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1. What is universal credit

Universal credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for people of working age.1

UC has replaced various means-tested benefits and tax credits:

  • income support;
  • income-based jobseeker’s allowance;
  • income-related employment and support allowance;
  • housing benefit (HB);
  • child tax credit;
  • working tax credit.

People living in certain types of accommodation and people over pension age can still claim HB, but the other benefits and tax credits have ended. If you are working age, you can make a new claim for HB if you live in specified or temporary accommodation (see here), but everyone else who needs to claim a means-tested benefit for living costs and rent must claim UC instead . Once you claim UC, you remain on UC (provided you are still eligible), even if your circumstances change.

If you are a full-time student, you are only eligible for UC in some circumstances – broadly, if you are a parent, if you have a disability, if you are a young student in non-advanced education and without parental support, or if you have a partner who is not a student.

The amount you get is based on your circumstances (eg, whether you have a partner or child, or you care for someone with a disability) and is usually affected by any grant, loan or other income you have.

Note that work coaches can refer some young people on UC to ‘relevant training schemes’, during which they can stay on UC without having to meet the usual student eligibility requirements.2

Reference
References
  • 1

    s1-4 WRA 2012

  • 2

    Reg 12(1A) and (1B)(b) UC Regs

2. Who is eligible

Students

To qualify for universal credit (UC), you must satisfy all the basic rules described on here. Most students cannot claim UC, although there are some exceptions (see here). For UC, a student is referred to as someone receiving education.

Receiving education

You are ’receiving education’ if you are:1

– a qualifying young person. This applies if you are in, enrolled on or accepted for non-advanced education of at least 12 hours a week, or approved training, and have not yet reached 31 August after your 19th birthday. If you are 19 you must have started, been enrolled on or accepted on the course before you turned 19. You are also a qualifying young person until 31 August following your 16th birthday, even if you have left education;

– undertaking a full-time course of advanced education (see below);2

– on another full-time course for which a loan, grant or bursary is provided for your maintenance;

– (if none of the above three bullets apply) on a course that is not compatible with your work-related requirements – ie, what you are expected to do in terms of looking for work.

A course of advanced education is one above the level of National Qualifications at Higher or Advanced Higher level, including Higher National Diploma (HND), degree and postgraduate courses. It is full time if it is classed as full time by the institution, unless this is not clear, or the person has exemptions from parts of the course.3

Non-advanced courses Advanced courses
National Qualifications (NQ) Nationals 1 to 5HNC
NQ Higher or Advanced Higher HND
Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ) levels 1 to 3 SVQ level 4 or 5
National Progression Awards Degree level
National Certificate Postgraduate
Scottish Wider Access Programme

Open University courses are not classed as full time, but they are courses of study, so regard must be had as to whether they are compatible with work-related requirements.4

You are ‘undertaking a course’ from the day you start the course until the last day of the course (or an earlier date when you abandon or are dismissed from the course).5

If you are in full-time non-advanced education, and do not get any grant or bursary for maintenance (ie, you get no award of bursary maintenance allowance), you may not be ‘receiving education’, and may be able to get UC. This only applies if you are not a qualifying young person, AND you do not have work-related requirements, or your work coach agrees you can meet these while on your course.

Reference

Modular courses

A modular course is one that has two or more modules, and you are required to successfully complete a specified number of modules to have completed the course. If you are undertaking a part of a modular course, you count as undertaking the course from the day on which that part of the course starts until the last day on which you are registered as undertaking that part (or an earlier date if you abandon or are dismissed from the course).

You are also undertaking a modular course during any period in which you retake failed exams or complete a module that you previously failed to successfully complete, as well as any holidays, unless the holiday follows the last day of the final module.6

Reference
References
  • 1

    Reg 12 UC Regs

  • 2

    paras H6031 and H6047 ADM

  • 3

    BK v SSWP [2022] UKUT 73 (AAC)

  • 4

    para H6087 ADM

  • 5

    Reg 13(1) UC Regs

  • 6

    Reg 13(1)(b), (2) and (3) UC Regs

Who can claim universal credit

If you do not count as receiving education, you can claim UC in the same way as anyone else.

