Universal Credit and young people in education: Your questions answered

12 mins read

Monday 9 February 2026

Our recent Facebook Q&A highlighted the widespread confusion amongst families about when it’s possible to claim Universal Credit for a young disabled person who is still in education.

Our Family Finance Team received almost 30 questions from parent carers across the UK.  

Below are the key themes that came up most frequently, along with the advice we provided:

Most 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds in full-time education can’t get Universal Credit

The Universal Credit rules prevent most claimants who are ‘receiving education’ from getting Universal Credit. The definition of receiving education includes:

  • Young people in full-time non-advanced education (e.g. school or college) who have not yet reached the September after their 19th birthday.
  • Young people in full-time advanced education (university or equivalent), regardless of their age.

Young people in these groups won’t get Universal Credit unless they are exempt from the student restrictions. Exempt young people include those with children of their own or those estranged from their parents.

Which disabled students are exempt from the rules?

Even if your son or daughter falls into one of the groups of students who cannot normally get Universal Credit, they can claim if they are disabled and meet two tests.

These tests are:

  1. That they already get a disability benefit such as Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment or their Scottish equivalents.
  2. They have undergone a DWP assessment known as a work capability assessment and have established a limited capability for work. However, they need to have done this at some point BEFORE they started their current period of ‘receiving education’. 

It is easier for someone in full-time non-advanced education to get Universal Credit once they have reached the September after their 19th birthday. Different rules apply at that point.

Part-time students are usually able to claim Universal Credit, whether they have reached the September after their 19th birthday or not.

19-year-olds in full-time non-advanced education

When a young person is 19 and still in full-time non-advanced education, it can be easier for them to qualify for Universal Credit despite being on a course.

There are two circumstances where the rules help a 19-year-old. These are where:

  • A 19-year-old is on a course that they were accepted or enrolled onto at some point after they turned 19.
  • They have passed the August after their 19th birthday.

If either of the above apply, there is only one other way the DWP can refuse them Universal Credit. This is if their Universal Credit claim includes any work-related conditions (e.g. job-seeking or attending training) and the DWP argues that these conditions are not compatible with their course.

Universal Credit staff can use their powers to switch off all work-related conditions. Or they can accept that your child’s course is flexible enough to meet the work-related conditions alongside the course. If they do either, there is no incompatibility between the course and claim, and they should award Universal Credit.

Establishing LCWRA

Rather than hoping Universal Credit staff switch off work-related conditions, it is possible to force them to do this.

If your child makes a credits-only claim for new-style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) now and establishes that they have a limited capability for work- and work-related activity (LCWRA), the DWP are legally obliged to switch off all work-related conditions. By doing this you can guarantee that come September, your child won’t be refused Universal Credit as a student. The decision won’t be left to the discretion of individual Universal Credit workers. 

If your child has already passed the August after their 19th birthday, or if they were accepted/enrolled onto a new course of full-time non-advanced education at some point after they turned 19, you should get advice about them claiming Universal Credit now.

If your 19-year-old was accepted onto their course before age 19 and they don’t turn 20 until sometime after August, get them to make a credits-only claim for new-style ESA as soon as possible. That way, they can try to get a decision that they have LCWRA in place for September.

How does my child go about establishing a limited capability for work?

In order to do this, your child will need to get fit notes from their GP. You’ll submit these to the DWP alongside a claim form for new-style ESA.

Unless your child has been working and paying national insurance, they are not actually going to qualify for ESA. You are completing the claim form not to get ESA itself. Instead, you are aiming to force the DWP to carry out a work capability assessment and to make a decision on whether or not your child has a limited capability for work. This is known as making a ‘credits only’ claim for new style ESA. You can read more about what’s involved in making a ‘credits only’ claim for ESA on our website.

Once you’ve lodged a claim, you’ll get a decision telling you that your child does not qualify for ESA. Don’t be worried by this. A refusal is what you are expecting.

The DWP should then start the process of organising a work capability assessment. They should send you a work capability questionnaire to complete. Once you’ve completed and return the questionnaire along with any other supportive evidence you have, the DWP may make a decision about your child’s capability for work based solely on the paperwork. Or they may ask for an interview over the phone/video call. Or your child may have a face-to-face consultation with a health professional.

My child established limited capability for work. Will they be able to get Universal Credit straightaway despite being in education?

No. Making a credits-only claim for new-style ESA will not necessarily help them get Universal Credit while on their current course.

However, it will maximise their chances of getting Universal Credit in the future if they:

  • Have a break in their education, before returning to a new course at a later date.
  • Move from non-advanced education to advanced education (e.g. they will be starting university after the summer).
  • Stay on in non-advanced education beyond the August after their 19th birthday.
  • Are 19 and start a new course of full-time non-advanced education after their 19th birthday.

