3. Basic rules

• Contribution-based jobseeker's allowance
• Income-based jobseeker's allowance

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 they work 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 (currently, 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 subscribers) 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 2024 and you paid contributions on earnings of £6,000 in the tax year April 2021 to April 2022 and £6,150 in the tax year April 2022 to April 2023, earning in the first year £120 a week or more, or in the second year £123 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 (for subscribers). 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 »