None means tested benefits
As a full time student if you are eligible to claim benefits then the following is a list of none means tested benefits that may be available (for a full list of available benefits visit the Direct.gov website: Benefits and financial Support).
Disability Living Allowance (DLA):
Full and part time disabled students are eligible to claim DLA. It does not affect your eligibility for, or the amount of, student support income. In addition, entitlement to DLA can help you qualify for means tested benefits. If you become a student this may result in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reconsidering whether you are still entitled to DLA, although this is not standard practice. However, the DWP might assume that if you are now capable of a full time course, your health may have improved and you no longer have the same care and mobility needs.
Employment and support allowance (ESA) - Incapacity Benefit:
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) replaced Incapacity benefit and income support for people making new claims on the grounds of disability from 27th October 2008. It is for people who have a limited capacity for work according to a work capability assessment.
There is an income related and contributory ESA. Part time students who have limited capability for work and full time students who get DLA are eligible for income related ESA.
Part time and full time students can claim contributory ESA if they paid sufficient national insurance (NI) contributions.
Full time students aged 19 or over and part time students can claim ESA in youth after 28 weeks of limited capability for work, which began when they were under 20 without having any NI contributions.
Full time education is classed as attending a course for 21 hours or more a week, you should count classes, lectures, seminars and periods of supervised study. Do not count lunch breaks, private unsupervised study or work at home.
Housing benefit (HB):
You can claim Housing Benefit as a full time student if you are in one of the following groups:
- You receive Income Support (IS), Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Lone Parents
- Under 19 year olds who are not in higher education
- Children or 'qualifying' young people e.g. under 20 year olds in full time education
- Pensioners
- Disabled Students
- Student Couples
- Responsible for a boarded child
- Students partners
If you are a part time student you can claim HB throughout your studies.
Council tax benefit (CTB)
You are regarded as a 'student' for council tax purposes if the course requires attendance for at least 21 hours a week in at least 24 weeks each year.
You are a student from the day you begin your course until the day you complete it, abandon it or are no longer permitted by the educational institution to attend it.
If you intercalate during your studies (take approved time out) you are still counted as a student for CTB purposes.
Most full time students are not liable for CTB, this is because the dwelling they live in is exempt because everyone that lives there is a full time student or, if a student lives with non-students, s/he is deemed exempt from liability for council tax on the property. (CPAG, 2009, p263)
If students share accommodation with non-students then often the non-students are liable but the students are not. All eligibility for any benefits is always dependant on individual circumstances and at the discretion of the benefits office.
