Benefits for Students in Scotland Handbook | 2022/23 | 20th ednPart 1: Benefits and tax credits Chapter 8: Jobseeker's allowance
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Chapter 8: Jobseeker’s allowance
Basic facts
    •Jobseeker’s allowance provides basic financial support for people who are expected to ‘sign on’ for work.
    •Full-time students are not normally eligible.
    •Part-time students are eligible if they are available for work.
    •You do not need to have paid national insurance contributions to qualify, but you might get more money if you have.
    •The amount is usually affected by any loan, grant or other income you may have.
1. What is jobseeker’s allowance
Jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) provides basic financial support for people of working age who are not working full time and who are expected to ‘sign on’ as available for work.
Full-time students are normally excluded from JSA, but there are exceptions. Part-time students are eligible if they are available for work.
If you have paid sufficient national insurance contributions, you get contribution-based JSA for the first six months. This is paid on top of any student or other income you might have. Otherwise, you may get income-based JSA. This is means tested, so most of your student income and most other income is taken into account when working out how much benefit you get. Chapter 16 explains how your income affects your benefit.
Note: you cannot make a new claim for income-based JSA, as it is in the process of being replaced by universal credit (UC). If you already get income-based JSA, the government plans to transfer you to UC by the end of 2024.
2. Who is eligible
As new claims cannot be made for income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), students getting income-based JSA will be those who were already on this before starting the course, and who are eligible for income-based JSA as a student (which mainly applies to part-time students). If you cannot claim income-based JSA, you may be able to get universal credit instead (see Chapter 10).
To qualify for JSA, you must not be excluded as a student, and you must satisfy the basic rules. See below for details of students who are eligible. The basic rules are covered here.
Contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance
This is sometimes called ‘new-style’ JSA by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). You cannot usually get ‘new-style’ contribution-based JSA if you are in ‘relevant education’. There is an exception if you took time out of your course because of illness or caring responsibilities, you have now recovered or the caring responsibilities have ended, you are not eligible for a student loan or grant, and you are waiting to rejoin your course.
You are in relevant education if you are:1Reg 45 JSA Regs 2013
    •a qualifying young person (see here); or
    •on a full-time course of advanced education; or
    •on another full-time course for which a loan or grant is provided for your maintenance (or would be available if you applied for it); or
    •on a course which is not compatible with your work-related requirements.
 
1     Reg 45 JSA Regs 2013  »
Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
You cannot usually get JSA as a full-time student, whether in advanced or non-advanced education, at any time during your ‘period of study’.1Reg 15(1)(a) JSA Regs
Period of study
Your ‘period of study’ is the whole of your course from the first day you attend or undertake the course to the last day - ie, the last day of the final academic year, including short and long vacations.2Regs 4 and 130 JSA Regs It includes a period of study in connection with the course after you have stopped doing the course itself. It does not include freshers’ week, unless your course actually starts that week.3Vol 6, para 30221 DMG
You are not a student in between courses. For example, you can get JSA in the summer between completing an undergraduate degree and starting a postgraduate course.
Postgraduates writing up their thesis at the end of a course may be regarded by the DWP as being in ‘a period of study undertaken by the student in connection with the course’. However, guidance for decision makers says someone is ‘not a full-time student during the period after the end of the course when they are expected to complete any course work’.4Vol 6, para 30238 DMG To get JSA, you must show that you are available for and actively looking for work. If you say you are not prepared to fit your thesis writing around a job, should one come up, the DWP will decide that you are not available for work.
 
1     Reg 15(1)(a) JSA Regs »
2     Regs 4 and 130 JSA Regs »
3     Vol 6, para 30221 DMG »
4     Vol 6, para 30238 DMG  »
What counts as full time
In most cases, the college or university defines whether the course is full or part time. However, for some further education (FE) students, there is a 16/21-hour study rule. The JSA rules are the same as those for income support (IS) (see here).
Who can get jobseeker’s allowance
You can get JSA in the following circumstances. Note: you cannot make a new claim for income-based JSA (see here).
    •Your course must be regarded by your work coach at the Jobcentre Plus office as a qualifying course. You must be aged 25 or over and have been getting JSA for at least two years before the course starts. During term time you are not expected to sign on or look for work, although you may be required to provide evidence of your attendance and progress on the course. During vacations, you are expected to look for casual work.1Regs 17A and 21A JSA Regs
    •You are on a full-time employment-related course approved by your work coach at the Jobcentre Plus office. You can get JSA for just two weeks.2Reg 14(1)(a) JSA Regs
 