If you count as receiving education, you are only eligible for UC if you:1

  • are responsible for a child or young person - ie, they normally live with you. If you and your ex-partner share the care of a child, only one of you can count as responsible; or
  • are under 22 on a non-advanced course, you were under 21 when you started the course, and you are ’without parental support’ (see below); or
  • have limited capability for work (LCW) and also get child disability payment (CDP) or adult disability payment (ADP). You must have had a determination that you have LCW or limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA) before you started receiving education. This means a determination that you have LCW/LCWRA for UC or new-style employment and support allowance (ESA), or that you are treated as having LCW/LCWRA for UC. You can claim new-style ESA in order to be assessed for LCW/LCWRA (although you do not have to get any ESA to qualify in this way). Once you are found to have LCW/LCWRA for ESA (and you also get ADP or CDP), you are then eligible for UC as long as you had, or were treated as having, LCW/LCWRA before you started receiving education – ie, you cannot claim UC if you have already started your course by the time LCW/LCWRA is assessed. Note: you count as receiving education while you are a qualifying young person, so even if you have LCW/LCWRA through a new-style ESA assessment, you would have to have a period in which you are no longer a qualifying young person in order to be eligible for UC; or
  • are a single foster parent (this includes kinship carers with whom a child is placed under the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009); or
  • are a member of a student couple and one of you is a foster parent (this includes kinship carers with whom a child is placed under the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009); or
  • are over pension age and your partner has not yet reached that age (currently increasing from age 66); or
  • are making a joint claim with your partner who is not a student, or who is a student but would be eligible for UC themself while studying; or
  • have taken time out because of illness or caring responsibilities, you have now recovered or your caring responsibilities have ended, and you are not eligible for a grant or loan.

If you are in one of the above groups and have a partner who is also a student, you can make a joint claim for UC with them, even if they are not in one of these groups.2

Note that if you are receiving education and you manage migrated to UC while on your course, you can get UC even if you do not fit into any of the bullet points above (to the end of that course, but not for any subsequent courses).3

Without parental support

’Without parental support’ means you:4

– are an orphan; or

– cannot live with your parents because you are estranged from them, or because there is a serious risk to your physical or mental health, or you would face significant harm if you lived with them; or

– are living away from your parents, and they cannot support you financially because they are ill or disabled, in prison or not allowed to enter Great Britain.

’Parent’ includes any person acting in place of a parent. The person must be broadly acting in the way a parent would.5

You are estranged if you are ‘alienated in feeling or affection’ from your parents. The young person’s statement about the estrangement should be believed unless it is ‘self-contradictory or improbable’, and third-party evidence is not required.6

Note: if you are aged 16 or 17 and receiving education, you can only claim UC if you are covered by one of the first three bullet points above – ie, you have a child, you are without parental support and in non-advanced education, or you are ill or disabled. If you are a 16/17-year-old care leaver and are receiving education, you can only claim if you have a child or are ill or disabled, and you cannot get help with housing costs.7

Examples

Annie is 18 and on UC. She starts a full-time course of non-advanced education. She is estranged from her parents. She is still eligible for UC.

Lewis is on a full-time, advanced course and has a three-year-old child. He is eligible for UC.

Pauline is 23 and is on UC. She starts a part-time, non-advanced course in January 2026. The DWP decides that her course is not compatible with her work-related requirements, so she counts as receiving education. She is single and not disabled. She is not eligible for UC while she is on her course.

Karen is on UC. She moves in with her partner, Jake, who is unemployed. Karen starts a full-time, advanced course. They are still eligible for UC.

Reference

Work-related requirements

Even if you are a student who can claim UC, you may have to meet certain work-related requirements in order to get UC. These are set out in a claimant commitment drawn up by your work coach at the job centre. If it is not possible to meet your work-related requirements while on your course, you may be given a sanction and your UC may be reduced. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for more information about work-related requirements and sanctions.

