Students and Universal Credit
Students and Universal Credit
The different statutory funding streams for nursing students across the four UK countries is a combination of:
- Loans
- Grants
- Bursaries
- and Hardship Funds.
Different funding sources are treated differently for benefits purposes. The complexity of the funding arrangements means that Department for Work and Pension (DWP) do not always get the calculations for Universal Credit (UC) correct.
This guide will help you to understand how your student income should be treated if you are in one of the categories of students who can also claim Universal Credit whilst studying. It will also explain what to do if you then believe the calculation of your Universal Credit is incorrect.
If you are unsure if you can claim benefits whilst studying, first check the information in the RCN鈥檚 Student Money Guide
Student Income and calculating Universal Credit
If you have student income, some of it is ignored and some of it will count as income for Universal Credit (UC). We have broken this guide down into the four UK countries so that you can easily see how this funding affects your benefit calculation.
Some students get funding from one country, but study in another. If this is the case, then use the part of the guide for the country that provides your funding.
For all countries, one-off payments from discretionary funds count as capital rather than income. If your household capital is less than 拢6,000 it will not affect UC.
Please note student income includes student loans, grants and bursaries paid to you because you are studying. Other income, such as part-time earnings will also be taken into account.
Student Maintenance Loans
If you are eligible for a student maintenance loan it counts as income. The maximum loan you could be entitled to is taken into account, even if you decide not to take out the loan or if it is reduced because of household income.
A dependent鈥檚 grant paid as well as your loan for someone included in your Universal Credit claim counts as income, but other grants such as Parent Learners allowance should be disregarded.
Due to the length of the course, most student loans for Nursing students are paid a long course loan for the full 52 weeks of the year (the calculation is different for final year students) If you get the long course loan, your student loan income will be divided by 12 and then a 拢110 disregard will be applied to the total. If you are a final year student, then the calculation will be until your course end date.
See the case study below for a worked example.
- NHS Learning Support Fund 鈥� available to NHS funded students studying in England
- 拢5000 Training Grant: As this is not paid for a dependant, this should be disregarded
- 拢2000 Parental Support (formerly child dependants鈥� allowance): This should be disregarded. (The DWP often include Parental Support Grant as income, but it has been decided at DWP Tribunal that this should also be disregarded, as it is not paid specifically for a dependant.)
- Exceptional Support Fund: this is a hardship payment and should be treated as capital, not income.
Seeking advice
If you are having problems getting Universal Credit to disregard any part of your NHS Student Support Fund, you can seek assistance from the RCN Welfare Service. Please call the Advice Team and ask for a referral to the RCN Welfare Service for specialist benefits advice.
If you are studying in Scotland and are eligible for the Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary, you will have the following maintenance elements of the Bursary taken into account:
- Non means tested bursary,
- Spouse or Cohabiting Partner Allowance,
- Child Dependent Allowance
- Lone Parents' Grant
All are taken into consideration as income over the 12 months of the course, or your course end date if you are in the final year. The total will be divided by 12 if you are paid annually or until the end of the course if you are in your final year. A 拢110 disregard will then be applied to the calculated monthly amount.
The following elements of the Bursary should be disregarded in full:
- The Initial Expenses Allowance
- Registered Childcare Costs
- Lone Parent Childcare Grant
The following extra costs should also be disregarded:
- residential study away from your usual place of study during term time
- travel expenses
There are two statutory funding streams for students studying Nursing and Midwifery in Wales:
- NHS Wales Bursary
- Standard Student package
NHS Wales Bursary
This funding package consists of a loan, grant, and means tested bursary.
Student Maintenance Loan:
If you are eligible for a student maintenance loan it counts as income. The maximum loan you could be entitled to is taken into account, even if you decide not to take out the loan or if it this is reduced because of household income.
A dependent鈥檚 grant paid as well as your loan for someone included in your Universal Credit claim counts as income, but other grants such as Parent Learners allowance should be disregarded.
