Benefits - What if I am a Student?
Are you a Student?
If you are a student you may find the downloadable leaflet at the foot of this page useful
Do you know that if you are a student you may qualify for Housing Benefit.
You can claim Housing Benefit if you are in one or more of the following eligible groups:
- part-time students
- aged under 20 and following a course of Further Education
- aged 60 or more
- responsible for a child or young person (this applies to couples and lone parents)
- disabled
- part of a couple and only one of you is a full-time student
Couples
There are special rules for couples:
- if you are both in one or more of the eligible groups, or if one of you is in one or more of the eligible groups, and the other is not a student, the claim for benefit can be made by either of you
- if you are both students, but only one of you is in one or more of the eligible groups the claim for benefit must be made by the person who is eligible
- if only one of you is a student, and that student is not in one of the eligible groups the claim for benefit must be made by the person who is not a student
If you would like more information about this, please contact the Benefits Section using the details below.
Students who maintain two homes
Some students have to maintain two homes, one near their place of education, and one somewhere else.
There are special rules about this for students who claim Housing Benefit:
- students without partners can only get Housing Benefit on one home
- couples where both students are in one of the eligible groups above, and couples where one partner is a student in one of the eligible groups and the other partner is not a student can claim Housing Benefit on both homes if it is reasonable, and if maintaining two homes is unavoidable
- couples where both partners are students but only one is in an eligible group can only claim Housing Benefit for the home occupied by the eligible student
- couples where one partner is a student who is not in any of the eligible groups, and the other partner is not a student can only claim Housing Benefit for the home occupied by the non-student
Is there any special proof I will need to provide?
- Proof of the course of education and which qualification is being studied for.
- Proof of any Student Grant and/or Student Loan you are entitled to, showing how the award was calculated, as well as proof of all your other income and capital.
- Proof of any course fees for which you are liable
- Proof of your term dates for the current academic year.
| File format | File title | File size / Download time |
|---|---|---|
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Students - All you need to know about Housing and Council Tax Benefit |
205K |