There are no work-related requirements if you are receiving education and you are:8

  • under 22 (and were under 21 when you started your course), in non-advanced education and have no parental support; or
  • eligible for UC as a student (unless you are eligible after having taken time out because of illness or caring responsibilities) and you get a student loan for maintenance or a maintenance grant that is taken into account for UC. This only applies during the period of the year in which your student income is taken into account. Normally, this is over the academic year (see Chapter 12). Over the summer vacation you may be subject to work-related requirements.

If you are not exempt from work-related requirements under the rules above and not exempt for any other reason (eg, because you have a child under one or you are severely disabled), you must meet your work-related requirements, otherwise you can be sanctioned. This means that your UC is reduced by the level of your standard allowance (see here). You may be able to challenge a sanction. If you are given a sanction, get advice as soon as possible.

Examples

Sukhi is a full-time further education student. She gets a bursary maintenance allowance. She has a 12-year-old daughter. She claims UC. Because she gets a student grant for maintenance, no work-related requirements apply.

Sean, a lone parent with one child aged eight, is studying a full-time two-year HND course. He claims UC and has no work-related requirements applied because he gets a student loan. His long vacation starts on 5 June 2027. For the assessment period that includes 5 June and the next two assessment periods, which are wholly within his summer vacation, he is subject to work-related requirements. If Sean cannot meet these requirements, he may be sanctioned and his UC reduced.

Reference
References
  • 1

    Regs 3(2)(b), 13(4) and 14 UC Regs

  • 2

    Reg 3(2)(b) UC Regs

  • 3

    Reg 60 The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014 No.1230

  • 4

    Reg 8(3) UC Regs

  • 5

    NP v SSWP [2009] UKUT 243 (AAC)

  • 6

    paras E1051 and E1052 ADM

  • 7

    Reg 8 and Sch 4 para 4 UC Regs

  • 8

    Reg 89 UC Regs

3. Basic rules

Universal credit (UC) is for people on a low income who are in or out of work. You can claim regardless of your circumstances, provided you meet the basic rules about age, education, residence, income and capital.1 So, for example, lone parents, people with a disability, carers and unemployed people can all claim UC. If you are a student, you can only get UC if you meet the basic rules below and are in one of the groups of students who are eligible for UC (see here).

As well as being a student who is eligible to claim UC, you must satisfy all the following conditions.

  • You are aged 18 or over. There are exceptions for some 16/17-year-olds – eg, if you are estranged from your parents, are a parent yourself, are sick or disabled or if you are caring for someone with a disability.
  • You are under pension age (gradually increasing from age 66). You are also eligible if you have a partner who is over pension age, provided you are under pension age.
  • You are in Great Britain, satisfy the ’habitual residence’ and the ’right to reside’ tests, and are not a ’person subject to immigration control’. These terms are explained in CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook.
  • You have no more than £16,000 capital.
  • Your income is less than your maximum amount of UC (see here).
  • You have agreed a claimant commitment setting out what you must do to receive your UC. If you have a partner, you must each agree a claimant commitment to get benefit. You do not have to agree a claimant commitment if you are terminally ill (see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for more information).

Reference
References
  • 1

    s4 WRA 2012

4. Amount of benefit

The amount of universal credit (UC) you get depends on your circumstances and the circumstances of your partner. The amount also depends on your and your partner’s income and capital. Go through the following steps to work out the amount of UC to which you are entitled.

Step 1: capital

If your capital is over £16,000, you cannot get UC. Some kinds of capital are ignored. For details, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook.

Step 2: work out your maximum amount

Your maximum amount is worked out by adding together the monthly amounts of the standard allowance and any other elements for which you are eligible.

Step 3: work out your monthly income

Chapter 12 explains how your loan, grant or other income is taken into account.

Step 4: deduct monthly income from maximum amount

If your income is less than your maximum amount, UC is the difference between the two. If your income is the same as or more than your maximum amount, you cannot get UC.

Your maximum amount

Work out your maximum amount by adding together your standard allowance and any additional elements that apply. For the amounts, see here. The rates are monthly and are from April 2026.

Standard allowance

You get one standard allowance for yourself and any partner whom you live with. There are different rates depending on whether you and your partner are under 25, or 25 or over.

