As teenagers across Swansea Bay collect their GCSE results this week, HM Revenue and Customs is warning parents that Child Benefit payments will stop for those staying on in education unless they act.
The deadline is 31 August, three days after results day. Payments for younger children carry on as normal, but for 16 to 19-year-olds HMRC says they stop automatically for anyone who has not responded, with no reminder afterwards and no grace period.
The department has written to around 1.5 million parents this year telling them to extend their claim. It says more than 372,000 have now done so online.
Not everyone who got a letter needs to act. HMRC says the requirement falls on parents whose teenager is starting a new course or approved training in September, and that anyone already partway through a course the department knows about does not need to do anything.
Child Benefit is worth up to £1,406.60 a year for an eldest or only child, and up to £930.80 for each child after that. For a family with two children, that is over £2,300 riding on a form.
What HMRC counts as education
Payments continue for young people in full-time, non-advanced education: A levels, T levels, Scottish Highers, NVQs up to level 3, and certain approved training schemes. Home schooling qualifies.
The department defines full-time as an average of more than 12 hours a week of supervised study or course-related work experience, and says a young person with an illness or disability may be able to do fewer.
University degrees do not qualify. Neither does a standard apprenticeship in England, nor a course that forms part of a job contract.
Extending the claim
HMRC is pushing parents towards its app and the child benefit pages on GOV.UK, and says the process takes a few minutes. Letters carry a QR code linking straight to the digital service.
Parents who cannot use either can extend by post or by phone, using the contact details printed on their letter.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s chief customer officer, said exam results season was a big moment for teenagers deciding their next steps and the right time for parents to confirm those plans with the department.
“Child Benefit is a vital source of support for many families and we don’t want anyone to miss out,” she said.
The obligation runs the other way too. HMRC says parents must tell it straight away if plans change, for instance if the young person leaves education or takes a paid apprenticeship, because anything overpaid has to be returned.
Separately, where a claimant or their partner has an adjusted net income above £60,000, the higher earner may be liable for the High Income Child Benefit Charge, payable through a PAYE tax code or through Self Assessment.
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