HM Revenue & Customs is writing to 1.5 million parents to remind them to extend their child benefit (Image: Getty)
HM Revenue & Customs is writing to 1.5 million parents to remind them to extend their child benefit if their teenager is staying in education or training after their GCSEs. The benefit stops automatically on August 31 on or after a child’s 16th birthday unless parents tell HMRC what their plans are.
HMRC issued a reminder on Tuesday (April 28). Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Chief Customer Officer, said in a statement: “Child benefit is a real financial boost for families, so if your teenager already knows they’re staying in education or training after their GCSEs or National 5s, you don’t need to wait for our letter. You can extend your child benefit claim today in minutes via the HMRC app or online at GOV.UK.”
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Child benefit amounts to £27.05 per week, or £1,406.60 per year, for the oldest child. For each additional child, the benefit totals £17.90 per week.
A total of 874,000 parents extended their claim in 2025, according to HMRC.
Youngsters in full time education who are not doing university or pre-degree courses, such as foundation diplomas, qualify for child benefit.
Courses which do meet the criteria include A-Levels, T-Levels, Scottish Highers, GCSEs, NVQs and pre-apprenticeships.
Those which do not include BTEC Higher National Certificates, uni degrees, HNCs, HNDs and CertHE’s.
If a child is doing unpaid “approved training” they can get child benefit too.
This includes Foundation Apprenticeships, Traineeships or the Jobs Growth Wales+ scheme in Wales; the No One Left Behind scheme in Scotland and PEACEPLUS Youth Programme 3.2, Training for Success or Skills for Life and Work in Northern Ireland.
A child is not entitled to the benefit if he or she is on an apprenticeship, apart from the Foundation Apprenticeships in Wales.
Training courses as part of a job contract and a course with an agreement with an employer also mean a child is not eligible.
If a child leaves their course before it ends, HMRC has to be told to avoid overpayments.
Parents should act on the letter if their teenager is starting a new course or qualifying training in September.
Those already part way through a course which HMRC has already been told about do not need to contact them.
Full-time education means more than an average of 12 hours per week of supervised study or course-related work experience. It includes home schooling. If a child is ill or has a disability, they may be able to do fewer hours.