You can claim CTC for a young person for whom you are responsible and who is between the ages of 16 and 19 and in full-time education or approved training.
The upper age limit was increased from 19 to 20 with effect from 6 April 2006 to enable a young person who has started a course before their 19th birthday to continue until they reach 20 without their parents or carers losing child tax credit. But young persons who attained the age of 19 before 6 April 2006 do not qualify.
To be in full-time education, the young person must be receiving full-time, non-advanced education. They must be studying at a 'recognised educational establishment', ie usually a school or college or comparable institution, but they can also be studying elsewhere if the education is recognised by the Secretary of State, Scottish ministers, or the Department for Employment and Learning. The course of study must also not be one that the young person is pursuing because of his or her employment.
Full-time study means not less than 12 hours a week spent during term-time in tuition, supervised study, exams and practical work. The 12 hours includes gaps between courses, but not meal breaks or periods of unsupervised study.
Non-advanced education includes an ordinary national diploma; a national diploma or national certificate of Edexcel; GCSEs; GCE advanced level (AS and A2 levels); Scottish national qualifications at advanced or higher level - any qualifications being above that level (eg degree) being designated 'advanced' education.
Approved training is defined by reference to various training programmes arranged by government. These are 'Entry to Employment' or 'Programme Led Pathways' in England; 'Skillbuild', 'Skillbuild+' or 'Foundation Modern Apprenticeships' in Wales; 'Get Ready for Work', 'Skillseekers' or 'Modern Apprenticeships' in Scotland; or 'Access' or 'Jobskills Traineeships' in Northern Ireland.
If training is provided to the young person because of their employment, it cannot count as approved training.
A young person also qualifies if:
they are under 18;
they have left full-time education or approved training; within 20 weeks of that date they have registered for work or training with the Careers Service, Connexions Service or the Department for Employment and Learning;
they have notified HMRC within three months of leaving full-time education or approved training; and
during that time they have not engaged in qualifying remunerative work or received income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance. Qualifying remunerative work in that context means at least 24 hours work a week done for or in expectation of payment; and does not include work done for a charity, as a carer, in pursuance of an Intensive Activity Programme or a sports award, or as a participant in an Employment Zone programme.
Finally, it doesn't matter if a young person's course of full-time education or approved training may be interrupted for up to 6 months because of their illness or disability, to the extent that HMRC consider it reasonable, or for any other cause that they consider to be reasonable.