Full-time education
You are in full-time education if an overall consideration of your course requirements and your performance against these suggests this. If you are on a full-time course of education, you are normally taken to be in full-time education for the purpose of carer’s allowance (CA).
1SSWP v Deane [2010] EWCA Civ 699 If you think that, given your circumstances, you are not in full-time education, you may be able to argue that you are a part-time student.
2CG/1154/2010You are also treated as being in full-time education if you ‘attend a course’ (see below) at a university, college or other educational establishment for 21 hours or more a week, even if that course is designated as part time by the institution.
3Reg 5 SS(ICA) Regs These 21 hours include not just classes, lectures and seminars, but also individual study for course work. Meal breaks and unsupervised study are ignored. However, you are regarded as studying under supervision if you are doing course work, whether at home or at college, alone or in the presence of a supervisor.
4Flemming v SSWP [2002] EWCA Civ 641; Wright-Turner v Department for Social Development [2002] NICA 2 Unsupervised study is work beyond the requirements of the course.
If your college or university says that it expects students to spend 21 hours or more a week in supervised study and classes, the DWP usually assumes that you are in full-time education.
In practice, if you want to show that you spend fewer hours on course work than the college or university expects, you need to provide detailed evidence and be prepared to appeal. If your particular circumstances mean that you are not expected to satisfy the normal requirements of the course (eg, because you are exempt from certain subjects), you may be able to argue that your hours of study are fewer than those expected of other students on the course.
5CG/3189/2004