Parents have less than two weeks to tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) their 16-19 year-old is continuing education or training, or their Child Benefit payments will stop.
Hundreds of thousands of teenagers will decide on their future this week as they receive their GCSE results on Thursday. For parents of 16-19-year-olds who haven’t yet extended their claim, Child Benefit payments will stop after 31 August.
To continue receiving Child Benefit, which is worth up to £1,331 a year for the first child and up to £881 for each additional child, parents should update their claim if their child will be in approved education or training. HMRC urges parents to extend their claim now to avoid missing out.
Parents can quickly and easily extend their claim online on GOV.UK or via the HMRC app.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s director general for customer services, emphasised: “Child Benefit is crucial financial support for many families. To ensure you don’t miss out, extend your claim online or via the HMRC app by searching ‘Child Benefit when your child turns 16’ on GOV.UK .”
So far, more than 270,000 parents have digitally extended their claim. Victoria Benson, CEO of Gingerbread, highlighted the importance of this benefit, especially for single-parent families.
Ms Benson said: “Child Benefit is valuable to families and particularly single parent families, who are forced to make ends meet on a single income.
“It’s really important, with the 31 August deadline fast approaching, that parents whose children are going into further education and training extend their claim as soon as possible to avoid missing out on this crucial financial help.”
Child Benefit can continue to be paid for children who are studying full time in non-advanced education, which includes:
- A levels or Scottish Highers
- International Baccalaureate
- Home education – if it started before their child turned 16, or after 16 if they have a statement of special educational needs and it was assessed by the local authority
- T levels
- NVQs, up to level three.
Child Benefit will also continue for children studying on one of these unpaid approved training courses:
- In Wales: Foundation Apprenticeships, Traineeships or the Jobs Growth Wales+ scheme
- In Northern Ireland: PEACEPLUS Youth Programme 3.2, Training for Success or Skills for Life and Work
- In Scotland: the No One Left Behind programme.
If a child changes their mind about further education or training, HMRC said parents can simply inform the tax body online or via the HMRC app and payments will be adjusted accordingly.
Parents can check the status of their claims at any time by viewing their proof of entitlement in the app or online.
Parents will need a Government Gateway user ID and password to use HMRC’s online services. If they do not have one already, they can register on GOV.UK and will just need their National Insurance number or postcode, and two forms of ID.