Child element

You get one child element for each eligible dependent child who ’normally lives’ with you.1 Each child must be under 16, or aged 16 to 19 and accepted on, enrolled on or in full-time, non-advanced education or approved training.2 You can claim for a 16-year-old child until 31 August after their 16th birthday, whether they are in education or not. Otherwise you can claim for a child accepted on, enrolled on or in full-time, non-advanced education or approved training up to 31 August following their 19th birthday. They must have been under 19 when they were accepted on, enrolled on or started their education or training. You cannot claim for a child who claims UC, jobseeker’s allowance or employment and support allowance (ESA) in their own right.

The higher child element is paid if one of your children was born before 6 April 2017.

You get a disabled child element for any child or young person who gets child disability payment or adult disability payment. If the child is severely disabled, you get a higher amount.

Reference

Elements for illness

You get an extra amount of UC if you meet the test for limited capability for work (LCW) and your claim (or your request to be assessed for LCW) was made before 3 April 2017 or if you meet the test for limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA). You are usually assessed at a work capability assessment.

You get the higher, protected rate of the LCWRA element if, broadly, you are terminally ill, or you have a severe, lifelong condition, or you started the assessment process (eg, by submitting a fit note) or were assessed for LCWRA before 6 April 2026. Otherwise you get the lower rate. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for details.

The work capability assessment is the same as that used for ESA to assess how much your health or disability limits your ability to work or undertake work-related activity.

Carer element

You qualify for a carer element if you are entitled to carer support payment (CSP).

You can also qualify for a carer element if you meet the conditions for carer’s allowance (CA), or you would be entitled to CA except for the fact that your earnings are too high. You must be caring for someone for at least 35 hours a week who gets certain disability benefits (see here).

This means that, unless you get CSP, you cannot get a carer element if you are in full-time education (as you would not meet the conditions for CA).

You cannot get an element for being a carer and for your own illness at the same time.

Housing costs element

You get an amount for rent included in your UC if you are liable for the rent on your home (see here). If you own your home, you may be able to get help with certain service charges, but not if you have any earnings in an assessment period.

UC does not include amounts to cover your mortgage interest payments, but you may be able to get a loan from the DWP to help with these. You must normally get UC for three months before you can apply for this help. You can get this help whether or not you are working.

The housing element of UC for rent is paid directly to you, for you to then pay your landlord, although you can request for it to be paid directly to your landlord instead. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for more information.

An amount is deducted from your housing costs element if you are in rented accommodation and have a non-dependant living with you. This is called a ‘housing costs contribution’, and it is a flat rate of £96.55 a month.

A non-dependant is someone, usually a friend or adult relative, who lives with you but not on a commercial basis. There is no deduction for a non-dependant who is under 21, or in certain other circumstances.

See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for further details about the housing costs element and about loans for mortgage interest.

Help with your rent

You must be liable for rent. There are some circumstances in which you can be treated as liable for the rent, even when you are not legally liable – eg, if you have taken over paying the rent from someone else. You cannot get help with rent in your UC if you live in your parents’ home, even if you pay them rent.

Your UC housing costs element may not include the full amount of rent that you pay.

If you rent from a private landlord (including a hall of residence), your housing element is based on a standard ’local housing allowance’ for the size of property that applies to you, even if your rent is higher than this amount. If your rent is lower, your housing element is based on the amount of your actual rent. Each local authority has its own rates for properties of different sizes. Check your local authority’s rates at lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/search.aspx.

Generally, you are allowed one bedroom for:

  • an adult couple;
  • another single adult aged 16 or over;
  • two children under 16 of the same sex;
  • two children under 10;
  • any other child.

You are allowed a maximum of four bedrooms. If you are a single person aged under 35 with no children, the local housing allowance is usually a lower, shared-accommodation rate. This applies regardless of whether you are actually living in shared accommodation. This lower rate does not apply if you are a care leaver under 25, or you get certain disability benefits, and in some other cases. If you are disabled and need overnight care, you may qualify for an additional bedroom for a carer. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for details.

