Monthly assessment period

Your award of UC is assessed over an ‘assessment period’ of one calendar month, beginning from the date your entitlement starts. Changes of circumstances generally take effect from the first day of the monthly assessment period in which the change occurs. So, a change that occurs part way through a monthly assessment period is usually treated as having occurred on the first day of the assessment period. For example, if your child stops counting as your dependent part way through the assessment period, you will lose the child element for that child from the start of the assessment period.