Can DC claim benefits between the end of school and start of University.

[Confusedaboutuni]

No flaming please.
DS finishes exams at the end of June and I presume Uni will start in mid September.

I was wondering if he would be able to claim universal credit in this period of time even though he will be living at home and doesn’t manage to find a job. His savings will be under £6000.
thanks in advance

I'd have thought they'd still be classed as a full time student so no. 🤷🏻‍♀️

@sarahc336 Thanks for replying. I had thought that he officially ends school on the 30th of June and enrols as a student in mid September so there would be that gap in between, but that may not be the case. Annoyingly I can’t seem to find an answer from official sources.

Good grief the tories got rid of this back in the 80's, to stop students signing on in the holidays. I think I just nipped in in 88 and got a whole 2 weeks money, it's three months or something before you can claim.

Child benefit is payable until the first Monday in September so whilst this is in payment he can't have uc.

he should be able to find a job easily enough in the current climate

This is correct….this has been in place over 30 years I think…..so the answer is no he cant

@ArnoldBee Ok thanks that makes sense then, I didn’t know that CB was payable till September.

thanks everyone

That wheeze is long gone. I’m sure he can get a job like most people do

@EL8888 Yep I definitely will be telling him to get a job if possible. I was just wondering if UC was possible if he could not find one, but as explained by previous posters, he is not eligible for it. He did some tutoring previously in the holidays so he will try and do some in the summer or find employment with more hours.

He may be able to get some work at a holiday playscheme if he looks around.

I think his best option would be to get an actual job while he has that free time. Surely that's what you should be encouraging rather than working out if he can sit on his backside and get handouts.

I'd like to think this wouldn't occur to most parents to even consider.

If he's 18 at the point and not yet enrolled on his University course, then I believe he can claim UC until he enrols. What he can't do is claim UC for the summer holidays that occur during the course (ie at the end of each academic year).

I'm not sure actually, a PP makes a good point about child benefit still being in payment. Sorry!

ds finished exams at the end of May (Scotland), he got a PT job mid may and had saved over £1.5k by the time he started uni in September. It has been well worth him getting something with more hours. All of his friends at uni do the same - fast food places, bars, restaurant takeaways, delivery drivers, shops, youth/sport centers etc. The jobs are there if they put the effort in to find them, but start applying a month or so before exams finish.

Ds is still working PT for a pizza place and he can work anything from 2-5 nights x 4-7 ish hour shifts a week, he ups his shifts during holidays and reduces when he has more workload at uni. Sometimes he needs to work when he wouldnt want to (NYE), but that is just part of working and having the benefits of extra money so he needs to deal with it 🤷🏻‍♀️

He might stop working in 3rd/4th year at uni if the workload gets too much but for now it is working well, gives him extra money and he has really matured over the last 6 months. He has even booked a summer holiday in June with friends!

Child benefit and any child related Universal credit child element or tax credit child payments would also continue until the last week in August.

Yes because during that time he is not an enrolled student, my DD got universal credit in the few weeks between college and uni starting. I'll point out she has a health condition which makes most work difficult and only manages uni with a lot of disability support.

He wouldn't be able to claim benefits between uni years as he is a registered student then.

UC is a tiny amount ( £265 a month) so he is better off getting a job for a few weeks if he can.

If he works for a big chain restaurant/shop he may find they will transfer his employment to a place near his university.

Do you not want to teach him to work for a living?

Good for him @Blanketpolicy it’s that stuff which sets you apart down the line, when I was recruiting we always looked at it favourably. So good for self esteem too and broadening your horizons.