Full time students usually cannot get benefits; there are some exceptions where parents may be able to apply for benefits during the summer months. There are also some benefits that disabled students may be eligible for.
Universal credit, income support, jobseeker’s allowance, income-related ESA and housing benefit are affected by most income that someone has. Student Loans and bursaries count as income.
Part-time students can usually continue to get their benefits as before, although this may be depending on work related activities if you are claiming UC or JSA.
For further information please see the Department for work and Pensions website and the HM Revenue & Customs website .
Working and Child Tax Credits
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Working and Child Tax credits are not usually affected by student funding. Find more about tax credits on the Government’s website .
Child Benefit and Scottish Child Payment (SCP)
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Child Benefit is money paid to parents or other people who are responsible for bringing up a child/ren under the age of 16 (or under 20 if in approved full time education or in unpaid training).
Scottish Child Payment helps towards the costs of supporting your family. It's a weekly payment of £25 that you can get for every child you look after who's under 16 years of age. You'll get the payment every 4 weeks if your application is successful.
Scottish Child Payment is one of the 5 family payments you may be able to get from Social Security Scotland, along with Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods.
You can find out more on the Government’s website.
Universal Credit
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Universal credit (UC) is a new benefit which is due to replace the following benefits and tax credits,
· Income support (IS) · Income-based jobseeker's allowance (JSA) · Income-related employment and support allowance (ESA) · Child tax credit and working tax credit · Housing benefit If you have student income it will usually count as income for Universal Credit. Student income includes student loans/bursaries and grants paid to you for your course.
You can find more information on universal credits online .
Job Seekers Allowance JSA
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If you are a full-time student you will not be entitled to Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
The exception to this which would allow students to apply during the summer break is
If you are a lone parent A member of a couple with a child where both of you are full-time students You can find out more on the Governments Website
Additional information
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GAIN
Turn2us -
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) -
Anyone considering studying full time and are unsure how this will affect your benefits, you can contact the funding team or your local Citizens Advice Team.
Housing Benefit
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Usually as a full time student you will not be entitled to housing benefit, however there are some exceptions if you:
are disabled are responsible for children are getting income support or income based jobseeker's allowance (during the summer months) are receiving a state pension leave your course temporarily because of illness or caring responsibilities. For more information see the Government’s website
