Child Benefit if your child is in further education or training

When your child reaches 16 you can still get Child Benefit for them. But they'll need to be staying in full-time 'non-advanced' education at school or college, or starting an 'approved' training course. Find out what this means and what types of courses count.

What type of education counts for Child Benefit?

Education counts for Child Benefit if it's full-time, 'non-advanced' education. Your child needs to have started, enrolled or been accepted onto a course that counts before their 19th birthday.

'Full-time' means that, on average, more than 12 hours a week in term time is spent on:

tuition
practical work
supervised study
taking exams

It doesn't include breaks for meals and homework.

'Non-advanced' education includes the following:

GCSEs
A levels
NVQ/SVQ level 1, 2 or 3
BTEC National Diploma, National Certificate and 1st Diploma
SCE higher grade or similar

This isn't a complete list. If you're not sure whether your child education counts, you can contact the Child Benefit Office for further advice.

Contact details for the Child Benefit Office

Courses that don't count for Child Benefit

You can't get Child Benefit if your child is doing an 'advanced' education course. Examples of advanced education courses include:

a degree
Diploma of Higher Education (DHE)
NVQ level 4 or above
BTEC Higher National Certificate (HNC) or Higher National Diploma (HND)
teacher training

This isn't a complete list. If you're not sure whether your child is doing an advanced education course you can contact the Child Benefit Office for further advice.

Contact details for the Child Benefit Office

Correspondence course

You can't usually get Child Benefit if your child is taking a correspondence course. This is because they're unlikely to do more than 12 hours a week of supervised study.

Sandwich courses

There are two types of sandwich course:

college-based - this is where your child spends periods away from college doing practical training with their employer
work-based - where your child is employed as an apprentice or trainee and takes a full-time college or school course

You may be able to get Child Benefit if your child is on a college-based course but it would need to be full-time and non-advanced. You won't qualify if your child is on a work-based course.

Studying abroad

You can usually only get Child Benefit for the first 12 weeks that your child is away. But you'll keep getting it after this if the only reason they are abroad is because they are either:

in education that counts for Child Benefit in a country in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland
on an educational exchange or visit, providing your child has the written agreement of their school or college

What type of training counts for Child Benefit?

You can get Child Benefit if your child is over 16 and is doing a course of 'approved' training. Your child needs to have started, enrolled or been accepted onto an approved course before their 19th birthday.

Approved courses are as follows:

England - Foundation Learning Programmes (previously known as 'Entry to Employment'), Access to Apprenticeships and unwaged Programme Led Apprenticeships
Wales - Foundation Apprenticeships, Traineeships and Skillbuild/Skillbuild+ (if started before 1 August 2011)
Scotland - Get Ready for Work (including West Lothian Council's Skills Training Programme) and Skillseekers
Northern Ireland - Jobskills and Training for Success, including Programme Led Apprenticeships

A course provided by an employer as part of a job contract doesn't count as approved. For example, Modern Apprenticeships in Scotland are always provided as part of a job contract, so don’t count as approved training for Child Benefit.

If your child is under 18 and leaves education or training

You can often get Child Benefit extended for up to 20 weeks if both of the following apply:

your child is under 18 and leaves education or training that counts for Child Benefit
your child registers for work, training or education

They'll need to have registered with a 'qualifying body’ such as a careers service or Connexions.

Child Benefit for under 18s who leave education or training

Breaks in your child's education or training

You must tell the Child Benefit Office if there is a break to your child's education or training. They need to know so that they can work out whether you can still get Child Benefit. They can usually carry on paying Child Benefit for up to six months if there is a good reason for the break, for example

your child is ill
your child is moving from one college to another
if someone is ill or has died that is close to your child
your child is pregnant

You can't normally get Child Benefit if your child has taken a voluntary break in education or training that counts for Child Benefit. For example, if they travel overseas for personal reasons.

Your child might not go back into education or training that counts for Child Benefit. If they don't you may have to pay back some of the Child Benefit you got during the break. The amount will depend on when your child decided not to go back.

The Child Benefit Office may be able to pay Child Benefit for longer than six months. This could be if your child is in hospital, residential care or getting medical treatment abroad, and you still spend money on them

Child Benefit for children in hospital or residential care

Your child goes back into education or training

Your child might go back to education or start a training course after a break - for example after a period of unemployment. As long as the education or training counts for Child Benefit, you'll usually be able to get Child Benefit for them.

You'll need to make another claim if your Child Benefit had previously stopped because you no longer qualified for it.

Your child needs to have started, enrolled or been accepted onto a course that counts for Child Benefit before their 19th birthday for you to qualify.

How to claim Child Benefit

Keeping the Child Benefit Office up to date

You must tell the Child Benefit Office about any changes to your child's education or training as soon as possible. If you don't, your Child Benefit payments may stop or you may be paid too much. You must tell the Child Benefit Office if your child:

starts or leaves education or training that counts for Child Benefit earlier or later than you told them they would
stops one course and starts another one
goes abroad to study for longer than 12 weeks
cuts their supervised study time to on average 12 hours or less per week during term time
starts a course of advanced education
Child Benefit - which changes you need to report