NI Number for my 16 year old (2025 GCSE batch)

[TheCoolCatty]

Hi have any of your 16 year old child got his NI number? I was planning to get one for my son but the Gov.uk website asks if he is working or intending to do work which he is not as he will be continuing his A levels from September.

He was never in care and we have never claimed child benefits, hence the automatic allocation of NI isnt applicable.

Many Thanks

Just say he is intending to work - lots of 6th formers have part time jobs

Yes it came in the post in the last few months. We claim CB though. Maybe look for who to contact about getting one assigned? My DC hadn't said or been asked anything about work plans. It just arrived.

ignore - didn't see you didn't have CB!

My dc who is 16 received their NI number automatically months ago, prob near her birthday. I received a letter first with her details and if they were correct I didn't have to do anything, then the letter came out a little while later.

But if you'll only get if he needs it for work, either say he plans to work, or leave it til he does. Lots of kids work part-time once they turn 16 so it's not mutually exclusive with school.

We got it in the post - don't claim CB 🤔

We didn't get my sons automatically. We don't claim CB.
I had to call HMRC with my son present and they sent one out.

Dont understand why my son didnt get an automatic NI .. have to call HMRC and check.

Did you say that your child was planning to start working?

Ours just turned up in the post. No child benefit and no declaration of intending to work

I don't understand why you are asking about this - you just get him to fill in a form and send it off and they will send you the NI number. It doesn't matter if he's planning on starting work or not?

This was about 4years ago. Child was already 16 and had hit a job, but needed his NI number which is when we realised he hadn't been sent one automatically.
My Daughter get hers automatically last year.
just give HMRC a call and they'll sort it out.

We got one as each DD turned 16. Haven't claimed child benefit in several years now.

We just got a NI number for our 16 year old. Just say they are planning on looking for work. It doesn’t matter if they are or not. Ours did not get one automatically because we’ve never claimed child benefit.

@TheCoolCatty my son didn't get one either and it caused an issue later. This was my thread about it under a different username:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/chat/5221632-if-you-dont-claim-child-benefit

They do need their NI number for working, and for applying for tax free savings accounts, but they can get it earlier if they want it.

Actually, this is a better thread to look at as it gives the conclusion after we worked out what the problem was and got it resolved: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5294776-if-your-nearly-16-year-old-doesnt-get-their-national-insurance-number-in-the-post

Thanks so much. We have now applied for his NI with the intention that he might do some casual work if he wants to. Let's hope the application is processed successfully.

The most difficult part was getting a pic of him standing straight faced holding his passport near his face. Every time I tried to click, he started howling in laughter 🙄it was much much easier to take his photo for his passport 4 years ago. The teenagers are so unpredictable!!!