1     Regs 17A and 21A JSA Regs »
2     Reg 14(1)(a) JSA Regs »
Studying part time
You can get JSA while studying part time. You must continue to pass all the basic rules for JSA, including being available for work and actively looking for work.
What counts as part time
Generally, your college or university determines whether you count as a part-time or full-time student, rather than the number of hours you study or attend lectures.1Reg 1(b)(i), definition of ‘full-time student’, JSA Regs The rules are the same as for IS (see here).
If you are aged 19 or over at an FE college but not on a higher education course, there is a 16/21-hour rule for courses funded, or partly funded, by the Scottish government. A part-time course is:2Reg 1(b)(iii), definition of ‘full-time student’, JSA Regs
    •up to 16 hours a week classroom or workshop-guided learning, under the direct guidance of teaching staff; or
    •up to 21 hours when hours of structured learning are added on, provided classes are no more than 16 hours a week.
This is set out in a learning agreement provided by your college.
Examples
Shona is 20 and attending an FE college, studying for National Qualifications at higher level. She has 10 hours a week of classes and 10 hours a week of timetabled independent study. She is classed as a part-time student.
Gwyneth is 24 and at an FE college on a Scottish Vocational Qualification level 2 course. She has classes for 18 hours a week and three hours of timetabled study. She is classed as a full-time student.
Saleem is 23 and studying for a degree. He has 15 hours of lectures a week. The university regards his course as full time. He is classed as a full-time student for JSA.
 
1     Reg 1(b)(i), definition of ‘full-time student’, JSA Regs »
2     Reg 1(b)(iii), definition of ‘full-time student’, JSA Regs »
Studying and availability for work
If you are getting JSA, you may have agreed which hours of the day and which days of the week you are available for work. This ‘pattern of availability’ is set out in your ‘claimant commitment’. You are allowed to do this provided the hours you choose still give you a reasonable chance of getting work and do not considerably reduce your prospects of getting work.
If the hours you study are completely different to the hours you have agreed to be available for work, you should have no problem. If, however, there is some overlap, or if you have agreed to be available for work at any time of day and on any day of the week, the DWP must be satisfied that you are available for work despite your course. It expects you to:
    •rearrange the hours of your course to fit round a job or be prepared to give up the course if a job comes up; and
    •be ready to take time off the course to attend a job interview; and
    •be ready to start work immediately.
Guidance tells DWP decision makers to look at various factors when deciding whether you are genuinely available for work, such as:1Vol 4, para 21242 DMG
    •what you are doing to look for work;
    •whether your course will help you get work. Bear in mind that if you say the course is necessary to get the kind of job you want, the DWP may assume you are not prepared to give it up to do another kind of job and, therefore, decide you are not available for work;
    •whether you can be contacted about a possible job if you are studying away from home;
    •whether you gave up work or training to do the course;
    •your hours of attendance on the course;
    •whether it is possible to change the hours if necessary;
    •whether you could still complete the course if you missed some classes;
    •how much you paid for the course and whether any fees could be refunded if you gave up the course. The DWP is likely to assume that you are not prepared to give up the course to take a job if you have paid a significant amount in course fees;
    •whether any grant would need to be repaid if you gave up your course.
However, the DWP does not need to know about any of the above factors if you got JSA, incapacity benefit, IS on incapacity for work grounds or ESA, or were on an Employability Fund course or similar training:
    •during the last three months before the start of the course; or
    •for three out of the last six months before the course if you were working the rest of the time.
If this applies to you and your course hours overlap with your pattern of availability but you are willing and able to rearrange them in order to take up employment, no other questions about your course are relevant to your availability for work.2Reg 11 JSA Regs You need only complete Part 1 of the student questionnaire and sign Part 3.
Once you have qualified for JSA, you must continue to be available for work and actively look for work. When you ‘sign on’, you must show what steps you have taken to look for work – eg, checked job adverts or applied for jobs. If you do not look for work each week, or you turn down a job or interview, you could be given a sanction and lose some or all of your JSA, which could be for up to 26 weeks. If this happens, you can appeal. You might be able to reduce the amount of the sanction or have it overturned. Get advice about this and ask for a hardship payment in the meantime.
Open University students can attend a residential course for up to a week and keep their JSA. You are not expected to be available for, or to look for, work during that week.3Regs 14(1)(f) and 19(1)(f) JSA Regs
 
1     Vol 4, para 21242 DMG »
2     Reg 11 JSA Regs »
3     Regs 14(1)(f) and 19(1)(f) JSA Regs »
3. Basic rules
As well as being a student who is eligible for jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), you must satisfy all of the basic rules.1s1 JSA 1995
    •You are available for work.
    •You must be willing and able to take up work immediately (although some people are allowed notice).
    •You must be prepared to work at least 40 hours a week.
    •People with caring responsibilities and disabled people can restrict themselves to fewer than 40 hours. During your child’s school holidays, you are not expected to be available for work if there is no childcare reasonable for you to arrange, but this provision does not apply if you are a full-time student.2Reg 15(4) JSA Regs
    •You are actively seeking work.
    •You have a claimant commitment. This sets out, for instance, the hours you have agreed to work, the type of work you are looking for and any restrictions on travel and pay.
    •If you are doing any work, it is for less than 16 hours a week. You can get contribution-based JSA if your partner is working, but not income-based JSA unless s/he works less than 24 hours a week.
    •You are capable of work (although you can continue to get JSA for up to 13 weeks while sick).
    •You are under pension age (age 66).
    •You are in Great Britain, although JSA can be paid in other countries in some circumstances. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook for details.
    •You meet the conditions for either contribution-based JSA or income-based JSA (see below). If you meet the conditions for both, you get contribution-based JSA topped up by income-based JSA.
 