The situation is different if your child has already passed the August after their 19th birthday and remains in full-time non-advanced education. It’s also different if they are in part-time education. In these two groups only, establishing LCW can help you get Universal Credit straightaway, even if it was done on your existing course of education.

When should I make a ‘credits only’ claim for new-style ESA?

So long as your child is at least 16, the earlier you make a ‘credits only’ claim the better.

The last we heard, it was taking four-six months to get a decision that someone has limited capability for work. This means you want to make a claim at least six months before your child is likely to claim Universal Credit.

For example, your child is 19 or about to turn 19 and in full-time non-advanced education and you want to help them claim Universal Credit from September. You should not delay in making a credits only claim. You need to leave enough time to get a decision back that they have a limited capability for work. Similarly, if your child is going to start university, you need to get a decision before that new course starts.

The best advice is simply just to get it done as soon as you can. That way you don’t need to worry about whether or not you will get a decision back in enough time. 

Will my Child Benefit and Universal Credit child payments be affected if I help my daughter make a credits only claim for ESA?

Making a ‘credits only’ claim for new-style ESA will NOT impact any payments you currently get for your child. So long as your child hasn’t worked and paid any national insurance they will not actually receive any ESA payments. This means your benefits won’t be affected.

The benefits you currently receive for them will stop once when they actually start to get Universal Credit in their own right. They’ll also stop when they become too old for you to receive payments for them as a child.

My child is 17 and on PIP. He will be moving from school to a special education college after the summer. He’s just had a decision back that he has LCWRA. Does this mean he can claim Universal Credit once he starts his new course?

This will depend. The law says your child will be exempt from the student rules if they established LCWRA on a date before they started ‘receiving education’.

However, it’s not certain the DWP will accept that your son will have had a break in receiving education when he moves from school to college. They may instead argue that the new college course is a continuation of the previous period of receiving education.

Young people in full-time non-advanced education are treated as receiving education not only while they are on their course. They are also receiving education during any period when they have been accepted or enrolled onto another non-advanced course that they are waiting to start.

For example, a young person who moves from school to a non-advanced college course is treated as receiving education:

  • While on their school course.
  • During the summer holidays (assuming they were accepted onto their college course before their school course ended).
  • Once they start their new course.

The DWP are likely to argue they have remained in one single period of ‘receiving education’ throughout this whole time.  If they take this view, they will argue that your son is not exempt from the student restrictions because he established LCWRA during his current period of receiving education, rather than before it.

The situation will be different if there is a delay in him being accepted onto his new course. For example, where someone’s school term ends and there is then a gap of some days or weeks during the summer before they are accepted onto a new college course. In that case, it should be possible to argue that there has been a break in them receiving education. If so, they should be entitled to Universal Credit on their new course.

My daughter is 18 and on Adult Disability Payment. She’s still in school but will be starting university after the summer.  She has already made a ‘credits only’ claim for ESA and established LCWRA. Does this mean she will definitely get Universal Credit payments once she is at university?

Someone moving from non-advanced to advanced education is treated as having a break in receiving education during the summer. Your daughter should be able to claim Universal Credit during the summer holidays (as long as she meets the normal rules). It also means she will be exempt from the student restrictions and eligible for Universal Credit on her university course. This is because she will be a student who established LCWRA before they started receiving education. 

However, the fact that she is exempt from the student restrictions doesn’t necessarily guarantee that she will actually get Universal Credit while at university. Universal Credit is a means-tested benefit. Depending on her income and savings, her Universal Credit award may be very low or even reduced to nil. Some student finance such as a maintenance loan is treated as income and deducted from a Universal Credit award. So, any Universal Credit payments will depend on her individual circumstances including her student income and how much rent she pays, if any. 

My disabled son is 18, on PIP and on a non-advanced college course. He wants to claim Universal Credit for himself. If he is awarded Universal Credit, will this affect any payments that I get for him?

Your son may not have the option of getting Universal Credit at this point in time. As an 18-year-old in full-time non-advanced education, he’s likely to be refused Universal Credit unless he already established a limited capability for work (LCW) at some point before he started his current period of receiving education.

If he is able to receive Universal Credit, any Child Benefit you get for him will stop. If you get Universal Credit child elements for him as part of your own Universal Credit claim, these will also stop immediately. So will any child support maintenance paid for him.

You will need advice about whether him making a Universal Credit claim is a good idea. You must take into account what you will lose for him as a dependant and what he would be paid in his own right. It may be better to put off claiming Universal Credit for him until he is older and some of these child payments end anyway. You will need individual advice about this, as it will depend on your family’s specific circumstances.

If you decide not to claim Universal Credit at this point, it would be a good idea to make a credits only claim for new-style ESA for him.

Still have questions?

Our helpline team is here to help. Call us on 0808 808 3555 or submit an enquiry.

Thank you to everyone who submitted a question as part of our Facebook Q+A.