7. Other benefits and tax credits

If you get contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), you can claim universal credit as well.

Child tax credit (CTC) and, except for some existing claimants, child benefit are ignored as income when JSA is assessed. If you have been getting income-based JSA since before 6 April 2004 and still have amounts for children included in your JSA, child benefit is taken into account as income.

If you get income-based JSA, you are also eligible as a student for housing benefit provided you meet the other rules of entitlement.

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

Passported benefits

Provided you meet any other conditions, getting income-based JSA entitles you to:

•free dental treatment;
•vouchers for glasses;
•a Best Start grant;
•Best Start foods;
•funeral support payments;
•a budgeting loan;
•free school lunches from the local authority.

You may also be eligible for a school clothing grant - see mygov.scot/clothing-grants. Contribution-based JSA does not give you automatic access to these benefits, but you may qualify for health benefits on low income grounds. See Chapter 5 for details.