Child Benefit After 16: When It Continues and When It Stops

Child Benefit does not stop the day a child turns 16. It continues until the terminal date on or after their 20th birthday, or earlier, provided they stay in approved full-time education or approved training and you confirm that to HMRC. If you say nothing, payments stop on 31 August following their 16th birthday.

The rules that trip people up are the 12-hour test, the fact that paid apprenticeships do not count, and the four fixed "terminal dates" HMRC uses to end a claim. The detail below covers each one, plus the 20-week extension for school leavers who are looking for work or training.

Key points

• Child Benefit for a 16–19 year old is worth £27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 a week for each additional child in 2026/27.
• The course must be non-advanced and average more than 12 hours a week of supervised study or course-related practical work.
• Degrees, HNDs, NVQ level 4 and above, and paid apprenticeships all end the claim.
• HMRC writes to you in the tax year your child turns 16 — confirm their plans by 31 August or payments stop.
• A claim can never run past the child's 20th birthday, and the course must have been started, enrolled on or accepted before they turned 19.

What counts as approved education

"Approved education" has a precise meaning. Three conditions have to be met at the same time.

1. It must be non-advanced

Non-advanced means school-level or equivalent. Typical qualifying courses include:

• A levels, AS levels and equivalents
• Scottish Highers, Advanced Highers, National Certificates and National Qualifications
• T levels and International Baccalaureate
• GCSEs, functional skills and Access courses at this level
• NVQs and SVQs up to and including level 3
• BTEC National Diplomas, National Certificates and First Diplomas
• Home education, if it started before the child turned 16, or started after 16 where the child has special educational needs

2. It must be full time — the 12-hour test

The course has to involve an average of more than 12 hours a week during term time of supervised study or course-related practical work. Homework, private study and unsupervised revision do not count towards the 12 hours. That is why some part-time college courses fail the test even though the student is clearly studying: a two-day-a-week programme with nine timetabled hours will not qualify.

It is the average across the term that matters, not a single quiet week, so study weeks and half-terms do not break the claim.

3. It must be at a school, college or similar — not paid for by an employer

The education must be provided at a recognised educational establishment or through home education. Training or study your child's employer pays for, or that they receive as part of a job, is excluded even if the qualification itself is non-advanced.

Approved training

Unpaid training schemes can also keep the claim alive. Approved training must be unpaid and delivered under a named government programme, and the list differs across the UK — for example Jobs Growth Wales+ and Foundation Apprenticeships in Wales, No One Left Behind in Scotland, and Training for Success in Northern Ireland. England has no equivalent approved training list at present.

What doesn't count

Child Benefit ends from the relevant terminal date if your child moves onto any of the following.

• Advanced education. A university degree, foundation degree, HNC, HND, NVQ level 4 or higher, or a teacher training course. This applies even if your child lives at home and you still support them financially.
• A paid apprenticeship. An apprentice with a contract of employment and wages is treated as being in work, not education. This is the single most common surprise for parents of 16 and 17 year olds — the apprenticeship may be non-advanced, but because it is paid employment-based training, Child Benefit stops.
• A course paid for by an employer. Day release, in-house training and employer-funded qualifications are excluded.
• Part-time study. Twelve supervised hours a week or fewer.
• Full-time paid work. Leaving education for a job ends the claim.
• Claiming certain benefits in their own name. If your child claims Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance or Jobseeker's Allowance for themselves, or gets tax credits as a couple, your Child Benefit for them ends.

Two hard limits sit on top of everything else. Payments stop on the child's 20th birthday whatever they are studying, and a course only counts if they started it, enrolled on it or were accepted onto it before they turned 19.

Telling HMRC — and the 31 August deadline

HMRC does not assume your child is staying on. In the tax year your child turns 16 it writes to the person claiming, asking what the child will be doing after the summer. If you do not reply, the claim closes on 31 August following the 16th birthday.

You can confirm your child is staying in approved education or training online through your Personal Tax Account or the HMRC app, by returning the form HMRC sends you, or by phone. The GOV.UK starting point is Child Benefit for 16 to 19 year olds, and you can manage the claim through the Child Benefit change of circumstances service.

