Reducing your council tax

Claiming a student discount

If you are a student or there are students in your household, follow the checklist below to check whether you are eligible for a discount or exemption from council tax.

You must satisfy the following conditions to be disregarded (not counted) from council tax:

Full time study

You are regarded as a full time student for council tax purposes if:

• You are undertaking a university or college course which lasts for at least one academic year, takes at least 24 weeks a year, and involves at least 21 hours allocated study time per week during term time.
• You are under the age of 20 years and studying for more than three months, for at least 12 hours per week for any qualification up to 'A' level, ONC or OND standard.
• Student Nurses studying academic courses at universities or who are on Project 2000 courses are classed as students for council tax purposes.
• The period of the student's course runs from the day the course begins until it is completed (the end of the exams) or the student leaves the course uncompleted.

Please login to your account or register for our online service, to submit an application form.

This is the quickest way for your application to be processed.

Alternatively, please email counciltax@wandsworth.gov.uk to request an application form.

If two people are at the same stage of the hierarchy of liability, one is a student and the other is not; the student will not be made liable for council tax.

Therefore, in households where there are both students and non-students, only the non-students will be liable.

Student Nurses

A student would not be on a full-time course at college or university but are following a course leading to an appropriate registration under the Nurses Midwives and Health Visitors Act 1979.

Student nurses in full time education are also disregarded but since 1994 they are treated as full time students and could qualify for the Class N exemption.

Foreign Language Students

Registered with the Central Bureau for Educational Visits and Exchanges, as a foreign language assistant, and is appointed as a foreign language assistant at a school or other educational institute in Great Britain.

Student undertaking Qualifying Course

A young person under 20 who leaves a qualifying course after 30 April in any year is disregarded up to 31 October in the same year. The same terms 'full time course of education' apply as in the Full Time study disregard.

The term 'student' also covers young people under the age of 20 who are not on a full-time course of education but are undertaking a qualifying course of education.

A 'qualifying course' is one that subsists for at least 3 calendar months and is not a course of higher education. Evening classes and correspondence courses do not qualify and neither does job-related training where the course is being taken in consequence of the person's employment. It must require at lease 12 hours per week to be spent on the relevant activities of the course.

Apprentices

• Vocational or job 'trade' experience
• Leading to a qualification accredited by the national Council for Vocational Qualifications (NVQ)
• Must not earn over £195 per week.

Youth trainee

Youth trainees must meet the following criteria in order to be disregarded from council tax liability:

• Under 25
• Undertaking training:

1. Pursuant to arrangements made under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973(a)
2. This must be funded by the Learning and Skills Council for England.