If you rent from a local authority or housing association, your housing element is usually the same as the weekly rent due. However, it is reduced if you are considered to have a spare bedroom (known as the ’bedroom tax’). The rules about how many bedrooms you can have are similar to the local housing allowance rules, but see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for more information. If you are considered to have one spare bedroom, the reduction is 14 per cent, and it is 25 per cent if you have two or more spare bedrooms. If your housing element is reduced in this way, you should apply for a discretionary housing payment from the local authority. The Scottish government has agreed to always award one if UC is reduced because of the bedroom tax.

A discretionary housing payment can be paid if you get UC that includes a housing costs element and you need additional help with your housing costs - eg, to make up the shortfall in rent due to your housing element being reduced because you have a spare bedroom. Payments are usually awarded for a temporary period, beyond which you have to reapply. Apply to your local authority.

Childcare element

If you are working, you can get help with up to 85 per cent of your childcare costs, up to a maximum monthly amount. You must be in paid work, but there is no minimum number of hours that you must work. If you have a partner, you must both be in paid work, unless your partner is ill or disabled or a carer.

Example

Chloe is 22 and her partner Jo, who is not a student, is 23. They are unemployed and get UC. Chloe starts a full-time, two-year Higher National Diploma course. She gets a student loan for maintenance of £8,000, a special support loan of £2,400, and an independent students’ bursary of £1,000. Their eligible rent is £650 a month.

During the academic year September 2026 to May 2027:

Step 1: Chloe and Jo have no savings or capital.

Step 2: their maximum amount of UC is:

Standard allowance for a couple under 25 £528.34

Housing costs £650.00

Total £1,178.34

Step 3: their monthly income is:

Chloe’s student loan £890.00

The independent students’ bursary and the special support loan are disregarded. The student loan for maintenance is divided over eight months of the academic year, and £110 of the monthly amount is disregarded (see Chapter 12).

Step 4: their income is below their maximum amount, so they get UC of £288.34 a month.

From May 2027 to August 2027:

Step 2: Chloe and Jo’s maximum amount of UC is still £1,178.34 (at 2026/27 rates).

Step 3: their weekly income for UC purposes is nil. This is because Chloe’s student income only counts until the assessment period before the summer vacation.

Step 4: from May 2027 to August 2027, their monthly UC (at 2026/27 rates) is £1,178.34: they get maximum UC from May to August.

References
  • 1

    Reg 4(2) UC Regs

  • 2

    Reg 5 UC Regs

5. Claiming universal credit

You usually make a claim online at gov.uk/universal-credit/how-to-claim. Help with online claims over the phone, phone claims and in-person claims should also be possible if required. You claim for yourself if you are single or a lone parent. If you are in a couple, you make a joint claim with your partner. You can get help to make your claim from the free Help to Claim phone service run by Citizens Advice (details at citizensadvice.org.uk/helptoclaim).

The DWP administers universal credit (UC), and payments are made monthly in arrears. In Scotland, payments can be made twice-monthly and rent amounts can be paid directly to your landlord.1 In exceptional circumstances, you can request alternative payment arrangements – eg, to get paid more regularly or to get the payment split between you and your partner. This is a discretionary decision. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for more information.

If you are an employee, you do not usually need to report any changes in your earnings, as HMRC provides this information directly to the DWP.

If you do not have enough money to live on while waiting for your first payment of UC, you can ask for an advance payment. This can be for up to 100 per cent of your award, and you repay it over the subsequent 24 months.

UC advances can also be made when your needs have increased and you are waiting for an extra element of UC to be paid with your next monthly regular payment – eg, when you have a new baby or become responsible for a child. Awards are at the DWP’s discretion. You must repay an advance, usually from the next three months’ UC payments.

You can also ask for a loan, called a budgeting advance of UC, to meet certain needs once you have been getting UC for six months. Budgeting advances of UC must normally be repaid from your next 24 months’ UC payments. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for more information.

Since December 2023, following feedback from the Independent Case Examiner, the DWP says it now requires full student finance information and an award calculation before UC payments can be made to students.2 This is to reduce large overpayments occurring.

If you were on one (or more) of the working-age means-tested benefits that UC has replaced and have claimed UC (ie, under the managed migration process), special rules may apply. Someone who ‘manage migrated’ to UC while receiving education can get UC even if they do not fit the usual UC rules (to the end of that course).3 In certain circumstances, this protection is lost – eg, if you form a couple or separate. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for more information.

