Income-related employment and support allowance
Income-related ESA is means tested. You are eligible if you are a
part-time student and have limited capability for work. If you are a
full-time student, you are only eligible if you get disability living allowance (DLA) or personal independence payment (PIP). The same rules apply if you are taking time out from your course because of ill health (see
here).
To qualify for income-related ESA while studying, you must satisfy the basic conditions on
here and all the following conditions.
1Sch 1 para 6 WRA 2007•You are either a full-time student (see
here) who is entitled to DLA (either component, paid at any rate – see
here) or PIP (either component paid at any rate - see
here), or you are a part-time student.
2Reg 18 ESA Regs •Your income is less than the set amount the law says you need to live on (known as your ‘applicable amount’) – see
here.
•You have no more than £16,000 capital.
•Your partner (if you have one) is not working 24 hours or more a week.
•You are in Great Britain, satisfy the ‘habitual residence’ and the ‘right to reside’ tests, and are not a ‘person subject to immigration control’. These terms are explained in CPAG’s
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook. Further advice is available from UKCISA (see
Appendix 2).