Chapter 7: Income support

CPAG

Basic facts

•Income support provides basic financial support for people who are not expected to ‘sign on’ for work.

•You cannot make a new claim for income support.

•Part-time students are eligible if they are a lone parent with a child under five, a carer, pregnant (and sick or nearly due), and in some other circumstances.

•Full-time students may be eligible if they are a lone parent with a child under five, a single foster parent and in some other circumstances.

•The amount is usually affected by any grant, loan or other income you may have.

1. What is income support

Income support (IS) provides basic financial support for people under pension age (see here) who are not expected to ‘sign on’ as available for work. Students who are lone parents with a child under five or single foster parents may be eligible for IS. Most other full-time students are not eligible. See here for which students can get IS.

Note: you cannot make a new claim for IS as it is in the process of being replaced by universal credit (UC). If you already get IS, the government plans to transfer you to UC by the end of 2025.

The amount you get is based on your circumstances - eg, whether you have a partner or whether you (or your partner) have a disability or care for someone with a disability. The amount you get is usually affected by any grant, loan or other income you have.

2. Who is eligible

Studying part time

What counts as part time

As new claims cannot be made, students getting income support (IS) are those who were already on IS before starting the course, and who are eligible for IS as a student. If you cannot get IS, you may be able to get universal credit (UC) instead - eg, if you are a parent (see Chapter 10).

To qualify for IS, you must be in one of the groups eligible to get it and you must satisfy all the basic rules described on here.

Only certain students are eligible for IS, depending on their age and course. To check whether you can get IS, if you are:

•a full-time student, see here; or

•studying part time, see here.

Advanced or non-advanced education

‘Non-advanced education’ is anything below degree, Higher National Certificate (HNC) or Higher National Diploma (HND) level, and includes school-level courses.

Non-advanced courses	Advanced courses
National Qualifications (NQ) Nationals 1 to 5	HNC
NQ Higher or Advanced Higher	HND
Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ) levels 1–3	SVQ level 4 or 5
National Progression Awards	Degree level
National Certificate	Postgraduate
Scottish Wider Access Programme

Full-time students

If you are a full-time student, whether in non-advanced or advanced education, you cannot usually get IS during your ‘period of study’, but there are exceptions.1Reg 4ZA(2) IS Regs

Period of study

The ‘period of study’ starts on the first day of the course and ends on the last day of the course – ie, the last day of the final academic year.2Regs 2(1), definition of ‘period of study’, and 61(1), definition of ‘last day of the course’, IS Regs It only ends earlier than this if you abandon your course or are dismissed from it, in which case it ends on the day that happens. You are within your period of study during all vacations and, for sandwich courses, during periods of work placements. In your first year, you do not count as a student at all until you first start attending or undertaking the course.3Reg 61(2)(b) IS Regs So if the course has already begun, you are not excluded from IS as a student until the day you actually start.

1 Reg 4ZA(2) IS Regs »

2 Regs 2(1), definition of ‘period of study’, and 61(1), definition of ‘last day of the course’, IS Regs »

3 Reg 61(2)(b) IS Regs »

Who counts as a full-time student

You count as a ‘full-time student’ if you are ‘attending or undertaking a full-time course of study at an educational establishment’.1Reg 61(1), definition of ‘full-time student’, IS Regs There are two definitions of ‘full time’ that apply: the first covers mostly courses of advanced education; the second covers most courses of non-advanced education.

•Advanced education. Your course is full time if it is classed as full time by the institution. If the institution describes the course as full time, you need convincing evidence to persuade the DWP otherwise, bearing in mind that what matters is the course itself rather than the hours you attend.2R(SB) 40/83; R(SB) 41/83 This definition covers all courses of advanced education funded, in whole or in part, by the Scottish government, and any courses of non-advanced education that are not wholly or partly funded by the Scottish government at a further education (FE) college.

•Non-advanced education. Your course is full time if it involves more than 16 hours a week classroom or workshop learning under the direct guidance of teaching staff, or 16 hours or less if your hours are made up of more than 21 hours a week of structured study hours.3Reg 61(1)(c), definition of ‘full-time course of study’, IS Regs What matters is the number of hours specified in a document signed by the college. This is often called a ‘learning agreement’, but your college may refer to it by some other name. This definition applies if you are at an FE college, not undertaking a higher education course and your course is fully or partly funded by the Scottish government. Courses funded by the Scottish government include school qualifications like NQs from Access level to Advanced Higher, SVQs and National Certificates.

