Maternity pay for fixed term contracts

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I am currently on a 12 month fixed term university paid placement which is due to finish in July. My new arrival is due on 11th June and I'm unsure of how exactly my maternity pay is going to work.

I am due to leave in May and think that I will qualify for statutory maternity pay from my employer up until the end date of my contract however I'm not quite sure what happens after that. Can I then go to apply for maternity allowance? As I will have no other source of income until I go back to uni in September when I will receive my student loan.

Has anyone been in a similar situation before?

If you meet the qualifying rules then you will be entitled to all the maternity pay others would get whether your contract ends or not

Yes, SMP is the whole lot - you either qualify or you don't. If the end date of your contract is half way through the 9 months for which it is paid, you still get it.

But I think if your employer offers anything above SMP then it depends on your contract whether you get none, some, or all of the additional pay.