium within your Income Support assessment

You may apply if you are receiving Disabled Students' Allowance for deafness

You may apply if you have had limited capacity for work for 28 weeks regardless of whether you have received Disability Living Allowance or Employment Support Allowance

If you are claiming a disability benefit and living in university managed or campus accommodation you may be eligible to claim Housing Benefit. Housing Benefit claims can be attached to campus accommodation or university managed accommodation and can be claimed throughout the whole year, and not just during summer vacation.

How to apply: contact the Benefits department in your local council who will advise you on making an application

Local Housing Allowance

The Local Housing Allowance has replaced Housing Benefit nationally for tenants on a low income living in private rented accommodation.

Eligibility and entitlement rules to Local Housing Allowance remain the same as Housing Benefit. LHA will be based on rent levels for the area in which you live and it is dependent on how many people live in the property. As tenants you will receive the maximum LHA you are entitled to as a flat rate. It is up to you to find suitable accommodation within this price In most cases payments will be made to you rather than your landlord.

In term time the rate of allowance will be affected by student income. You can claim Local Housing Allowance if you fulfill eligibility criteria and you live in university managed or campus accommodation.

See Benefit Calculations to calculate projected LHA.
If you are receiving benefits at the time of applying for student loans and grants, you may eligible for more student finance

Income Support

This is a benefit paid to people who are unable to work, most commonly to lone parents with a child under the age of 7. If you are eligible for Income Support during your studies, the amount you can receive will be affected by your student finance entitlement, whether you choose to take out a student loan or not. From October 2011, lone parents will lose their entitlement to Income Support as soon as their child goes to school: www.hlp.entitledto.co.uk/viewhelp.aspx?sid=13&helpfile=IncomeSupportRulesLoneParent

Transitional rules apply if you started a full time course before 25th October 2010 as the date your course started will determine the child’s age up to which you can claim as a lone parent. However, if your Income Support stops for any reason during your course (eg if your loan and grant means you have too much income) you will lose this transitional protection and will not be able to reclaim if your youngest child is over 7. This table may be helpful

Date Course Starts IS until youngest child is:
Before 24/11/08 16
Between 24/11/08 – 25/10/09 12
Between 26/10/09 – 24/10/10 10
On or after 25/10/10 7

Job Seekers Allowance

This is paid to those who are unemployed or who work for less than 16 hours a week and who are actively seeking full-time work.
Eligible students must meet the 'labour market conditions' of being available and actively seeking work so the times when you can claim Jobseekers Allowance are limited but include:

  • If you are one of a couple who are both full-time students and responsible for a child (summer vacation only)
  • If you are a single parent and no longer eligible for Income Support (summer vacation only. As a full-time student you can claim during the summer vacation (but not at other times) if you are a single person with a dependent child aged under 16, or aged under 20 as long as you receive child benefit for them.
  • If you were absent from your course - intermitting - due to illness or caring responsibilities, you can claim from when the reason for your absence has ceased until the day before you rejoin your course or the start of the next academic year, whichever is the earlier.

Working Tax Credit (WTC)

WTC is a means-tested benefit for working people on low incomes who usually work 16 hours or more a week (if you have children) or 30 hours or more a week (if you don’t have children).

Child Care Element (CCE)

As part of Working Tax Credit you may qualify for extra help towards the cost of child care. Couples can apply if:

  • both work 16 hours or more, or
  • one of you works 16 hours or more per week and the other has a disability.

You cannot claim both child care element and the Child Care Grant from student finance.
You can read more here: HMRC Tax Credits

Incapacity Benefit

This is paid to people who are unable to work because of long term illness or disability. It was replaced by Contributory Employment Support Allowance in October 2008 and all existing awards of Incapacity Benefit are currently being migrated over to the new system.
Any new claims after October 2008 will be for ESA.

Potential problems around continuing entitlement usually arise when someone starts a full time course, or if a course includes a compulsory placement year, as it may be hard to justify incapacity for work.

If you are in receipt of Incapacity Benefit  you should contact Student Advice for the latest information

Employment Support Allowance

Employment Support Allowance (ESA) replaces Incapacity Benefit and income support on disability grounds from 27 October 2008.

  • Contributory ESA
    You can apply for if you have paid enough National Insurance (NI) contributions. You will be required to pass the test of limited capability to work.
  • Income related ESA
    If you do not have enough NI contributions you may be able to claim income related ESA. This replaces Income support on the grounds of disability. Full time students must be in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to receive this.

Part time students may claim both types of ESA – you can claim Income related ESA if you satisfy the means test, there is no requirement to be receipt of DLA.

Please note the conditions attached to ESA regarding work focused on health related interviews could interfere with the ability to attend a full time course.

If you are claiming a disability benefit and living in university managed or campus accommodation you may be eligible to claim Local Housing Allowance.

Child Tax Credit (CTC)

This is a means–tested credit for families who are responsible for at least one child regardless of whether or not the parents are in work. It replaces the child elements of Income Support and Job Seekers Allowance.

If you have not been transferred over to this benefit then it may be worth seeking advice on how to do so as you may be better off claiming CTC.

If you are a lone parent that has been receiving IS with amounts for your children and you are moved off IS onto JSA  you will not get child amounts in your JSA and so will have to claim CTC for support for your children instead.

You can read more here: HMRC Tax Credits