Child Benefit after 16: education and training that counts

Child Benefit does not stop the moment your child turns 16. It can carry on until their 20th birthday if they stay in approved education or training, and the rate for the eldest or only child is £27.05 a week in the 2026 to 2027 tax year¹. For a second or subsequent child it is £17.90 a week².

The catch is that payments stop automatically on 31 August on or after your child's 16th birthday if they leave education or training³. If they are staying on, you have to tell HMRC, and only the person claiming Child Benefit can do that³. Miss it and the money stops, even though your child is still at college.

This page sets out what counts as education and training after 16, how to extend the claim, what happens if your child leaves, the 20-week extension you can apply for, and the changes you must report.

Child Benefit can continue until 20 if your child stays in education

Child Benefit can be paid for any of your children who are under 16 and live in the UK, and until they are 20 if they stay in most types of school, college or training after that age⁶. The same continuation applies to the child amounts in Housing Benefit, which can run until the young person's 20th birthday if they are completing a course they started or were accepted onto before their 19th birthday⁵.

The condition is that the young person registered on the course before they turned 19, and that it is more than 12 hours each week⁵. A 19 year old in approved training or non-advanced education can still have Child Benefit paid for them until they turn 20⁷. The same status keeps them counted as a child for Council Tax Support for as long as you are receiving Child Benefit⁷.

There is a wider change behind this. New legislation relaxes the rules around the type of education your young person can be receiving and the number of hours of attendance accepted for claims beyond age 16⁵. The regulations themselves remove "appropriate full-time education" from the education and training condition, so that the old full-time test no longer governs the claim in the way it did⁸.

In practice, the question is not whether your child is at school or college in a general sense, but whether the specific course meets the approved education or training definition, and whether they were under 19 when they started it. If both are true, the claim can run to their 20th birthday.

Education and training that counts

Approved education and training is narrower than most parents expect. Child Benefit cannot be claimed for children doing a university degree, a standard apprenticeship in England, or a course that forms part of a job contract⁹. For the equivalent Universal Credit amount for young people aged 16 to 19, the course or training must not be paid for by your child's employer or included in a job contract, and an apprenticeship is given as the example¹⁰.

Where a child is in education or training, the rules look at whether they are attending or enrolled in full-time non-advanced education or on approved training¹¹. For the Universal Credit extra amount, before your child reached 19 they must have started, been enrolled in, or accepted a place on the education or training¹⁰.

The distinction matters most for apprenticeships, which are paid work with training attached. A parent who assumes an apprenticeship counts in the same way as a college course will find the claim cannot be made for it.

Child Benefit stops on 31 August unless you tell HMRC

Child Benefit stops automatically on 31 August after your child's 16th birthday⁴. It will stop on that date on or after the 16th birthday if they leave education or training³, and it will stop on the last day of August after the 16th birthday unless you tell the Child Benefit office that they are staying in approved education or training⁵.

Child Tax Credit follows the same pattern. It stops on the last day of August after your child's 16th birthday unless you tell HMRC that they are continuing in approved education or training⁵. It usually stops on the last day of August after the 16th birthday, or when they leave education or training if that happens later⁵.

The step you take is straightforward. When your child turns 16, tell HMRC if your child stays in or leaves approved education, reporting online or using the HMRC app¹². Parents can extend the claim in minutes using the HMRC app or on GOV.UK, or by post or phone using the details in their letter⁹.

HMRC may text you to confirm it has received your Child Benefit claim, received a request to extend a claim, recorded opting into or out of Child Benefit payments, or recorded a change to your account¹³. If a message about your Child Benefit looks wrong, the government publishes guidance on checking whether a text claiming to be from HMRC is genuine¹³.

Leaving education: the 20-week extension and 3-month deadline

If your child is 16 or 17 and leaves approved education, you can keep Child Benefit for up to 20 weeks longer. This is called the Child Benefit Extension Period⁴. To qualify, they must have left education or training, be 16 or 17, and you must claim Housing Benefit or Child Benefit¹⁴.

You must apply within three months of them leaving education or training⁴. The same three-month deadline applies to the extension⁵.

Without the extension, Child Benefit usually stops when your child leaves education or training, on the last day of August, November, February or May after the education finishes⁵. So the date the money stops depends on when in the year they leave, not on the day they walk out of the classroom.

