Council tax and student taking a year out of their course

[TheAnnoyingSatsuma]

DC (student) shares with one other. Their housemate was due to do a placement year but didn’t find anything, so has decided to take a year out anyway before returning to their course in Sept 2027. So they are technically still enrolled at uni but will be working.

Has anyone had experience of a similar scenario and know if the property remains exempt from council tax? Thank you.

Look at the rules on the councils web site. It’s difficult to see how they are a student when not studying. Most who don’t get a placement just go back to the course and continue it. How has this student negotiated a year off? Is the work related to the course at all?

My council says if one occupier is working but the others are students, it’s a 25% discount. They also say they must be full time students so I would take this to mean actually studying. All students studying there’s no Council tax to pay. The best outcome where I live would be the 25% discount. So the decision to work looks expensive for the household.

That person won’t be exempt. If they are only none student they’ll get a 25% discount. If it’s a big house it could be a lot of money.

My council does not consider council tax on an individual basis. It’s a joint discount for the property. This gives rise to the issue as to who pays! It’s an expensive decision. The young person is not in full time education.

Placement years count because usually the student remains in touch with the uni. There will be a lecturer who monitors what is happening and sometimes the student needs to submit a report or similar at the end. Reduced fees are usually paid to the uni.
In your situation, the student has suspended his studies and is therefore not a student, which makes the house liable for Council tax, to be paid by the occupiers. However, as the other students are exempt from paying, I would hope that the individual would claim the single person reduction and cover the cost themselves.