Full time students and other benefits
Carer’s Allowance
You cannot get Carer’s Allowance if you are in full-time education, even during holidays. For Carer’s Allowance, full time usually means a course at any level that the school, college or university says is full time.
Child Benefit
If you are responsible for a child, as a full-time student you can still claim Child Benefit.
Pension Credit
If you are a full-time student who is over Pension Credit age and you have a low income, you may be able to get Pension Credit.
If you get Pension Credit (Guarantee credit), you will automatically receive your maximum entitlement to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support.
Tax Credits
It is no longer possible to make new claims for tax credits. If you are already getting tax credits you may be able to carry on receiving them. Otherwise, you will need to make a claim for Universal Credit.
You can get tax credits even if you are a full-time student.
If you or your partner are working and have a fairly low income, you may get Working Tax Credit; however, in some cases you need to be aged 25 or over. How many hours you need to work will depend on your circumstances.
If you are responsible for children as a lone parent or as a member of a couple, you may get Child Tax Credit.
See the Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit information guides for full details about who can claim.
Most student support income is ignored but some additional payments may count as income.
Updated: April 2019