Students who cannot receive Carer Support

Carers cannot receive Carer Support if they are:

• aged 16 to 19 and studying full-time, ‘non-advanced’ education. There are some exceptions to this rule.

Carer Support 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 may be able to access support through Young Carer Grant (if they are aged 16 to 19) and the Education Maintenance Allowance instead.

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.

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. Guidance on guidance local authority school leaving dates are as follows:

Leave dates for students who are eligible for summer leave is; 1 June every year.

Christmas leaving dates for each local authority are noted in the table below.

Carers who are able to receive Carer Support 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 while receiving full-time, non-advanced education and may be below minimum school leaving age.

Carers aged 16 to 19 in full-time non-advanced education with 'exceptional circumstances'

Some carers aged 16 to 19 in full-time, non-advanced education are able to receive Carer Support from 23 June 2024 onwards. 

This group of carers, with some ‘exceptional circumstances’ were not eligible for Carer Support during the initial phase of the pilot, from 19 November 2023 to 23 June 2024. 

The exceptional circumstances which mean that carers aged 16 to 19 studying full-time, non-advanced education can receive Carer Support 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 and have been assessed or treated as having a limited capability for work (before starting their course)
• 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 detailed in The Universal Credit Regulations 2013, 8(1) which sets out the 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 for clients who are aged 16-19 and in full-time, non-advanced education as an indicator that an individual meets the exceptional circumstances criteria for Carer Support. 

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. 

Read Further information on students with exceptional circumstances for more information on this.