Surrey Welfare Rights Unit

Your child is 16-19 and continuing in full-time non-advanced education.

This information is about financial support available in some circumstances for your child while they remain in non-advanced education. If your child is not able to deal with their benefits themself you may wish to consider becoming their appointee. Your child will probably have a  Personal Independence Payment Seek advice if you think your child's PIP award is incorrect, or if you just want to check it is being paid at the right level (PIP) award in place.  If your child is still on Disability Living Allowance (DLA) you may be in the process of a transition to PIP.

As your child’s Carer you may be entitled to Carer’s Allowance.  There may also be other help available to you, and financial support for your child in some circumstances. There are special rules if your child is in a residential school setting. Welfare benefits you are getting to help with the costs of your child, will continue while they are part of your benefit household, until the end date of entitlement. This date may be different for Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit, and any child element for this child in Universal Credit or Housing Benefit. It is your responsibility to make sure you tell everyone who is paying you a benefit of any relevant change in your circumstances as soon as possible.

If your child has been continuously in full-time non-advanced education their first opportunity to claim Universal Credit is usually the 1 September following their 19th birthday. There is an upper capital limit of £16,000. If your child has more savings than this they will not be entitled to Universal Credit. If there is a  breaka time when they are not attending or enrolled, or accepted on a non-advanced full-time course in their continuous education there may be an opportunity for them to claim Universal Credit at this time, which may be very short. If your child is considering making a claim for Universal Credit at this time, you should get specific advice as the timing is critical.  It is particularly important if you are receiving any benefits yourself, as it might mean you are worse off.

If your child doesn’t claim Universal Credit you can prepare for their future financial support by making a claim for New Style Employment Support Allowance (NSESA) they will not receive any payments but should get National Insurance Credits that accrue towards their state pension. Because they will not receive payment they are still part of your benefit household.  The advantage of the NSESA claim is that your child will have already been assessed to have Limited Capability for Work or Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity (LCW/LCWRA) if a Universal Credit claim is made in the future. If they are considering going into full-time  advanced educationAnything at or above HNC, HND, or degree level , having a LCW/LCWRA assessment before the course starts might make claiming Universal Credit during their period of study possible.