Students who cannot receive Carer Support Payment
Carers cannot receive Carer Support Payment if they are:
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aged 16 to 19 and studying full-time, non-advanced education. There are some exceptions to this rule.
Carer Support Payment is not available to these carers to avoid creating an incentive for young people in non-advanced education, including those in school, taking on significant caring roles (35 hours or more a week).
It is also because their parents and guardians can receive support on their behalf through Child Benefit and Universal Credit, if they are on low incomes.
Young carers who are not eligible for Carer Support Payment may be able to access support through Young Carer Grant (if they are aged 16 to 19) and the Education Maintenance Allowance instead.
Carers who have not reached minimum school leaving age should be treated as being in full-time non-advanced education, even if they are studying for less than 21 hours each week. This is because young people below minimum school leaving age are legally required to be in school.
Students below minimum school leaving age
Carers who are 16, but have not reached minimum school leaving age, should be treated as if they are in full-time non-advanced education for the purposes of Carer Support Payment.
This means they would not be eligible for the benefit.
We would only be required to look at whether a carer is below minimum school leaving age if they are 16 and have told us they are not in full-time non-advanced education. This may be the case if they are not in formal schooling, for example if they are home-schooled.
Minimum school leaving age means you have reached the official school leaving date. In Scotland, there are two school leaving dates depending on when an individual turns 16. These are:
- if you become aged 16 between 1 March and 30 September – the leaving date is 1 June of the same year
- if you become aged 16 between 1 October and the last day in February – the leaving date is the start of the Christmas holidays. This can vary by local authority and year to year. For more information, check the guidance on local authority school leaving dates.
Carers who are able to receive Carer Support Payment while they are in full-time non-advanced education because of exceptional circumstances do not need to have reached minimum school leaving age to be eligible. Carers with exceptional circumstances can receive Carer Support Payment while receiving full-time non-advanced education and may be below minimum school leaving age.
Example 1: Ava turns 16 on 17 August 2023
Ava turns 16 on 17 August 2023, so rules on minimum school leaving age mean she can leave school on 1 June 2023. However, as the minimum age for Carer Support Payment is 16, and Ava does not have any exceptional circumstances, Ava will not be entitled until their 16th birthday on 17 August 2023.
Example 2: John turns 16 on 3 March 2023
John turns 16 on 3 March 2023, reaches the minimum school leaving age and leaves school on 1 June 2023. He does not meet the exceptional circumstances criteria for Carer Support Payment. John will therefore not be entitled to Carer Support Payment until 1 June 2023 as he will be in full-time non-advanced education until he leaves school.
Example 3: Ellie turns 16 on 17 December 2022
Ellie turns 16 on 17 December 2022, reaches school leaving age at the start of the school holidays on 20 December 2022, and leaves school 4 March 2023. If Ellie applies from 17 December, as she is still in school, she will not be entitled to Carer Support Payment. If she applies again from 4 March onwards, once she leaves full-time non-advanced education she would then be eligible.
Example 4: Violet turns 16 on 1 November 2023
Violet turns 16 on 01 November 2023 and will not reach the school leaving age until the start of the Christmas holidays, on 20 December 2023. As she is also responsible for a younger sibling she applies for and begins receiving Universal Credit. She therefore meets the exceptional circumstances criteria for Carer Support and because of this, she does not need to have met the minimum school leaving age. She would be eligible for Carer Support from 5 November 2023, the first day of the award week after she turned 16.
Carers aged 16 to 19 in full-time non-advanced education with 'exceptional circumstances'
Carers aged 16 to 19 in full-time non-advanced education are not normally able to receive Carer Support Payment. However carers in this group who have certain ‘exceptional circumstances’ can be eligible.
The ‘exceptional circumstances’ criteria were introduced from 23 June 2024 so carers in this group can’t be eligible for any date before 23 June 2024.
The exceptional circumstances which mean that carers aged 16 to 19 studying non-advanced education can receive Carer Support Payment are where:
- they are without parental support
- they are responsible for a child or qualifying young person (including foster parents
- they are receiving a disability benefit
- have been assessed or treated as having a limited capability for work
- in a couple, and their partner is not a student, or is a student and any of the above exceptions apply to them where one or both are students
These exceptional circumstances criteria mirror those in Universal Credit, as set out in The Universal Credit Regulations 2013, 8(1) which set out circumstances in which young people in full-time non-advanced education, who would not normally be eligible for benefits in their own right can get Universal Credit.
As a result, we can use receipt of Universal Credit while aged 16-19, in full-time, non-advanced education as an indicator that an individual meets the exceptional circumstances criteria for Carer Support Payment.
The minimum school leaving age rule does not apply to these students as they can be in full-time non-advanced education and still be eligible. They still need to be 16.
Further information on students with exceptional circumstances.