(A-levels, further education or an approved training course, you MUST tell the taxman if you’re claiming child benefit or risk losing out on thousands of pounds a year)
June was a busy period for students throughout the UK as they completed their GCSE and A-Level exams, but what happens to your child benefits afterwards?
Your Child Benefit stops on 31 August on or after your child’s 16th birthday if they leave education or training. It continues if they stay in approved education or training, but you must tell the Child Benefit Office.
You’ll be sent a letter in your child’s last year at school asking you to confirm their plans.
You must report any change of circumstances to the Child Benefit Office.
‘What If my child continues education or training?’
Use the online service to tell the Child Benefit Office that your child is staying in approved education or training after age 16.
Approved education:
Education must be full-time (more than an average of 12 hours a week supervised study or course-related work experience) and can include:
- A levels or similar – eg Pre-U, International Baccalaureate
- Scottish Highers
- NVQs and other vocational qualifications up to level 3
- home education – if started before your child turned 16
- traineeships in England
Courses are not approved if paid for by an employer or ‘advanced’, eg a university degree or BTEC Higher National Certificate.
Approved training should be unpaid and can include:
- Foundation Apprenticeships or Traineeships in Wales
- Employability Fund programmes or Get Ready for Work (if started before 1 April 2013) in Scotland
- United Youth Pilot, Training for Success, Pathways to Success or Collaboration and Innovation Programme in Northern Ireland
Courses that are part of a job contract are not approved.
‘What if my child decides to leave education or training?’
Use the online service (CH459) to tell the Child Benefit Office that your child aged 16 or over has left approved education or training.
When your child leaves approved education or training, payments will stop at the end of February, 31 May, 31 August or 30 November (whichever comes first).
Temporary breaks
If there has been a break in your child’s education or training (for example if they change college), you might get Child Benefit during the break. In this case you should tell the Child Benefit Office.
Apply for an extension
You could get Child Benefit for 20 weeks (called an ‘extension’) if your child leaves approved education or training and either:
- registers with their local careers service, Connexions (or a similar organisation in Northern Ireland, the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein)
- signed up to join the armed forces
To qualify for this, your child must:
- be 16 or 17
- work less than 24 hours a week
- not get certain benefits (eg Income Support)
You must have been entitled to Child Benefit immediately before they left the approved education or training and apply for it within 3 months of them leaving.
Apply for the extension online
If you have any queries regarding this information please feel free to contact a member of TorrWaterfield on 0116 242 3400
Sam Koelling, Accountant
