The Student Room Group

Grants/Bursaries & their effects on Benefits

How will finance (grants/bursaries/scholarships/loans) affect benefits such as Housing Benefit/Child Tax Credits/Income Support?

When I start University, the number of hours my partner and I work per week will be halved (to 14). We are unmarried, but have 3 children under the age of 16 at home.

We currently receive Housing Benefit/Child Tax Credits/Income Support due to our low earnings. At what earnings threshold will we lose any of these benefits (if at all) and will my partner be forced find other work to supplement the number of hours she works per week?

Thank You
Hello,

We do not have specific information about how student finance will affect your benefits.

You would be best to check with the departments that provide your specific benefits to find out how student finance will affect them, as it can differ based on the type of benefit.

However, I can confirm that only certain aspects of our funding are classed as income when working out income-related benefits.

These are:
Any maintenance loan or grants you are entitled to
Adult's dependent's grant (you would only receive this if you have an adult dependent)
Most bursaries paid by the University

Your tuition fee loan, parental learning allowance and childcare grants would not be counted as income. If you receive special support grant instead of maintenance grant this too would not be counted as income.


You can work out which of these you are likely to be entitled to by using the student finance calculator:
https://www.gov.uk/student-finance-calculator


Thanks
Reply 2
Thanks for your prompt response, It's sort of helped answer most of my questions!

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