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Child Benefit can be claimed for children after they turn 16 if they are staying on in approved education or training.

Parents have less than 2 weeks to tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) their 16-19 year-old is continuing education or training or their Child Benefit payments will stop.

Hundreds of thousands of teenagers will decide on their future this week as they receive their GCSE results on Thursday (22 August 2024).

For parents of 16-19 year-olds who haven’t yet extended their claim, Child Benefit payments will stop after 31 August. If their child is going to continue in approved education or training, parents can continue receiving Child Benefit and HMRC is urging them to extend their claim now.

To make sure they do not miss out, parents can quickly and easily extend their Child Benefit claim online on GOV.UK or via the HMRC app. More than 270,000 parents have extended their claim digitally so far, with the changes applied to their record without the need to wait on the phone.

Parents should keep their claim details up to date, even if they’ve opted not to receive Child Benefit payments due to the High Income Child Benefit Charge. Parents who want to opt back into receiving Child Benefit payments, can do this quickly and easily online on GOV.UK or in the HMRC app. 

Child Benefit is worth up to £1,331 a year for the first or only child, and up to £881 a year for every additional child.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, yesterday said:

Child Benefit is an important financial support for many households and we don’t want to see any eligible family miss out. You can extend your claim quickly and easily online or via the HMRC app, just search ‘Child Benefit when your child turns 16’ on GOV.UK.

Victoria Benson, CEO of Gingerbread, the charity for single parent families, yesterday said:

Child Benefit is valuable to families and particularly single parent families, who are forced to make ends meet on a single income. It’s really important, with the 31 August deadline fast approaching, that parents whose children are going into further education and training extend their claim as soon as possible to avoid missing out on this crucial financial help.

Child Benefit can continue to be paid for children who are studying full time in non-advanced education, which includes:

• A levels or Scottish Highers
• International Baccalaureate
• Home education – if it started before their child turned 16, or after 16 if they have a statement of special educational needs and it was assessed by the local authority
• T levels
• NVQs, up to level 3

Child Benefit will also continue for children studying on one of these unpaid approved training courses:

• in Wales: Foundation Apprenticeships, Traineeships or the Jobs Growth Wales+ scheme
• in Northern Ireland: PEACEPLUS Youth Programme 3.2, Training for Success or Skills for Life and Work
• in Scotland: the No One Left Behind programme.

If a child changes their mind about further education or training, parents can simply inform HMRC online or via the HMRC app and payments will be adjusted accordingly. Parents can check the status of their claims at any time by viewing their proof of entitlement in the app or online. 

Parents will need a Government Gateway user ID and password to use HMRC’s online services. If they do not have one already, they can register on GOV.UK and will just need their National Insurance number or postcode, and 2 forms of ID.

Further information

HMRC wrote to 1.5 million parents between May and July this year reminding them to extend by 31 August.

In total, more than 522,000 parents have extended their claim so far.

Parents who can’t extend their Child Benefit online or in the HMRC app can still do so by post or by phone.

More information on Child Benefit for 16-19-year-olds.

Parents cannot claim Child Benefit if their child is taking a course that is part of a job contract.

Parents can view and manage their claim quickly and easily online or on the HMRC app. This includes viewing payment information and proof of their claim, adding additional children and updating their details – all without needing to call HMRC.