Universal Credit for young people receiving education

14 mins read

This advice applies across the UK.

There are particular rules that prevent most young people in education from being able to get Universal Credit. Your child will face difficulties getting Universal Credit if the benefits system treats them as “receiving education”.

Universal Credit in education rules

There are rules that prevent most young people in education from being able to get Universal Credit. Your child will face difficulties getting Universal Credit if the benefits system treats them as “receiving education”.

As a result, most students in full-time advanced education won’t be able to get Universal Credit. Neither will most young people in full-time non-advanced education who haven’t yet reached the September after their 19th birthday. See below for information on who counts as receiving education.

There are some young people in education who can still get Universal Credit despite these rules. This includes some disabled students who remain in full-time non-advanced education beyond the August after their 19^th birthday. Part-time students can also get Universal Credit while in education. We explain these exceptions below.

Note: If your child does get Universal Credit in their own right, any benefits that you receive for them as a dependent child will stop. These benefits include Child Benefit or the child elements (including the disabled child elements) of Universal Credit. Any child maintenance payments for them are also likely to stop.

Before claiming Universal Credit for a child aged 16-19 in education, get advice. Make sure that you will not be worse off as a household.

What counts as receiving education?

If your child counts as receiving education, they will find it difficult to claim Universal Credit.

The benefits system will treat your son or daughter as receiving education if any of the following apply to them: 

• They are in full-time advanced education, such as a university course or NVQ/SVQ level 4 or above.
• They are on another full-time course for which a loan or grant is provided for maintenance.
• They are a “qualifying young person”. This is someone who is both:
  • Aged between 16 and the 31 August after their 19th birthday¹.
  • In full-time non-advanced education² on a course they were accepted for or enrolled onto before their 19^th birthday.
• They are on a course incompatible with any work-related requirements attached to their Universal Credit claim

¹ Please note that a 16-year-old who has not yet reached the September after their 16th birthday is automatically treated as a qualifying young person – even if they are not actually on a course of education.
² For example, a school or college course where Child Benefit is payable. It can also include non-advanced education provided elsewhere – including home education – but only if this is approved.

Which students can get Universal Credit? 

There are three main groups of students who may still be able to get Universal Credit. These are:

1. Certain groups of students who are exempt from the normal restrictions. This includes any student with a dependent child and some disabled students who meet specific tests.
2. Part-time students.
3. Some young people who remain in full time non-advanced education beyond the August after their 19th birthday.

Whether they qualify also depends on their individual circumstances, such as what types of student income they have.

Let’s look at each of these three main groups in turn.

1. Exempt groups

There are certain specific groups who are exempt from these restrictions. They are eligible to apply for Universal Credit despite their course. This includes:

• A student who is responsible for a child of their own.
• A young person in non-advanced education aged under 21 (or who turned 21 on their course) and without parental support. This might mean that they have no parents. Or their parents cannot support them because they are disabled, in prison or refused entry to the UK.
• Someone waiting to return to a course after taking time out due to illness or disability.
• Disabled students who get Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the Scottish Child Disability Payment or the Scottish Adult Disability Payment. But this is only if:
  • The DWP has carried out a Work Capability Assessment and agreed that your child has a limited capability for work.
  • This was established before they started receiving education¹. It is no longer possible to qualify as a disabled student by establishing a limited capability for work during your course.²

¹ The DWP will normally carry out a Work Capability Assessment when your child makes a Universal Credit claim. However, we recommended triggering one in advance by making a “credits only’ claim for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
² See below for a note for disabled students moving between courses.

2. Part-time students

Young people in part-time education who do not qualify for a maintenance grant or loan should not count as receiving education. This is the case for both advanced and non-advanced courses.

Whether your child’s course counts as part-time depends on the course they are on. For non-advanced education, a course is part-time if it involves 12 or fewer hours of study per week. Different rules can apply to home education. For advanced education, whether a course is part-time will vary depending on the particular course and its funding.

Part-time students might have trouble claiming Universal Credit if the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) believes their course is incompatible with any work-related conditions attached to their claim.

3. Young people who remain in full-time non-advanced education beyond the August after their 19th birthday

Someone in full-time non-advanced education who has reached the September after their 19th birthday should be able to claim Universal Credit. This could be a 19 year old approaching their 20^th birthday or young disabled person in their 20s.

This is so long as the DWP doesn’t see their course as incompatible with any work-related conditions attached to their Universal Credit claim.

What is full-time non-advanced education?

Full time means more than 12 hours a week during term time. This includes classes, tuition and any supervised study. It doesn’t include meal breaks or unsupervised study.

A course is non-advanced education when below the level of a degree, HND, or national vocational qualifications at level 4. Non advanced courses include:

• ‘A’ levels and below.
• Advanced Highers (Scotland) and below.
• NVQ/SVQ Level 3 and below.
• Ordinary National Diplomas and B-TEC National Diplomas and National Certificates.
• Courses offering life-skills or other training suitable for young people with special educational needs.

Other courses may also be classed as non-advanced. If you are uncertain about the level of your son or daughter’s course, seek further advice.

Course and claim incompatibility

Even if your child is:

• A part-time student; or
• In full-time non-advanced education and past the September after their 19th birthday;

The DWP will refuse them Universal Credit if they believe attendance on their course is incompatible with any work-related conditions in their Universal Credit claim.