Reference
References

6. Challenging a decision

If you think a decision about your universal credit is wrong, you can ask the DWP to look at it again. This process is known as a ‘mandatory reconsideration’. Provided you ask within the time limit (usually one month), the DWP notifies you of the decision in a ‘mandatory reconsideration notice’. If you are still not happy when you get this notice, you can appeal to the independent First-tier Tribunal. If it was not possible to ask the DWP to reconsider the decision within a month, you can ask for a late revision (within 13 months), explaining why it is late. You can also ask the DWP to look at a decision again at any time if certain grounds are met – eg, if there has been an official error.

5. Earnings

Your earnings and your partner’s earnings are taken into account in the benefit assessment. Your net weekly earnings are taken into account – ie, after deducting:

  • income tax;
  • class 1 national insurance contributions;
  • half of any contribution you make towards a personal or occupational pension.

Some of your earnings are disregarded. Of the following, the highest disregard(s) that applies in your circumstances is deducted from your earnings:

  • £25 for lone parents;
  • £20 for those who get a disability premium;
  • £20 for those who get a work-related activity or support component in their applicable amount. For those doing permitted work (work that is allowed for those getting new-style ESA) and getting certain other benefits, the disregard can be higher;
  • £20 for those who get a carer premium;
  • £20 for part-time firefighters and some other emergency auxiliaries;
  • £10 for couples, whether one or both are working;
  • £5 for single people.

For example, if you are a lone parent, you have £25 a week disregarded.

In some cases, childcare costs for registered childminders, nurseries and playschemes can be disregarded from earnings. Childcare costs of up to £175 a week for one child or £300 for two or more children are deducted from weekly earnings if you are:

  • a lone parent who is working; or
  • in a couple and both of you are working; or
  • in a couple, one of you is working and one of you is disabled (eg, gets a disability premium) or is in hospital or prison.

In each case, the work must be for 16 hours or more a week.

An extra £17.10 is disregarded if you work 16 hours or more and have a child or a disability or work 30 hours or more and are aged 25 or over (and in some other cases). From October 2026 additional amounts are disregarded from earnings.1

For full details of the way earnings are treated, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook.

Reference
References
  • 1

    The Housing Benefit (Earned Income Disregards) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 No.753

6. Benefits

Some benefits are taken into account in the assessment of housing benefit (HB). Other benefits are ignored or partially ignored.

Benefits taken into account in full include:

  • carer support payment;
  • new-style jobseeker’s allowance;
  • new-style employment and support allowance (ESA);
  • incapacity benefit;
  • most industrial injuries benefits;
  • retirement pension.

Benefits completely disregarded include:

  • adult disability payment;
  • bereavement support payment;
  • Best Start grant;
  • Scottish carer supplement;
  • carer additional person payment;
  • young carer grant;1
  • child benefit;
  • child disability payment;
  • pension age disability payment;
  • funeral support payment;
  • Scottish adult disability living allowance;
  • Scottish child payment.

Benefits partly disregarded include widowed parent’s allowance – £15 a week is disregarded. You do not get this disregard in full if you already have £10 disregarded from a student loan or £20 disregarded from discretionary fund payments.

Reference
References
  • 1

    The Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (Consequential Modifications) Order 2018 No.872

8. Savings and other capital

There are limits on the amount of savings and other capital you can have and still claim benefit. These limits are described below. Some kinds of capital are not counted in the assessment. For details, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook.

You cannot get housing benefit (HB) if your savings or other capital are above £16,000.

If your capital is £6,000 or less, it does not affect your benefit at all.

If your capital is between £6,000.01 and £16,000, you are treated as though you have income from this capital of £1 a week for every £250 or part of £250 between these limits. This is referred to as ‘tariff income’. For example, if you have savings of £6,525, your tariff income is £3 a week.

These limits are different if you or your partner are over pension age. All your capital is ignored if you or your partner get pension credit guarantee credit. Otherwise, tariff income of £1 for each £500 or part of £500 between £10,000.01 and £16,000 is taken into account in the assessment of HB.