Sandwich courses

You count as a full-time student if you are on a sandwich course. A ‘sandwich course’ is made up of alternate periods of work experience and full-time study at college or university, where the study periods add up to at least 18 weeks in the year.4Reg 61(1), definition of ‘sandwich course’, IS Regs; reg 4(2) The Education (Student Loans) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 No.154

Work experience includes periods of employment abroad for modern language students whose course is at least half composed of modern language study.

Initial teacher training courses are not treated as sandwich courses.

Modular courses

A ‘modular course’ is one that is made up of two or more modules and you are required to do a certain number to complete the course.5Reg 61(4) IS Regs If you are attending or undertaking part of a modular course that is full time according to the rules described above, you are regarded as being a full-time student for the duration of that module, from the day it begins until the last day of registration on the module (or earlier if you abandon the course or are dismissed from it). This includes all vacations during the module on which you are registered and, except for the final module, the vacation immediately following it. It also includes periods when you are attending the course to do re-sits. If the modular course allows you to undertake some modules on a part-time basis, you are not excluded from IS while you are studying part time.

Postgraduates

If you are a postgraduate, the law is not clear on whether you still count as a student during the period at the end of your course when you are writing up your thesis. DWP guidance says someone is ‘not a full-time student during the period after the end of the course when they are expected to complete any course work’.6Vol 6, para 30238 DMG If you are refused IS, consider appealing. You could try arguing that you are no longer attending or undertaking a course.

1 Reg 61(1), definition of ‘full-time student’, IS Regs »

2 R(SB) 40/83; R(SB) 41/83 »

3 Reg 61(1)(c), definition of ‘full-time course of study’, IS Regs »

4 Reg 61(1), definition of ‘sandwich course’, IS Regs; reg 4(2) The Education (Student Loans) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 No.154 »

5 Reg 61(4) IS Regs »

6 Vol 6, para 30238 DMG »

Who can get income support

You can get IS if you are:1Reg 4ZA(3) IS Regs

•a lone parent (see here);

•a single foster parent (see here);

•a refugee learning English (see here);

•on a non-advanced course, aged under 22 and without parental support (see here).

Lone parents

To qualify as a lone parent, your youngest child must normally be under age five (you can also qualify if you are under 18, regardless of your youngest child’s age).2Sch 1B para 1 IS Regs; s137 SSCBA 1992 Once your youngest child reaches their fifth birthday, you no longer count as a lone parent and your IS stops.

Examples

Julie is studying full time for a degree in law. She is a lone parent with two children aged three and seven. She can continue to get IS as a lone parent while she has a child under five.

You may be required to attend work-focused interviews if your youngest child is aged one to four, and to undertake work-related activity if your youngest child is aged three or four.

Single foster parents

You are eligible if you are a single foster parent with a child under 16. This includes kinship carers who are caring for a ‘looked-after’ child (sometimes referred to as ‘approved kinship carers’).

Example

Emma is studying full time for an HND in social care. She is single and fosters a 13-year-old boy. She can continue to get IS.

Couples

If your partner is not a full-time student or is a part-time student, they are not excluded from IS and can get IS for you as well as for themself whether or not you have a child. They can get IS throughout the year, not just in the long vacation. To be eligible, they must be in one of the groups of people who can get IS listed here.

Refugees

Your English course must be more than 15 hours a week and aimed at helping you get work. You must have refugee status and you must have been in Britain for a year or less when your course starts. Payment of IS is limited to nine months.3Sch 1B para 18 IS Regs This is unlikely to apply to many people as new claims for IS can no longer be made.

Under 22 without parental support

To qualify, you must be on a full-time course of non-advanced education on which you were accepted, enrolled or started before you turned 21.4Sch 1B para 15A IS Regs If you turn 21 on your course, you continue to be eligible. In addition, you must:

•be an orphan, and no one is acting in place of your parent; or

•live away from your parents, or anyone acting in their place, because you are estranged from them; or

•live away from your parents because there is a serious risk or danger to you; or

•live away from your parents. They must be unable to support you financially and be sick or disabled, in prison or not allowed to enter Britain.