Due to the length of the course, most student loans for nursing students are paid a long course loan for the full 52 weeks of the year. If you get the long course loan, your student loan income will be divided by 12 and then a 拢110 disregard will be applied to the total. If you are a final year student, then the calculation will be until your course end date.
Payments that should be disregarded:
- Non-Means Tested Grant - As this is not paid for a dependant it should be disregarded
- Means Tested Bursary - As this is not paid for a dependant it should be disregarded
- Parent Learners Allowance - As this is not paid for a dependant it should be disregarded
Standard Student Package
Student Maintenance Loan:
If you are eligible for a student maintenance loan it counts as income. The maximum loan you could be entitled to is taken into account, even if you decide not to take out the loan or if it this is reduced because of household income.
A dependant鈥檚 grant paid as well as your loan for someone included in your Universal Credit claim counts as income, but other grants such as Parent Learners allowance should be disregarded.
Due to the length of the course, most student loans for Nursing students are paid a long course loan for the full 52 weeks of the year (the calculation is different for final year students) If you get the long course loan, your student loan income will be divided by 12 and then a 拢110 disregard will be applied to the total. If you are a final year student, then the calculation will be until your course end date.
HSC Bursary
If you are studying in Northern Ireland and are eligible for the Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary, you will have maintenance elements of the bursary taken into account:
- Non means tested bursary
- Dependants鈥� Allowances
Are all taken into consideration as income over the 12 months of the course, or your course end date if you are in the final year.
The following elements of the Bursary should be disregarded:
- Registered Childcare Costs
- Parent Learning Allowance
- Clinical Placement Expenses
Seeking Advice
If you believe the DWP are including any of the incorrect allowance in your calculation, then you will need to make a request on your Universal Credit Journal for a breakdown of how they have calculated your entitlement, and you may need to request a mandatory reconsideration of the entitlement decision.
If you are having problems getting Universal Credit to disregard the correct elements of your NHS Nursing and midwifery Student Bursary, then seek assistance from the RCN Welfare Service 鈥� please call the Advice Team and ask for a referral to the RCN Welfare Service for specialist benefits advice.
Student money guide
Case study
Rachel thought her Universal Credit was being calculated correctly until a conversation with fellow student nurses prompted her to seek advice from the RCN Welfare Service.
With expert support, she successfully challenged the decision, received £2,000 in backdated payments, and increased her monthly benefits by £166.
Read Rachel’s story to see how a benefits check could help ensure you're receiving everything you're entitled to.
Background
RCN Student member, Rachel, had been talking to some fellow single parent students online, as she was confused about how the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) had been calculating her Universal Credit.
Since she had started receiving the NHS Training Grant, it seemed that Rachel and a few other students on her course had benefit entitlements that were considerably lower than other students with similar circumstances in different parts of England. She had queried this with her Universal Credit Job Coach, who told her that the calculations were correct.
One of her fellow students advised her to get support from the RCN Welfare Service.
How the RCN Welfare Service helped
The Welfare Service advised her to get a breakdown of the calculation that the DWP were using to calculate her benefits.
Once she had done this, the Welfare Service was able to do the correct calculations. They then asked the DWP for a Mandatory Reconsideration, citing the regulations for how student income should be treated.
Four days later Rachel got a note on her journal, the DWP had looked at the decision again and had agreed that Rachel had been underpaid for the last academic year.
The Outcome
She received a backdated payment of 拢2,000 and her future benefits for her final academic year increased by 拢166 per month.
Rachel said: "Because the benefits calculations are so complex, I felt at the mercy of the DWP to get things right, it wasn鈥檛 until I asked around that things didn鈥檛 seem quite right. The Welfare Service were really quickly able to do the correct calculations for me, and explain to the DWP where they had made a mistake鈥�.
Get in touch to see if you could increase your benefits payments.
To find out if the Welfare Service could help you, email: welfare.service@rcn.org.uk for more information.
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