When does child benefit stop? How to claim for a 16-19 year old in education and the HMRC deadline explained

Child benefit payments stop on 31 August after a child turns 16, but parents can extend their claim if their child is continuing in approved education or training

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Parents and guardians have just over a week to tell HMRC that their 16-year-old is continuing their education or training, and continue receiving child benefit.

Child benefit payments stop on 31 August after a child turns 16 – a week after teenagers across the country will discover their GCSE results – but parents can extend their claim if their child is continuing in approved education or training.

Here’s how to extend your claim if this applies to your family, and everything else you need to know.

Who receives child benefit?

You get child benefit if you’re responsible for bringing up a child who is:

• under 16 years old;
• under 20 if they stay in approved education or training.

Only one person can receive child benefit for a child.

You can get child benefit for a child you are fostering as long as the local council is not paying anything towards their accommodation or maintenance.

You will stop receiving child benefit immediately if your child:

• starts paid work for 24 hours or more a week and is no longer in approved education or training;
• starts an apprenticeship in England;
• starts getting certain benefits in their own right, such as income support, employment and support allowance, or tax credits.

What counts as approved education or training?

Child benefit will continue to be paid for children who are studying full time, which can include:

• A-levels or similar;
• International Baccalaureate
• home education – if it started before their child turned 16 or after 16 if they have special needs;
• T-levels;
• NVQs, up to level 3;
• traineeships in England.

Child benefit will also continue for children studying on one of these unpaid approved training courses:

• foundation apprenticeships and traineeships in Wales, or the Jobs Growth Wales+ scheme;
• PEACE IV Children and Young People 2.1, Training for Success or Skills for Life and Work in Northern Ireland.

Child benefit continues for 20 weeks if 16 or 17 year olds leave education or training and register with the armed services or a government-sponsored careers service.

How much do you get?

Child benefit is typically paid every four weeks, on a Monday or Tuesday. You can have the money paid weekly if you’re a single parent or getting certain other benefits, such as income support.

There is no limit to how many children you can claim for.

For your first child you will receive £24 per week.

You will then receive £15.90 for each additional child.

Any child benefit payments you get will count towards the benefit cap. If you are affected by the cap, you will still get the full amount for your child benefit payments but your other benefits may be reduced.

If you or your partner earn over £50,000 per year you may be taxed on your child benefit. If you earn over £60,000 you will lose all of your benefit to tax.

How can I tell HMRC my child is remaining in education?

Parents and guardians can use the government’s online service or the HMRC app to tell HMRC about their child’s plans to remain in education.

HMRC recently wrote to parents about extending their child benefit claim. The letter included a QR code which, when scanned, directs them to gov.uk to update their claim online. Any changes will be applied to their child benefit claim immediately.