1 Reg 4ZA(3) IS Regs »

2 Sch 1B para 1 IS Regs; s137 SSCBA 1992 »

3 Sch 1B para 18 IS Regs »

4 Sch 1B para 15A IS Regs »

Studying part time

What counts as part time

Part-time students can get IS under the usual rules without restriction. You must satisfy all the basic rules (see here) and you must be in one of the groups of people who are eligible for IS. In brief, these are:

•lone parents under age 18 (regardless of the child’s age) or lone parents with a child under five;

•some young people up to age 25 on youth training schemes;

•carers who get carer’s allowance, carer support payment or care for someone who gets attendance allowance, the middle or highest rate of the disability living allowance/child disability payment care component, or the daily living component of personal independence payment/adult disability payment;

•pregnant women from 11 weeks before to 15 weeks after the birth (or earlier if they are incapable of work because of pregnancy);

•single foster parents of children under 16 or with a child placed for adoption, or people looking after a child while their partner is abroad or if the parents are temporarily ill, or away temporarily;

•some people on unpaid paternity or parental leave;

•people caring for a family member who is temporarily ill;

•refugees on English courses in their first year in Britain;

•people entitled to statutory sick pay;

•people appealing against a decision that they are not incapable of work;

•people who are incapable of work, but only if they already get incapacity benefit (IB);1Regs 1(4) and 2(1) ESA(TP) Regs

•people who are registered or certified as blind, but only if they already get IB.

For more details of all the groups of people who are eligible for IS, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook.

1 Regs 1(4) and 2(1) ESA(TP) Regs »

What counts as part time

You are regarded as a part-time student if you are not a full-time student. See here for who counts as full time.

If you are at an FE college studying a non-advanced course such as NQ up to Advanced Higher level, SVQ up to level 3 or National Certificate, the DWP may ask you for a learning agreement to show that the course is part time – ie, no more than 16 classroom hours, or 21 classroom plus structured study hours. Your college can provide you with this.

DWP guidance says that students on Open University courses are part time.1Vol 6, para 30132 DMG

Example

Betty is a carer for her disabled mother and has been getting IS on this basis for two years. She starts studying at college 12 hours a week towards a National Certificate. She continues to be eligible for IS.

1 Vol 6, para 30132 DMG »

3. Basic rules

As well as being a student who is eligible, to qualify for income support (IS) you must also satisfy all the following conditions.1s124 SSCBA 1992

•You are aged 16 or over.

•You have not reached pension age. If you have reached this age, you may be eligible for pension credit instead. Pension age is currently 66.

•You are not working 16 hours or more a week. If you are working 16 hours or more, you may be eligible for working tax credit instead (but only if you already get child tax credit) (see here).

•Your partner is not working 24 hours or more a week.

•You are present in Great Britain, satisfy the ‘habitual residence’ and ‘right to reside’ tests, and are not a ‘person subject to immigration control’. (You can sometimes be paid IS for the first four or eight weeks you are outside Britain.) These terms are explained in CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook. Further advice is available from UKCISA (see Appendix 2).

•You have no more than £16,000 capital.

•Your income is less than the set amount the law says you need to live on (known as your ‘applicable amount’ – see here).

1 s124 SSCBA 1992 »

4. Amount of benefit

The amount of income support (IS) you get depends on your and your partner’s circumstances. The amount also depends on your income and capital. Go through the following steps to work out the amount of IS to which you are entitled.

Step one: capital

If your capital is over £16,000, you cannot get IS (see here). Some kinds of capital are ignored. For details, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook.

Step two: work out your applicable amount

This is an amount for basic weekly needs. It is made up of:

•personal allowances (see here);

•premiums (see here);

•housing costs (see here).

Step three: work out your weekly income

Chapter 16 explains how your loan, grant or other income is taken into account and how to work out your weekly income.

Step four: deduct weekly income from applicable amount

If your income is less than your applicable amount, IS equals the difference between the two.

If your income is the same as or more than your applicable amount, you cannot get IS.

Example

Julie is 25 and a full-time, second-year undergraduate student and a lone parent of Penny, aged three, and Sam, aged six. She gets a student loan of £8,000, plus an independent students’ bursary of £1,000, £1,305 lone parents’ grant and £1,215 for childcare. Her only other income is child benefit of £39.90 a week, child tax credit (CTC) of £134.19 a week, and personal independence payment (PIP) of £68.10 a week.

