Student in exempt accom - (how) will HB be reduced?

I am struggling to figure out how much our client’s HB award would be reduced by were she to move to supported/exempt accommodation, which she currently has a slight option to be able to do. I deal with students in higher education very rarely in my job, and so am not particularly familiar with how it all works in practice.

She has just gone down to part-time study in the second year of her degree (first year was full-time), and has just received her first UC payment (in full, not reduced due to the maintenance loan - she has applied for the maintenance loan but Student Finance haven’t confirmed her award of this, nor started paying the loan or tuition fees). For PIP, she receives the standard rate of daily living component, and we are appealing to try and get her enhanced DL and some award of mobility component too. She is going through the WCA process too, sending off her UC50 this weekend.

It’s my understanding that as she is a part-time student and has no other income and has been determined to be entitled to UC, whilst her UC payments might go down, to reflect any payment of the maintenance loan when it eventually comes, whatever deductions are made to due to the maintenance loan will still leave her entitled to UC, so she will remain passported to the maximum award of HB, if she moves to ‘specified’ accommodation?

Yes. UC is a passport for HB, although this only matters for temporary and supported housing. Therefore if there is any UC at all in payment, full HB is paid without the need for assessment of income and capital.