There is also leeway for a break in study. If your child is 16 or over, a temporary break from education can be ignored for up to 6 months, and Child Benefit can be paid for breaks longer than 6 months if the break is due to physical or mental ill health⁴.

Changes you must report for a child over 16

If you claim Child Benefit you also need to report changes to your child's circumstances¹⁵. The reportable changes include your child going abroad for more than 12 weeks, and your child living away from you for either 8 weeks in a row or more than 56 days in a 16-week period³.

Parents whose child's plans change, for example if they leave education or start a paid apprenticeship, must tell HMRC straight away to avoid being overpaid⁹. HMRC will usually be told automatically if your child gets a Gender Recognition Certificate to change their gender; if they have not changed their gender legally you do not need to tell HMRC³.

Other benefits have their own reporting lists, and a child turning 16 or leaving school appears on several of them. For Housing Benefit, changes to report include a child turning 16 or leaving school, along with moving house, someone moving in or out, benefit changes, starting work or changing hours or pay, and changes to savings or a pension¹⁶. Common changes for benefits generally include your child reaching the age of 16 or moving out¹⁷.

If you are managing a claim for someone else, there is a separate route for claiming Child Benefit on behalf of someone else¹⁸.

Does my child claiming Universal Credit stop my Child Benefit?

It can. If a child gets Universal Credit in their own right, any benefits you receive for them as a dependent child, such as Child Benefit or the child elements of Universal Credit, will stop or are likely to stop¹⁹. Child Benefit will only affect your own Universal Credit payments if the benefit cap applies¹⁰.

Whether a child aged between 16 and 19 is included in your Universal Credit claim depends on whether they are attending or enrolled in full-time non-advanced education or on approved training¹¹. If your child is a 16 to 19 year old in education or training, you can normally include them in your Universal Credit claim²⁰.

As a general rule, these payments automatically continue until the September after the child's 16th birthday⁵. After that, the education or training test decides whether the child element continues.

Child maintenance is a separate system with its own age rules. The Child Maintenance Service covers children who are either under 16, or under 20 and in full-time education, but not education higher than A-Level or the same level²¹.

Child Benefit rates: £27.05 a week for the eldest child

Child Benefit is paid at two rates: £27.05 for the eldest child and £17.90 for second and subsequent children²². The official rates for the 2026 to 2027 tax year are £27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 a week for other children¹. In the 2025 to 2026 tax year the rates were £26.05 and £17.25 a week¹.

The rate for the eldest child is £27.05 a week from April 2026²³, and £27.05 a week for your oldest child or only child¹⁹. Where the child you are responsible for claims Child Benefit themselves, the amount is £26.05 a week if it is their eldest or only child²⁴.

Payment dates can shift around bank holidays. One published payment date is 29 December 2026²⁵. If a payment does not arrive when expected, checking the payment date list is the first step.

The High Income Child Benefit Charge after 16

The High Income Child Benefit Charge is not switched off by your child's age. It does not matter if the child living with you is not your own child²⁶. You can pay the charge through PAYE or through Self Assessment, and Self Assessment is required if you need to send a tax return for another reason or if it is later than 31 January in the year after the tax year the charge is for²⁶.

There is an option that avoids the charge while keeping the National Insurance record intact. If you opt out of receiving payments you are still registered for Child Benefit but do not receive the payment, would not have to pay the tax charge, and would still get National Insurance credits and a National Insurance number for your child without them having to apply shortly before they turn 16²⁶.

If you need to check what a partner or ex-partner receives, HMRC will reply yes or no to whether your partner or ex-partner gets Child Benefit or has a higher income than you, without giving financial information or their National Insurance number²⁷.

Will I have to repay Child Benefit if I was overpaid?

You will usually have to pay back a Child Benefit overpayment, normally as a lump sum²⁸. You can only repay Child Benefit if you have been overpaid²⁹. The overpayment most often arises when a child leaves education or starts a paid apprenticeship and HMRC is not told straight away⁹.

If you think a decision about your Child Benefit is wrong, there are routes to challenge it, starting with a mandatory reconsideration and, if that fails, a tribunal appeal. Free, impartial help is available from MoneyHelper and from specialist charities, and the government's own guidance on reporting changes sets out what to tell HMRC and when³.