During the academic year September 2023 to June 2024:

Step one Julie has no savings or capital.

Step two Her applicable amount is:

Personal allowance for herself £84.80

Disability premium £39.85

Severe disability premium £76.40

Total applicable amount £201.05

Step three Her weekly income is:

Loan and independent students’ bursary £197.79

The childcare grant and lone parents’ grant are disregarded. Her loan (less certain disregards) is divided over the 42 weeks of the academic year (see Chapter 16), and a further £10 disregarded. Her independent students’ bursary also counts in full. Child benefit, CTC and PIP are disregarded.

Step four Her income is £3.26 below her applicable amount, so she can get IS of £3.26 a week from September 2023 to June 2024.

During the long vacation from June 2024 to September 2024:

Step two At 2023/24 rates, Julie’s applicable amount is £201.05 (as above).

Step three Her weekly income for IS purposes from the end of June 2024 to the beginning of September 2024, is nil. This is because her loan only counts as income during the academic year. Child benefit, CTC and PIP are disregarded.

Step four From the end of June 2024 to the beginning of September 2024 her weekly IS is £201.05. Julie’s IS should increase from the end of June.

Applicable amount

Work out your applicable amount by adding together your personal allowances, premiums and eligible housing costs. Benefit rates are uprated in April each year. It is usually possible to find out the new rates from the beginning of December. Check the DWP website at for a press release on social security uprating. The amounts in this online Handbook are from April 2024.

Personal allowance

Your personal allowance is made up of the following.1Sch 2 para 1 IS Regs

•One personal allowance at either the single, lone parent or couple rate depending on your situation. The amount depends on your age.

Circumstances	£ per week	Conditions
Single
Under 25	71.90	No special conditions.
25 or over	90.50	No special conditions.
Lone parent	90.50	No special conditions.
Couple
One aged 16–17, one 18 or over	142.25	The younger partner: – is eligible for IS or income-related ESA, or would be if they were single; or – is eligible for income-based JSA; or – is entitled to severe hardship payments of JSA.
One aged 16–17, one 18–24	71.70	For those who are not eligible for the rate above.
One aged 16–17, one 25 or over	90.50	For those who are not eligible for the rate above.
Both aged 18 or over	142.25	No special conditions.

1 Sch 2 para 1 IS Regs »

Premiums

Qualifying for premiums depends on your circumstances.

You can qualify for either one, but not both, of the following.

•Disability premium of £42.50 (£60.60 for a couple). You get a disability premium if you get:1Sch 2 paras 11 and 12 IS Regs

◦adult disability payment (ADP);

◦disability living allowance (DLA);

◦PIP;

◦long-term incapacity benefit (IB);

◦severe disablement allowance;

◦working tax credit with a disabled worker or severe disability element;

◦war pensioner’s mobility supplement;

◦constant attendance allowance;

◦exceptionally severe disablement allowance.

You also qualify if:

◦you are certified as severely sight impaired or blind, and for 28 weeks after coming off the register; or

◦you are terminally ill and have been entitled to statutory sick pay for at least 196 days; or

◦you have been receiving a disability premium since before October 2008 because of incapacity for work.

If you are the IS claimant and you have a partner, you get the disability premium if they get any of the qualifying benefits or are blind.

•Pensioner premium of £190.70 for couples. Single people who have reached pension age claim pension credit (see here) rather than IS. However, you get a pensioner premium if you are under this age and getting IS and you have a partner who has reached this age.2Sch 2 paras 9, 9A and 10 IS Regs

In addition, you can qualify for any, or all, of the following.3Sch 2 para 6 IS Regs

•Carer premium of £45.60. You get a carer premium if you are entitled to carer’s allowance (CA) or carer support payment (CSP) (see here). If you are entitled to CA/CSP but not paid it because it overlaps with another benefit (eg, contributory ESA), you still qualify for a carer premium. You get two carer premiums if both you and your partner qualify.