1     s1 JSA 1995 »
2     Reg 15(4) JSA Regs »
Contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance
You must have paid sufficient national insurance contributions to qualify for contribution-based JSA, as well as meeting all the basic rules above.1s2 JSA 1995
You must have paid class 1 contributions on earnings of at least the lower earnings limit in 26 weeks, which need not be consecutive, in one of the two complete tax years (6 April to 5 April) before the start of the benefit year (which runs from the first Sunday in January) in which you claim. You also must have paid or been credited with class 1 contributions on earnings of 50 times the lower earnings limit in these years.
For example, you qualify if you claim JSA in 2023 and you paid contributions on earnings of £6,000 in the tax year April 2020 to April 2021 and £6,000 in the tax year April 2021 to April 2022, earning in the first year £120 a week or more, or in the second year £120 a week or more, for at least 26 weeks.
 
1     s2 JSA 1995 »
Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
As well as satisfying all the basic rules above, to get income-based JSA you must meet the following conditions.1ss3 and 13 JSA 1995
    •You are aged 18 or over.
    •You satisfy the ‘habitual residence’ and ‘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 for overseas students is available from UKCISA (see Appendix 2).
    •Your income is below the amount set for your basic living needs (known as your ‘applicable amount’).
    •You have no more than £16,000 capital. See Chapter 16 for how your income and capital affect your benefits.
    •You do not get pension credit.
 
1     ss3 and 13 JSA 1995 »
4. Amount of benefit
Jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) is payable after seven ‘waiting days’.
Contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance
The amount of contribution-based JSA depends on your age.
Weekly rate from April 2023
Under 25
£67.20
25 or over
£84.80
You may get less than this if you have part-time earnings or an occupational or personal pension, but the amount is not affected by a student loan or grant. Contribution-based JSA is only paid for up to 26 weeks. Unlike income-based JSA, you only get amounts for yourself, not for a partner.
Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
Income-based JSA is worked out in the same way as income support (IS). The amount you get is made up of:
    •personal allowances; and
    •premiums; and
    •housing costs – ie, certain service charges.
The total of these is called your ‘applicable amount’. If you have no other income (the student loan and some grants count as income), you are paid your full applicable amount. Otherwise, any income you have is topped up with income-based JSA to the level of your applicable amount. If your weekly income is above your applicable amount, you are not entitled to income-based JSA. See Chapter 16 for how to work out your weekly income. See Chapter 7 for how to work out your applicable amount. The rules are almost the same as for IS, with the following differences.
    •If you are in a couple and only one of you is under 18, you get the higher £133.30 personal allowance if the younger partner is responsible for a child or is eligible for income-based JSA, severe hardship payments, IS (or would be if not a member of a couple) or income-related employment and support allowance (ESA).
    •If you are in a ‘joint-claim couple’ (see below), you can get a disability premium (at the couple rate) if one of you has had limited capability for work for 364 days (196 days if terminally ill). You must claim ESA to establish limited capability for work, even if you might not get it.
5. Claiming jobseeker’s allowance
New claims cannot be made for income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA).
You start your claim for contribution-based JSA online (see gov.uk/jobseekers-allowance/apply-new-style-jsa).
You are usually given an appointment for an interview. Claim as soon as you can, as JSA can only be backdated in limited circumstances.
Couples
If you are a full-time student but your partner is not, s/he can get JSA for both of you if s/he is eligible for JSA.1Sch A1 JSA Regs; Vol 6, para 30245 DMG Only your partner must continue to sign on and look for work. Similarly, your partner can get JSA for both of you if you are not yet a full-time student, but you have applied for, or been accepted on, a course.
 
1     Sch A1 JSA Regs; Vol 6, para 30245 DMG »
6. Challenging a decision
If you think a decision about your jobseeker’s allowance is wrong, you can ask the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to look at it again. This process is known as a ‘mandatory reconsideration’. Provided you ask within the time limit (usually one month), the DWP notifies you of the decision in a ‘mandatory reconsideration notice’. If you are still not happy when you get this notice, you can appeal to the independent First-tier Tribunal. If it was not possible to ask the DWP to reconsider the decision within a month, you can ask for a late revision (within 13 months), explaining why it is late. You can also ask the DWP to look at a decision again at any time if certain grounds are met – eg, if there has been an official error.
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 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;
    •Scottish child payment;
    •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.