Do University students need to get a separate tv licence?

[Autumncosycoupe]

This is for watching on a laptop? Mostly watching Netflix/youtube/C4/ITV anyway

Yes

TV licencing page has all the information you could want
www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/for-your-home/students-aud1

www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/for-your-home/students-aud1

You don't need one if:

Your out-of-term address (parents’ address) is covered by a TV Licence
AND
you only use TV receiving equipment that is powered solely by its own internal batteries
AND
you have not connected it to an aerial or plugged it into the mains

Source: link above.

So watching Netflix / YouTube / All4 etc on a laptop (not plugged in) is fine.

If they only watch Netflix and ITV / channel 4 on catch-up on their laptop then they definitely don't need a licence.

If they want to watch bbc programmes either live or on iPlayer or live ITV/channel 4 then they're strictly speaking OK if you have a licence at their home address and they're only watching on an laptop running on Wi-fi and battery, not plugged in.

Thanks - interesting about it having to not be plugged in. We do have a license here so it looks as if it's okay. Thanks all

That rule about only watching it if your laptop is not plugged in is bloody stupid and surely impossible to police. What difference does it make whether it's plugged in or not?

It's not deliberate- it's left over from the days when people would have a portable telly to take on holiday in a caravel.

Ooops. @NeverTalkToStrangers is correct and I am wrong.

I would say practically speaking most students don’t need a tv licence. I think we barely need one as I don’t remember the last time we watched live TV. I did have one as a student but then I also had an actual tv (not a flat screen, because I’m that old). Nowadays surely they just have a laptop and watch Netflix/whatever.

No I mean this loophole, as per the TV licensing website. It's not 100.00% clear that it applies to laptops but I'd be prepared to argue it.

Okay reading that it seems there is a loophole
But they would need to log into the iPlayer using the actual parents login at the address

www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ32?fbclid=IwAR2Hoe8dNX3vyQiD6gl9Odn4u2W2alrhUw7E6vzC3cvyPOhHS_L8JE3rD64

I will not be buying one.

BBC login doesn't require you to state your address, just your postcode for statistical purposes. Multiple people at the same address covered by the same licence can legitimately have their own logins.

I don't think they have to log in in any special way. What they cannot do is watch tv from a laptop/phone etc whilst it is charging.

There are two different exemptions being discussed here. Both of those exemptions can be used by Students, where the requirements are met.

Exemption 1: The portable equipment exemption. Yes, it applies to laptops, tablets and phones where the Student is watching TV using their parents' TV Licence, and the device is not plugged in.

Exemption 2: Anyone can view commercial catch-up and on-demand without a TV Licence. This includes Netflix, as well as the non-live parts of Youtube and Amazon Prime.

Sorry, I mean excluding live TV channels on Youtube and Amazon.

Mine will be living in halls so if there's a communal TV area I guess the University will have a licence for that? But I see, if in a shared house the following year then they will need one for an actual TV. It does look like laptops are okay if you don't watch BBC. I don't think it's a favourite channel with teenagers anyway so it shouldn't be a problem hopefully.

Laptops are definitely definitely OK if you only watch catchup on the non-BBC TV channels (ITV/C4/C5) and the streamers like Netflix/Prime/Now. That's Cornucopia's Exemption 2.

If you watch live ITV/Channel 4/Channel 5 or BBC live or iPlayer then you need to rely on the tricksy "not plugged in" Exemption 1.

@Autumncosycoupe

Mine will be living in halls so if there's a communal TV area I guess the University will have a licence for that? But I see, if in a shared house the following year then they will need one for an actual TV. It does look like laptops are okay if you don't watch BBC. I don't think it's a favourite channel with teenagers anyway so it shouldn't be a problem hopefully.

It's not just BBC content that you can't watch without a Licence, but all TV channels' scheduled broadcasts.

In other words, if you are using All4 on your Laptop, you can watch all the catch-up/on-demand content freely without a Licence, but you cannot watch the live channels like C4 and E4.

@CornucopiaTVLR
Thanks for clearing that up

I’m finding it almost impossible to envisage students tuning into iPlayer to watch repeats of Antiques Roadshow etc though 🤦🏻‍♀️

Judging from the number of student competitors on Pointless I think a fair number of them do watch at least some BBC. A quick check on my family iPlayer account shows a timeline full of Drag Race UK, Gossip Girl, Fort Salem, MI High, Harry Hill and QI, none of which were picked by the adults in the household.

And all the little kids who've been watching Strictly or Doctor Who since they were toddlers don't necessarily stop just because they turn 18. Students are much much less likely to flick through the terrestrial channels looking for something to watch than older age groups but they do still watch the BBC in large numbers just because it's so big - it's like the old stat about the Sun having more AB1 readers than the Times.