The Child Benefit (General) Regulations 2003

Prescribed period for which a person who has ceased to receive full-time education is to continue to be treated as a child

7.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), for the purposes of section 142(5) of the Contributions and Benefits Act and section 138(5) of the Contributions and Benefits (NI) Act (prescribed period for which a person is to continue to be treated as a child), the prescribed period is specified in Cases 1 and 2.

• Case 1

  1.1

  The prescribed period is—

  (a)

  from—

  (i)

  if the person is under the age of 16 when he ceases to receive full-time education not being advanced education, the date on which he attains that age; or

  (ii)

  if the person is 16 or over when he ceases to receive full-time education not being advanced education, the date on which he so ceases,

  (b)

  up to and including—

  (i)

  the week including the terminal date, or

  (ii)

  if he attains the age of 19 on or before that date, the week including the last Monday before he attains that age.

  1.2

  For the purposes of paragraph 1.1, the “terminal date” means—

  (a)

  the first Monday in January; or

  (b)

  the Monday following Easter Monday; or

  (c)

  the first Monday in September,

  whichever first occurs after the date on which the person’s full-time education ceased, or where the person had not attained compulsory school age when he ceased to receive full-time education, whichever next follows the date on which he would have attained that age.

  1.3

  For the purposes of paragraph 1.2, “compulsory school age” means the upper limit of compulsory school age as determined in accordance with—

  (a)

  in England and Wales, section 9 of the Education Act 1962(1);

  (b)

  in Scotland, sections 31 and 33 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980(2)

  (c)

  in Northern Ireland, Article 46 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986(3).

• Case 2

  2.1

  Where a person’s name is entered as a candidate for any external examination in connection with full-time education not being advanced education which he is receiving at that time, so long as his name continues to be so entered before ceasing to receive such education, the prescribed period is—

  (a)

  from—

  (i)

  the period beginning with the date when that person ceased to receive full-time education, or

  (ii)

  where a person has not attained the age of 16 when he ceased to receive full-time education, the date on which he attained that age,

  (b)

  up to and including—

  (i)

  whichever of the dates in sub-paragraph (a), (b) and (c) of paragraph 1.2 first occurs after the conclusion of the examination (or the last of them if there are more than one), or

  (ii)

  the expiry of the week which includes the last Monday before his 19th birthday,

  whichever is the earlier.

(2) Child benefit shall not be payable to any person entitled to child benefit in respect of a child by virtue of this regulation for any week in which that child is engaged in remunerative work.

(1)

1962 c. 12 as amended by the Education (School-leaving Dates) Act 1976 (c. 5).

(2)

1980 c. 44.

(3)

S.I. 1986/594 (N.I. 3).