I dropped out of my PGCE/ITT course after only 2 months so am I due a council tax rebate?

HeavenlyTemple1

Hello all, I'm brand new to the site and having searched around cannot find an answer to my question. Yesterday I rang my local council to explain that last Sep I had started but not finished a PGCE/School Centred ITT course so was I, for the period of study, due a council tax refund? No was the reply as I had not completed the full course though the lady did not respond with complete confidence. Not wholly convinced, I then sent the council an email inquiry too and included the letter from the ITT provider confirming my enrolment but explained that I could request a completed withdrawal form from the SCITT as further evidence if required. I will have to wait up to 10 days for a response but thought I'd ask the forum. Many thanks in advance.

user1977

Council tax is calculated on a daily basis, so you should be treated as a student for the days when you were a student. No need for you to complete the course (otherwise those doing say a three year course would have to pay and then reclaim after they graduate, which obviously isn't what happens).

lincroft1710

As the rules for student CT exemption say your course must last for at least a year, the council may take the view that as you did not study for a year you would be ineligible for the exemption for the period of your study.

user1977

lincroft1710 said:

As the rules for student CT exemption say your course must last for at least a year, the council may take the view that as you did not study for a year you would be ineligible for the exemption for the period of your study.

The course might have to last for a year but I'm not aware of any principle that you've got to attend for a year in order for the exemption to kick in. The norm would be that the exemption starts at the start of term (or however quickly you can submit evidence of having matriculated), I've never heard of councils retrospectively removing the exemption because a student has dropped out.

lookstraightahead

Did you actually attend / go to classes online or whatever for those two months? Did you have to pay part fees for your pgce 

Indigo_and_Violet

I think our council has a policy that you need to update them within 3 months or so of your change of status after which they won't backdate any relevant discounts. If you are only telling them now that you were a student between September and November you might not be able to claim a rebate. 

lincroft1710

user1977 said:

lincroft1710 said:

As the rules for student CT exemption say your course must last for at least a year, the council may take the view that as you did not study for a year you would be ineligible for the exemption for the period of your study.

The course might have to last for a year but I'm not aware of any principle that you've got to attend for a year in order for the exemption to kick in. The norm would be that the exemption starts at the start of term (or however quickly you can submit evidence of having matriculated), I've never heard of councils retrospectively removing the exemption because a student has dropped out.

My point was that the council may have interpreted the rules as being that as the OP didn't study for a year they were not entitled to the exemption. I was not saying the council were acting correctly. Further in this case there has been no removal of the exemption, as it has never been granted.

CIS

Indigo_and_Violet said:

I think our council has a policy that you need to update them within 3 months or so of your change of status after which they won't backdate any relevant discounts. If you are only telling them now that you were a student between September and November you might not be able to claim a rebate. 

They'd lose at tribunal if anyone challenged that.

CIS

lincroft1710 said:

As the rules for student CT exemption say your course must last for at least a year, the council may take the view that as you did not study for a year you would be ineligible for the exemption for the period of your study.

They shouldn't but nothing surprised me these days with councils.

For any day that a person is undertaking a qualifying course of education the disregard (and any associated exemption) should be applied. If they leave the course early then any disregard/exemption is retained for any day that they did qualify for it.

CIS

HeavenlyTemple1 said:

Hello all, I'm brand new to the site and having searched around cannot find an answer to my question. Yesterday I rang my local council to explain that last Sep I had started but not finished a PGCE/School Centred ITT course so was I, for the period of study, due a council tax refund? No was the reply as I had not completed the full course though the lady did not respond with complete confidence. Not wholly convinced, I then sent the council an email inquiry too and included the letter from the ITT provider confirming my enrolment but explained that I could request a completed withdrawal form from the SCITT as further evidence if required. I will have to wait up to 10 days for a response but thought I'd ask the forum. Many thanks in advance.

They're telling you wrongly - as long as you were undertaking a qualifying course of education then you qualify for each day that status was met. There's no requirement to actually complete the course.

warwick2001

To confirm what @CIS has very helpfully said, my wife has just finished studying at Uni. We applied for the student exemption at the start of each year. It was applied instantly (well, once the application had being processed), and covered everyday my wife was classed as a student. So from the point she started the course and was classed as a student, we got the discount for every day she was a student. It was NOT retrospectively applied following successful completion of each year.

I will say this was Cumbria County Council, so I can only speak for their procedures, but I would have thought most councils operate in a similar fashion.