You must also tell HMRC within a month if things change the other way — the child drops out, switches to a paid apprenticeship, starts full-time work or begins a degree. Payments received after entitlement ends are recoverable, so a late notification creates an overpayment you will be asked to repay.

Each September and each January, keep a note of what was confirmed. If your child changes course mid-year, the 12-hour test has to be met by the new course too.

Terminal dates: when the money actually stops

Child Benefit does not end on the day a child leaves school. It runs to the next fixed terminal date, which is one of four dates in the year. This is why a student who finishes A levels in June is usually still covered through the summer.

If the child turns 20 before the terminal date, payments stop on the 20th birthday instead. A child who leaves sixth form after Year 13 exams in June is therefore normally paid up to 31 August, even if they start a university course in September.

The 20-week extension

If your child leaves approved education or training at 16 or 17 and is neither working nor studying, you may be able to keep Child Benefit for a further 20 weeks. This is a separate short-term extension, not a continuation of the ordinary claim.

To qualify, all of the following normally have to apply:

• The child is 16 or 17 when they leave approved education or training
• They have registered for work, education or training with a qualifying body — a careers service or local authority support service, Skills Development Scotland, the equivalent service in Wales or Northern Ireland, or the armed forces
• They are not in paid work of 24 hours or more a week
• You apply to HMRC within three months of them leaving education or training

The 20 weeks run from the date they left, not from the date you apply, so applying late shortens what you get. If your child returns to approved full-time education during the extension, the ordinary rules take over again and the claim simply continues.

Not sure which side of the line your situation falls on? Work through the keep claiming Child Benefit decision tool, which walks you through the education, training, apprenticeship and extension tests in order.

The High Income Child Benefit Charge still applies

If your Child Benefit continues past 16, so does the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC). The charge bites when the higher earner in the household has adjusted net income above £60,000, and it claws back the full amount of Child Benefit once income reaches £80,000. Between those figures, you repay 1% of the Child Benefit for every £200 of income over £60,000.

HICBC is a UK-wide charge set by Westminster, so Scottish income tax rates do not change how it is calculated — but Scottish taxpayers still face the same clawback.

Worked example: two children, one still at college

Rosa has two children. The eldest is 17 and in full-time non-advanced education; the younger is 12. Her partner's adjusted net income is £70,000.

• Weekly Child Benefit: £27.05 + £17.90 = £44.95
• Annual Child Benefit: £44.95 × 52 = £2,337.40
• Income over the threshold: £70,000 − £60,000 = £10,000
• Charge percentage: £10,000 ÷ £200 = 50%
• HICBC for the year: £2,337.40 × 50% = £1,168.70
• Net benefit kept: £2,337.40 − £1,168.70 = £1,168.70

Pension contributions and Gift Aid donations reduce adjusted net income, which reduces the charge. If the higher earner paid £10,000 gross into a pension, adjusted net income would fall to £60,000 and the charge would be nil on these figures.

Note that the eldest-child rate follows the oldest child you still get Child Benefit for. When a claim for an older child ends, the next child moves up to the £27.05 rate, which changes the HICBC calculation too. The charge is normally settled through Self Assessment; HMRC has been introducing a route for employed parents to pay it through their tax code instead.

Stopping a Child Benefit claim to avoid the charge is possible, but the underlying claim is worth keeping open where it protects other entitlements. National Insurance credits for a parent only run while a child is under 12, so that argument no longer applies at 16 — but the claim can still matter for how other means-tested support treats a young person in full-time non-advanced education.

What to do next

Check three things before the next 31 August: whether the course is non-advanced, whether it averages more than 12 supervised hours a week, and whether anyone is being paid — by an employer or as an apprentice. If all three point to approved education, confirm it with HMRC and your payments continue.

Run your own circumstances through the Child Benefit decision tool to see whether your claim should continue, stop, or qualify for the 20-week extension. If your household income is anywhere near £60,000, use the income tax calculator to work out your adjusted net income first, because that figure — not salary alone — drives the High Income Child Benefit Charge.