Income Support for Full-time Students

1. INCOME SUPPORT FOR FULL-TIME STUDENTS

2. STUDENTS ENTITLED TO BENEFITS FOR THE SUMMER PERIOD.APRIL 2011

1. INCOME SUPPORT FOR FULL-TIME STUDENTS

The government are working towards the phasing out of Income Support and replacing it with one universal benefit called Universal Credit for people of working age by April 2013.

Most full-time students are prevented from claiming benefits which are means-tested such as Income Support, Income based Job Seekers Allowance and Housing and Council Tax Benefits. There are exceptions to this rule however for some claimants who are not required to be available for work who are entitled to make a claim for Income Support throughout the year. Currently these are;-

• Lone-Parents and Lone Foster Parents with a child under 7-(with a child under 5 from October 011) 
• Refugees learning English
• Students Partners (if they satisfy the conditions)
• Disabled claimants and the long term sick receiving Income Support before the introduction of Employment and Support Allowance.  

*N.B. Employment and Support Allowance replaced Income Support for disabled and long term sick claimants from 27th October 2008.

N.B. Pensioner Students are able to claim Pension Credit-a means-tested benefit provided as an income top-up in a similar way to Income Support. Student funding does not affect entitlement to Pension Credit

Income Support is a means tested benefit and therefore student income is taken into account when assessing entitlement. Normally Student Support Income is treated as income by the Department of Work and Pensions for 42/43 weeks of the year from the first benefit week in September (or from the first day of the course for first year students) to the last benefit week in June. The Student Maintenance Loan and the Adult Dependants Grant, and Maintenance Grant are counted as income but subject to certain disregards -the Parental Learning Allowance, Childcare Grant, Special Support Grant and Higher Education Grant are disregarded in full. Some University Bursaries are also disregarded. For first year students student income is taken into account from the date you register, and for final year students your student income ends when you finish the course.

Claimants should make sure that their student income has been calculated correctly when they receive their benefit assessment from the Benefits Agency as this could mean the difference between receiving Income Support or not. Students would be advised to get the calculation checked with the Student Welfare/Benefits Adviser. Claimants can also claim help with mortgage interest of up to £200,000 of the loan after 13 weeks of claiming.-(this will be revised in Jan 2012)-see below.   

Students most likely to be entitled to payment during term-time are lone parents with mortgage costs (see below)or disabled students and long term sick who were in receipt of Income Support before the introduction of Employment and Support Allowance.

Students who are already receiving benefits when they come to college have a duty by law, to inform the Benefits office of their change in circumstances and to submit details of any new income (e.g. student grants/loan) they are receiving so that their benefit can be recalculated-students should submit a copy of their student support assessment to the D.W.P. and ask them to recalculate benefit. If the student support funding is delayed and you have no other income the Social Security office should allow you to continue to receive benefits until the Student Loan comes through but this money will have to be repaid at a later date. If your benefits stop because the loan is being taken into account before you receive it you should ask for help from the access to learning fund from student funds at the University to assist you with living costs until you receive your grant and maintenance loan.

MORTGAGE COSTS/HOUSING BENEFIT

Claimants normally have to serve a waiting period of three months before they can have their mortgage costs considered (interest only) by the Department for Work and Pensions. Full mortgage interest (on mortgages less than £200,000) can be paid after three months-(until Jan 2012 when this help will be reviewed). Students have these Housing Costs added to their Income Support entitlement which is offset against any income coming into the household -If there is any amount left after this calculation, this will be paid in Income Support. Sometimes if the Housing Costs can't yet be considered then there will be nil entitlement until they  can be added into the equation -in these circumstances the D.W.P. can put the claim on hold until the waiting period is served after 3 months.

It is important to request that your claim is put on hold whilst the waiting period is served as the housing costs could then be paid during the summer period when the student income is not taken into account-(see below).

Claimants receiving Income Support are entitled to receive full help with their rent(up to the level of the Local Housing Allowance) via Housing Benefit and can make the claim for this at the same time as the Income Support claim.(see separate Housing Benefit Leaflet)

N.H.S. BENEFITS/FREE SCHOOL MEALS

Receipt of Income Support acts as an important passport to some other important benefits -free prescriptions, dental treatment and sight tests plus free school meals.

-however if you are not entitled to Income Support or are serving the waiting period for mortgage costs then you may be able to get this help separately via receipt of Child Tax Credit or to claim help for these on a HC1 form on the grounds of low income.-(see separate leaflets for more details)

2. STUDENTS ENTITLED TO BENEFITS FOR THE SUMMER PERIOD 2011

*Claimants who are eligible can claim Income Support payments over the summer period (see above) when the student grant/loan payments are not treated as income. For the 2010/011 academic year this period is 27/6/011-5/9/011. Student income is not counted for this period so you should get the full amount of Income Support you are entitled to.

*Lone parents with a child over 7 who cannot find work for the summer period can claim Job Seekers Allowance instead of Income Support as long as they satisfy the labour market conditions i.e. are actively seeking/ available for work.

*Disabled students already receiving some Income Support or Employment and Support Allowance during term time should have their payments revised and increased because the grant/loan income is not counted as income over the summer.

*Disabled Students receiving Disability Living Allowance who are not already receiving other Disability Benefits can claim Employment and Support Allowance.

*Student couples with a child who are both in full-time education are entitled to claim Job Seekers Allowance as income for the summer period if their income is low enough and they can't find work.  

TO MAKE A CLAIM CALL IN AT YOUR LOCAL JOBCENTRE OR TELEPHONE THE LOCAL CONTACT CENTRE ON 0800 055 6688.

REMEMBER THERE IS A GAP BETWEEN BENEFIT PAYMENTS STOPPING ON 5/9/011 AND STUDENT FINANCE BEING PAID AGAIN AT THE START OF YOUR ACADEMIC TERM SO YOU WILL NEED TO BUDGET ACCORDINGLY.

Student Funds

There is a small amount of money made available for summer hardship from the Access to Learning Fund. Please contact Student Funds 0151-291-3435 for claims/advice. Application Forms will be available from 31st May 2011 and the application deadline is the 19th August 2011.

HOUSING BENEFIT

Receipt of Income Support/Job Seekers Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance entitles claimants to full Housing Benefit payments subject to the usual eligible rent restrictions. However you do not have to be receiving any of the above benefits to claim Housing Benefit-you can claim on the grounds of low income and because your student income is not counted over the summer you are more likely to receive a payment if you are eligible. For further details see separate Housing Benefit leaflet.    

IF YOU WANT ANY FURTHER INFORMATION OR ADVICE  on any aspect of Social Security benefits whilst studying please contact Student Support and Wellbeing to make an appointment with  the Student Welfare/Benefit Adviser -Tel -0151-291-3813 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it