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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Income support, JSA and tax credits  →  Thread

CTC and change of education course age over 19

Andrew Dutton
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Welfare rights service - Derbyshire County Council

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CTC claim includes disabled 19 year old (gets PIP) who is 20 early next year.

The young person had been accepted on to a course prior to 19th birthday, due to start but cannot afford part-week accommodation costs - discretionary help with costs refused. Considering abandoning the course.

Has applied for 2x new non-advanced courses which would add up to more than 12 hours study a week and asking if this will keep the CTC going.

Is this situation going to fall foul of the need to be accepted on the course prior to the 19th birthday and will CTC be lost?

If so, is this going to be a ‘disabled student’ UC claim with all the associated problems?

James Craig
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Welfare Adviser - Young Lives vs Cancer, Hammersmith & Fulham

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You are only “receiving education” for UC purposes if you are

- undertaking a full-time course of advanced education; or
- undertaking any other full-time course of study or training at an educational establishment for which a student loan or grant is provided for your maintenance; or
- undertaking a course of study or training that is not compatible with any work-related requirement imposed on you; or
- a qualifying young person.

If your young person is disabled to the extent that they won’t have any work-related requirements imposed on them, there may not be much difficulty in them making a UC claim. (They won’t be a QYP for UC purposes after 31st August following their 19th birthday, which I’m guessing has just happened.)

Andrew Dutton
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Welfare rights service - Derbyshire County Council

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Ah! I’m anticipating a problem which isn’t there! Thanks.

Any thoughts on the CTC?

Ianb
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Macmillan benefits team, Citizens Advice Bristol

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James Craig - 08 September 2021 10:18 AM

If your young person is disabled to the extent that they won’t have any work-related requirements imposed on them, there may not be much difficulty in them making a UC claim.

Wouldn’t they first have to establish LCW before their UC claim will be accepted,  which means first applying for new style ESA in order to trigger a WCA and a decision on LCW/LCWRA..

(Sorry, Andrew, I have no idea about the CTC situation you still want an answer to.)

James Craig
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Ianb - 08 September 2021 04:31 PM

Wouldn’t they first have to establish LCW before their UC claim will be accepted,  which means first applying for new style ESA in order to trigger a WCA and a decision on LCW/LCWRA..

My reasoning was that this rigmarole only applies to a claimant who is “receiving education”, which is a term specifically defined in the UC Regulations. As so defined it may not apply to the young person in question, in which case they should be treated as a “normal” UC claimant.

(It would certainly be bizarre if their claim were refused on the grounds that their course is incompatible with work-related requirements which could only be imposed on them after their claim had been accepted.)

Andrew Dutton
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Student is back to the original course and will go into private accommodation as the college is a long way from the family home.

The course is non-advanced and the young person has reached the first September after the 19th birthday and so is not a qualifying young person under UC rules, and can’t be automatically regarded as ‘receiving education’.

But there is an Advanced Learner Loan which pays the course fees.

UC Reg 12(b)  defines claimant as receiving education where - ‘undertaking any other full-time course of study or training at an educational establishment for which a student loan or grant is provided for the person’s maintenance.’

Argument - this doesn’t apply because the Advanced Learner Loan is for course fees and ‘maintenance’ is to do with living expenses - which is the purpose of UC.

Advice - claim UC and seek WCA right off, to cover any future education. Subject to the usual restrictions I can’t see why the rent element can’t be claimed .

Is this sound?

I would claim this is turning my hair white, but it’s far, far too late for that.

James Craig
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Andrew Dutton - 09 September 2021 10:09 AM

Advice - claim UC and seek WCA right off, to cover any future education. Subject to the usual restrictions I can’t see why the rent element can’t be claimed .

Is this sound?

That sounds plausible to me. The WCA may also be necessary to ensure that there are no work-related obligations imposed that are incompatible with the course.

WillH
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I would also say that CTC could continue to be possible & should be considered - esp if this will be more than their UC.
HMRC can allow interruptions