Student with cancer and ESA

Can anyone give a definitive answer on whether a student who has suspended her university course whilst she has treatment for cancer can apply for ESA immmediately or does she have to apply for DLA and use it as a passport to ESA? Her student loan has stopped and she’s living at home with her parents. A colleague thinks the father of a student (who later died) got the law changed so that students aren’t forced either to use their student loans while they’re sick or wait for a DLA decision. CPAG doesn’t mention this.

There was a law change, to “ensure that students who, because of a health condition have to suspend their course and wish to claim benefits, and who are treated as having drawn down their student loan whether or not they have actually done so, are not penalised by being treated as if they have income that they do not have.”

Here is a link where you can find the amendment regulations: http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/news/story/new-miscellaneous-amendment-regulations1/

Here is a link to the news story: http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/news/story/Government-agrees-to-new-benefit-rules-for-critically-ill-students/

Whilst this amendment allows the student loan to not be classed as notional income in the situation you so describe, I am not sure this would exempt them from having to get DLA in order to be entitled to income-related ESA, unless they could be treated as abandoning the course.  Anyone else have an opinion on this?

If they met conditions for contributory ESA, then they could claim this, without having to qualify for DLA.