What about benefits and tax credits when I am studying?Always let the benefits agency know when you begin a course – they need to make a note of it even if your benefits are not affected. Disability Living Allowance – this should not change if you study unless you are going to a specialist college Income support – if you are a full time student you cannot claim this unless you qualify for a disability premium or have been out of week for more than 28 weeks all in one go. Skill have a information booklet on Income support for disabled students. You can get to the information sheet by following this link. This will take you out of the artist’s resource site and straight to the Skill site and their list of information sheets (www.skill.org.uk/info/infosheets.asp) Housing Benefit – you can claim this if you study full or part time and are a disabled person, but not if you live in rooms owned by the college or university. Skill have an information booklet on Housing Benefit and Council Tax for disabled students. You can get to the information sheet by following this link. This will take you out of the artist’s resource site and straight to the Skill site and their list of information sheets (www.skill.org.uk/info/infosheets.asp) Incapacity benefit – if you are under 19, you can only study for 21 hours of mainstream education per week. If you are over 19, you can study for as many hours as you want. Sometimes the benefits agency may think that because you can study, you should be able to work and so some people find that their benefit is reviewed when they study. If you go to a specialist residential college, you may have to contribute some of your benefits to the college. Tax Credits – as a disabled student you may be entitled to Working Tax Credit if you are doing some paid work, perhaps at weekends or in the holidays. They are based on the amount of income coming into your household so the more you earn, the less tax credit support you will get. Skill has an information sheet on disabled students and tax credits. You can get to the information sheet by following this link. This will take you out of the artist’s resource site and straight to the Skill site and their list of information sheets (www.skill.org.uk/info/infosheets.asp) For information about how your benefits might be affected by becoming a student, you should contact the Benefit Enquiry Line for disabled people, run by the Benefits Agency. This is open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am – 6.30pm and on Saturdays between 9am and 1pm. Telephone: freephone 0800 882 200 You can also find information on their website. This will take you out of the artist’s resource site and straight to the Benefit Agency site. (www.dwp.gov.uk) 
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