CTC for 17 yr old starting HNC ?

number1mum

Morning all,
I'm hoping someone here can help me.

I currently receive ctc for my children ages 17 & 8. My 17 yr old is in college just now & receives EMA & I get the child tax credits.
In August he will be starting an HNC course, will I still be eligible for CTC for him then?

Thanks for any help, I'm really confused with all of this!

Hammyman

If he is in further education, yes. HNC is further education.

DX2

No he won't.

Young people aged between 16 and 20

Full-time non-advanced education

As long as they started, accepted or enrolled on, their course before age 19,
full-time non-advanced education means the young person is:
• at school or college (not at university)
• doing subjects up to and including A level, NVQ level 3, Scottish Highers or
advanced Highers (not an HNC or a degree), and
• in lessons for more than 12 hours a week in term-time.
A young person still counts as being in full- time non-advanced education if they:
• are getting ready for exams
• are off sick but will come back when they're better, or
• have just finished a course and are registered to start another course next term.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/tc600-notes.pdf

DX2

This from HMRC re Child benefit:
What counts as full-time education

Full-time education means more than an average of 12 hours a week during term time is spent on tuition, practical work, supervised study or taking exams not counting breaks for meals and homework.

Examples of further education are:

• GCSEs and qualifications up to and including A level.
• NVQ level 1, 2, or 3.
• BTEC National Diploma, National Certificate and 1st Diploma.
• SCE higher grade or equivalent.

Higher education

Child Benefit cannot be paid to a young person who is undergoing a course of higher education. Examples of higher education are courses that lead to the following qualifications:

• a degree
• Diploma of Higher Education (DHE)
• Higher National Diploma (HND)
• BTEC Higher National Certificate (HNC) and Higher National Diploma (HND)
• Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) Higher National Certificate (HNC) and Higher National Diploma (HND)
• teacher training.

This is not a complete list.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefit/child-16.htm#b

number1mum

Thanks for that, so will that also affect the amount of HB I'll get? I guess that will depend on the amount of student loan he will get but I can't check those figures until it's been granted.....more headaches!

number1mum

So that's a double whammy, & we will have moved house by then to one where I will be paying more to the rent & council tax....I'm not liking the sound of this much

Oldernotwiser

Hammyman wrote: »

If he is in further education, yes. HNC is further education.

No it isn't, an HNC is higher education.

Oldernotwiser

number1mum wrote: »

So that's a double whammy, & we will have moved house by then to one where I will be paying more to the rent & council tax....I'm not liking the sound of this much

If he's doing the HNC full time, he'll receive the full HE funding package and contribute to the household through this. If he's studying part time he should have an income from employment or benefits. Either way, at his age he's considered an adult should be contributing to the household expenses.

Sixer

Your son will be eligible for maintenance loans as an HE student - if he was studying away from home, he'd be expected to use this to pay rent/buy food. So if he's at home, it's intended to contribute to your bills.

Depending on your household income - this includes your wages plus any part-time jobs of his - he may also be entitled to a maintenance grant, which he won't have to pay back. This is up £2,906 a year, depending on household income. If between you your income is £25k or less, he'll get the full £2,906. This is more than full CTC of £2,555.

Oldernotwiser

Sixer wrote: »

Depending on your household income - this includes your wages plus any part-time jobs of his - he may also be entitled to a maintenance grant, which he won't have to pay back. This is up £2,906 a year, depending on household income. If between you your income is £25k or less, he'll get the full £2,906. This is more than full CTC of £2,555.

Students' part time jobs don't affect their eligibility for Maintenance Grants.

number1mum

Thanks for all the further information, I know we won't be sure of what he'll get for a while but your new info makes it look a bit less scarey.

My income is below £6000 p.a, working 16 hrs per week & his course will be full time, so it looks like he would be eligible for the maintenance grant from which I will insist he contributes to the household....time for some grown up reality checks for him methinks.