Everyone who claims Universal Credit has a claimant commitment setting out any work-related conditions they need to meet. These conditions vary from person to person. Some claimants must look for work. Others may need to take part in training or other activities to make them more work-ready. Some people have no work-related conditions.

If the DWP attach work-related conditions to your child’s claim, there’s a risk they’ll argue that your child cannot meet these conditions at the same time as attending their course. Where a young person’s attendance on their course is incompatible with work-related conditions, they are treated as receiving education. The DWP will refuse them Universal Credit.

Your son or daughter might be able to argue that the course and claim are not incompatible for two reasons.

1. Flexible course

The course may be flexible enough that the course provider is happy for them to have time away to undertake work-related activities.

This is more likely in life skills-type courses, where there may be no set curriculum to follow. Some educational providers may allow a young disabled person to take time away from their course to attend DWP-organised work-related activities.

2. Minimal or no work-related requirements

Depending on your child’s disabilities, DWP staff may agree to apply very minimal work-related requirements to their Universal Credit claim. They may even apply no requirements at all. This is often referred to as “switching off” the normal work related conditions.

In the longer term, the DWP uses a medical assessment known as a Work Capability Assessment to decide whether your child is expected to take part in any work-related activity. However, it can take three-four months to get a decision back from an assessment. In the meantime, staff dealing with your child’s Universal Credit claim will decide to what extent they are willing to switch off any work-related conditions.

If they agree to switch off or apply very minimal conditions, your child should be able to get Universal Credit. With few or no work-related conditions attached to their claim, the DWP should accept that their course isn’t incompatible with their claim.

If Universal Credit staff don’t use their discretion in this way, your child may be refused Universal Credit. With work-related conditions applied, the DWP may argue their course is not compatible with meeting these conditions.

There is a way to guarantee that your child has no work-related conditions attached to their Universal Credit claim. This avoids having to hope Universal Credit staff agree to switch off work-related conditions. You can do this by establishing a limited capability for work in advance – see the section below.

Establishing LCWRA in advance

The DWP will normally carry out a Work Capability Assessment when your child makes a Universal Credit claim. However, we recommended triggering one in advance by making a “credits only’ claim for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

Making a “credits only” claim for ESA allows disabled young people to establish a limited capability for work (and work-related activity – LCWRA) from age 16 onwards. Establishing LCWRA in advance will help some students claim Universal Credit in the future:

1. If your child stays in non-advanced education beyond the August after their 19^th birthday, having a LCWRA rules out them having any work-related conditions that’d make their claim and their course incompatible.
2. Establishing a LCWRA early (or even just establishing a limited capability for work) will help your child claim Universal Credit (assuming they get DLA or PIP or one of the Scottish equivalents) if they move from one course to another. This second point applies to students of any age and in education of any type – not simply those in non-advanced education who have passed the September after their 19^th birthday.

We recommend that you try to establish a LCWRA in advance when your child turns 16. Visit our page below for advice on how to do this.

Establishing LCWRA via a “credits-only” claim for ESA

Advice on making a “credits only” claim for new-style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and why it matters.

Read more

Try our Universal Credit for students eligibility checker

To help parents work out whether their child is likely to qualify for Universal Credit despite being on a course of education, we have produced a flow-chart, below, and accompanying notes [.PDF].

Help with education costs

This advice applies in England only.

Once your child gets Universal Credit, they may also qualify for other help with education costs.

A young person aged 16-19 in non-advanced education, who gets both Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment, is eligible to apply to their school or college for a vulnerable bursary of up to £1,200 per year under the 16-19 Bursary Scheme. Whether they get a bursary and how much may depend on the extra costs your child incurs in attending education.

A young person who qualifies for Universal Credit is eligible for free school meals. They are also eligible for free lunches in further education placements. This normally applies up until the age of 18. This extends to 19-year-olds if they are completing a course they started before their 19th birthday. It also extends up to age 25 where a Universal Credit recipient has an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan or a Learning Difficulty Assessment.

Dependent child benefits

If your child starts to receive Universal Credit in their own right as an adult this means that you are no longer entitled to any payments for them as a dependant child. Any child benefit that you receive for them will have to stop, as will any Universal Credit payments for them as a child if these haven’t already ended.

If you are still getting child maintenance payments for your son or daughter these are also likely to stop as your child can’t be treated as a qualifying child for child support purposes if they are receiving Universal Credit in their own right.

Because of this it is a good idea to seek advice about whether a claim for Universal Credit by your child is in your interests taking into account what they are likely to gain and what you may potentially lose.

Charges for social care

If your child is 18 or over and gets practical help from social services, the local authority might check whether they should pay towards the cost. They do this by carrying out a financial assessment.  

If your child only gets PIP, their income will probably be too low to contribute to social care costs. However, once your child gets Universal Credit this might change. Combined PIP and Universal Credit might mean your child will need to pay towards care costs. This is particularly likely if your child starts to get the extra LCWRA element in Universal Credit.

The local authority is likely to say that you must tell them if your child’s income changes. This means that if your child had a financial assessment before getting Universal Credit, or before getting the LCWRA element, you’ll need to report this to social services. The local authority would then reassess their  income.

See more about paying for adult social care.

Related information

Parent guides and factsheets

Factsheet: Universal Credit for young disabled people in education

Download now

Education & learning

Parent information about education support for children and young people with additional needs and disabilities.

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Benefits at 16

You may be able to continue claiming benefits for your child when they turn 16 or help them claim benefits.

Read more