When exactly does child benefit/child tax credit end?

My daughter will be 18 in May and will be going to Uni in September - I was (mistakenly ) under the impression that we would continue to get CB/CTC until she was 19 but on checking the direct.gov site, it states that we are only eligible whilst she is doing her A levels and not when she starts her degree - talk about a kick in the teeth! So not only does she (and we) have all the expense of starting University , but the £100 or so per month which would have gone a little way towards this for the first few months will not be there:mad: .
So will the money stop the minute she leaves college, or does it run till the end of August? The website is about as clear as mud.:rolleyes: To say I am unimpressed is an understatement.
"There is a light that never goes out"
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Comments

  • madmum33
    madmum33 Posts: 635 Forumite
    It will end in August, I think late August if my memory is correct. We had this situation last September, and will have another huge drop in income this August when our son is due to start Uni!
  • Does the same apply if the person leaves school at 18 after A levels but decides to go to college rather than uni?? My son is 18 at present 19 in november but thinking after A levels to go to college rather than uni this year so would I still be eligible to claim CB until he left college in August 09? he would start the course in September at 18years then in november he becomes 19 and the course would run until following August2009 , Hope this makes sense
  • Laurie I found this information for you, it all depends on what course your son will be taking.

    http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefit/child-16.htm#b
  • Your child tax credit should stop immediately after she has stopped being in full time non-advanced education* (this is only extended to the end of August after a child has turned 16). You can claim it for an aditional 20 weeks provided she signs up to Connexions (Careers Scotland in Scotland or Training and Employment Agency in N. Ireland)


    *Non-advanced education does not include degree courses.
  • madmum33 wrote: »
    Laurie I found this information for you, it all depends on what course your son will be taking.

    http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefit/child-16.htm#b


    Many thanks for that Madmum, he is interested presently on a course involving computing, which will be a full time course - what makes it confusing with myself is that I dont receive CTC for him, the payment is made through my IB/IS claim why it was done this way I don't really know except they said at the time it would be the best route for me to take - Im still currently receiving CB for him as he is still at moment doing his a-levels and wont be 19 until Novemeber this year, his college course would begin in september this year whilst he is still 18 and would finish in September 09 2 months before his 20th birthday.

    So looking at the link you gave me and what I have quoted below because he will actually be 18 on starting the course ( 19 two months later) I would presume I can still claim it, he doesn't claim anything in his own right except for EMA
    Changes that mean you no longer qualify for Child Benefit

    You will no longer qualify for Child Benefit if the child or young person:
    • is aged 16 or 17 and leaves full-time further education or approved training earlier than the date you told us they were going to leave and doesn’t register for work, education or training with a qualifying body
    • leaves full-time education or approved training and starts working 24 hours a week or more for which payment is received or expected
    • reduces the time they get supervised study at school or college to less than an average of 12 hours a week
    • starts a course of higher education, for example a degree, NVQ level 4 or above
    • starts a course of further education that is provided by an employer or any office they hold
    • starts being educated at home, unless there are health reasons why they cannot attend school or college
    • starts training which is not approved training or is provided by a contract of employment
    • starts to get a Tax Credit, Incapacity Benefit, Income Support or income-based Jobseekers Allowance in their own right
    • !!!!!!!!{starts a course of further education or approved training after their 19th birthday.}}}
    Child Benefit cannot be paid after the young person’s 20th birthday.
    The section Im referring to I have enclosed in brackets, many thanks again :)
  • My son turned 20 in January this year. I had not received any CB since September 2006.

    Someone mentioned he might still be eligible for CB until his 20th birthday because of the course he is doing at college which appeared to fall within the guidelines. I wrote to CB to query this and they confirmed he was entitled. I received a very welcome cheque for just over £1000. It appears that it all depends on the course your child is doing.

    (I sent the copy of his enrolment form with the details of the course on it with my letter)
  • many thanks for that information, yes I think thats what I shall do when the forms arrive is enclose his college enrollment forms, Looking at the information we have on his course its classed as full time and the qualifications he would get upon completion does not go above A level, Im sure they are nvq based, the reason he wanted them is he passed his first exams well on all his subjects and looks like he his set to do well with his A level results according to his teachers, but the IT exams were mainly written and don't really include a lot of hands on with computers, so seeing as he is pretty good using computers etc, and quite knowledgeable in a lot of computer software thought by getting the nvq's which involve a lot of hands on learning so to speak it would help in adding to future cv's and apparently employers tend to look for these now also, thats according to my local Job Centre, and they also said that would be his best route because he is undecided about uni.
  • Laurieabc - it sounds as if the course your son is doing will fit their criteria. However, keep an eye on things each September while he is on the course. They stopped my CB automatically after the first year and I just assumed at the time that he was no longer eligible.
  • Gemmzie
    Gemmzie Posts: 14,876 Forumite
    windswept - It will stop after the last Friday in August for your daughter if she completes her A Level course.

    laurieabc - Whether your son will still be eligable depends on the course, you need to find out the title and which education level it meets for me to answer acurately.

    lotto-dreamer - The "up to 20" bit only came in April 2006 so there was a lot of people bumped off it who shouldn't have been, it's mostly settled down now.
    No longer using this account for new posts from 2013
  • The course is nvq levels 1 to 3 if thats any help and its a full time course
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