This page is a short introduction to council tax as it applies to students. Some of the rules are complex, and links to further information and sources of help and advice can be found at the end of this text.
Note that council tax is charged in England, Scotland and Wales, but not in Northern Ireland.
Exempt properties
Council tax is applied to properties, with several bands of charges based on the value of a property in 1991 (2005 in Wales). Properties can however be regarded as exempt from council tax in certain circumstances.
Such exempt properties include halls of residence, or other properties where everyone who occupies it is:
- a full-time student; or
- a student’s overseas partner (if they entered the UK on a visa that denies the right to work or claim benefits. If they have the right to work but not to claim benefits, they should come under this exemption); or
- under the age of 18
There are also other categories of exempt properties with less direct relevance to students. See the official government website for more information.
Who counts as a full-time student?
There is a particular definition of 'full-time student' for council tax purposes. In most cases you qualify as a full-time student if you are on a course of education lasting for at least one academic or calendar year, where the normal requirements are to attend for at least 24 weeks out of the year and participate in 'study, tuition or work experience' for at least 21 hours per week during term time.
You can also qualify if you are aged under 20 and on a course that gives you a qualification up to A-level, Advanced Higher, NVQ/SVQ level 3, or equivalent. This must last more than three months and at least 12 hours of study per week.
You are counted as a full-time student during the whole 'period of the course' – in other words, from the first day until the last, including any vacation periods.
If you do not meet these definitions then you are not able to claim exemption from council tax as a full-time student, even if your course is defined as full-time by your university or college. You should seek advice if you are uncertain.
Postgraduates
Full-time postgraduate students are regarded as students for council tax purposes in the same way as other full-time higher education students.
Postgraduate research students can have difficulty in securing council tax exemption because some local authorities do not believe their periods of study, tuition or work experience meet the requirements, often because the periods of study do not take place on the university campus.
However the legislation explicitly states that study does not need to be at the student's institution and such refusals have been successfully challenged - notably in an appeal in Kent.
Other postgraduate students have had difficulty in securing exemption during the thesis ‘writing up’ period after the formal end of the course. While some local authorities are sympathetic and will extend student status after the end of the course, others have been known to regard such students as liable as they are no longer ‘within the period of their course’.
If this affects you, seek advice from your students’ union or institution’s advice centre.
Taking time out from your course
Full-time students who suspend their studies for whatever reason – for example, illness or caring for a relative – but who remain registered on their course as they intend to return, should still retain council tax exemption as they remain within the 'period of the course'.
Students between courses
If you are moving from one course to another – for example, you have completed an HND and are now moving to top this up to an honours degree, or you have finished an undergraduate course and intend to start a postgraduate course in the following academic year – you are not exempt for the time between the two courses are you are not within the formal period of either course.
The exception to this is if you are under 20 and have studied on a 'non-advanced qualification' - a qualification up to A-level, Advanced Higher, NVQ/SVQ level 3 or equivalent – where you retain exemption from 1 May until 31 October in the year you leave your course.
Proving exemption
You will normally have to prove to your local authority that you are a full-time student, and this is usually on the basis of a student certificate provided by your university or college.
Your university or college is required by law to provide you with a certificate of student status up to a year after you complete the course. Contact the student services or central administration departments to determine how you apply for a certificate.
If you are in a shared flat, all of the full-time students will have to prove exemption. Those who do not will be deemed liable for the bill.
If the property is liable for the council tax
If a property is not exempt then it will be liable for the council tax.
The person who is then responsible for paying the bill is usually the person living in the property with the highest interest in that property – the owner, or the person named on the tenancy agreement, for example. Where more than one person has equal interest, the liability is jointly and severally shared – however, full-time students are also exempted from liability in this situation.
A property would be liable if, for example, three adults lived there, two of whom were full-time students and one of whom was not. However, only the person who is a not a full-time student would be liable to pay the tax.
If there is only one liable person in the property, as in the example above, it would attract a 25% discount on the bill, and if a person is liable and their income is low enough they may be able to receive council tax benefit.
The one situation in which full-time students can be liable is where they have a higher interest in the property but share it with someone who is not a student. For example, if you own your property and are a full-time student, but sublet a room to a non-student, the property becomes liable and as you have the higher interest you would be the liable person.
Again, if there is only one liable person such a property, it would attract a 25% discount on the bill, and in certain circumstances you may be entitled to council tax benefit.
Contact an advice centre for their guidance.
Further information
More information on the council tax is available here:
You can also see our list of sources of help and advice for students here.