•Enhanced disability premium for an adult of £20.85 (£29.75 for a couple). You get this premium if you get the highest rate of the DLA care component or the enhanced rate of the PIP/ADP daily living component.4Sch 2 paras 13A and 15(8) IS Regs

•Severe disability premium of £81.50. This is a premium for severely disabled people who live alone, or can be treated as living alone. You qualify for this premium if you get the middle or highest rate of the DLA care component, or the standard or enhanced rate of the PIP/ADP daily living component, and no one gets CA, CSP or the carer element of universal credit for looking after you. You do not get it if you live with another person aged 18 or over (eg, a friend or parent), unless they are separately liable for rent, or you only share a bathroom or hallway, or in some other circumstances.5Sch 2 para 13 IS Regs See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook for details. If you have a partner, you do not qualify unless they also qualify in their own right or are severely sight impaired or blind. If you both qualify, you get two premiums.

1 Sch 2 paras 11 and 12 IS Regs »

2 Sch 2 paras 9, 9A and 10 IS Regs »

3 Sch 2 para 6 IS Regs »

4 Sch 2 paras 13A and 15(8) IS Regs »

5 Sch 2 para 13 IS Regs »

Housing costs

IS can include amounts for certain service charges if you own your home.

If you own your own home and get IS, you may be able to get a loan from the DWP to help with the cost of your mortgage interest payments,1Reg 3 LMI Regs repayable when you sell your home or on your death. Payments are usually made directly to your mortgage lender. Usually help only starts once you have been getting IS for 39 weeks, although there are some exceptions to this. Note: these loans are not part of your IS.

Normally you have to live in the home you own to get a loan for mortgage interest, but there are exceptions for full-time students (and some others). You can still get a loan for mortgage interest if you have moved elsewhere to study but are not paying rent or mortgage payments at the term-time address. If you pay for both places, you can get a loan for both if you are a couple and it is unavoidable that you live in two separate homes. Otherwise, you can get a loan if you are away from your home temporarily and have not let it out and are not likely to be away for more than 52 weeks.2Sch 3 para 4 LMI Regs

You must claim UC (see Chapter 10), or, in some cases, housing benefit (see Chapter 6) for help with your rent.

For more details, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook.

1 Reg 3 LMI Regs »

2 Sch 3 para 4 LMI Regs »

5. Claiming income support

Getting paid

New claims for income support can no longer be made (see here).

Getting paid

Payment is usually made directly into your bank or building society. Which account it goes into is up to you. If you do not want your benefit to go into an account that is already overdrawn, give the DWP details of an alternative account if you have access to, or can open, one.

6. Challenging a decision

If you think a decision about your income support is wrong, you can ask the DWP to look at it again. This process is known as a ‘mandatory reconsideration’. Provided you ask within the time limit (usually one month), the DWP notifies you of the decision in a ‘mandatory reconsideration notice’. If you are still not happy when you get this notice, you can appeal to the independent First-tier Tribunal. If it was not possible to ask the DWP to reconsider the decision within a month, you can ask for a late revision (within 13 months), explaining why it is late. You can also ask the DWP to look at a decision again at any time if certain grounds are met – eg, if there has been an official error.

7. Other benefits and tax credits

Passported benefits

Income support (IS) tops up other income you have to the level of your basic requirements (your ‘applicable amount’). Most other benefits you get are therefore taken into account as income when working out your IS. This means they reduce your IS pound for pound. Disability living allowance, personal independence payment, adult disability payment and housing benefit (HB) are, however, always disregarded as income.

If you have children and get child tax credit (CTC), both CTC and child benefit are disregarded as income for IS.

Getting another benefit may reduce your IS, but might also mean you qualify for a premium with your IS (eg, getting carer’s allowance or carer support payment means you qualify for a carer premium), so you could be better off overall (although in this case, the person you care for could get less benefit – see here).

If you get IS and you pay rent, you are eligible as a student for HB (unless you are a care leaver aged 16 or 17). Note, however, that new claims for HB cannot usually be made (see here).

IS is taken into account when calculating whether the benefit cap applies (see here and here).

Passported benefits

Provided you meet any other conditions, getting IS entitles you to:

•free dental treatment;

•vouchers for glasses;

•a Best Start grant;

•Best Start foods;

•Scottish child payment;

•funeral support payments;

•a budgeting loan;

•free school lunches from your local authority.

See Chapters 5 and 13 for details. You may also be eligible for a school clothing grant - see .