What is relevant education
You count as being in relevant education if you are a ‘qualifying young person’ for child benefit purposes (see
here) – ie, you are 19 or under and attending a full-time course of
non-advanced education or an approved training course (see
here) which you were accepted on, enrolled on or started when you were under 19.
1Reg 12 IS Regs; s142 SSCBA 1992 If you are accepted on, enrol on or start a full-time course of non-advanced education on or after your 19th birthday, you are not in relevant education. The rules on
here apply to you instead.
Full-time non-advanced education
Your course is classed as
‘full time’ for IS purposes if it is for more than 12 hours a week during term time. These 12 hours include classes and supervised study, but not meal breaks or unsupervised study either at home or at college.
2Reg 1(3) CB Regs‘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 vocational qualifications (NVQ) levels 1–3 | BTEC HNC or HND |
GCSEs | Diploma of higher education |
AS and A levels | Degree level |
| Postgraduate degree |
You may still count as being in relevant education for a period after your course ends (see
here).