Student discount or exemption

You get money off your Council Tax bill if:

  • Everyone living in the property is a student. The property will be exempt so there will be no Council Tax to pay
  • Two people (over 18) occupy the property but one is a student. You may be entitled to a student discount of 25 percent and the non student will be responsible for the remaining Council Tax bill
  • If a student lives at the property but there are two or more non students (over 18) also occupying the property, there is no student exemption or student discount applicable

Download a form to claim student discount

Who is a student?

You are classed as a student if you are undertaking a full-time course of higher education for at least one academic or calendar year AND:

  • The course lasts at least 24 weeks in the year and it involves a minimum of 21 study hours per week, or
  • You are undertaking a nursing diploma course, or
  • You are undertaking a student midwife course, health visitor course or a student nurse at university, or
  • You are a foreign language assistant, at a school or other educational establishment, provided you are registered with the Central Bureau for Educational Visits and Exchanges

You can also be classed as a student if you are under 20 years old and undertaking full-time further education (for example, A-levels, ONC or foundation courses) which are not an evening class, correspondence course or undertaken as a result of your job. The education must last at least three months and tuition and study should exceed 12 hours a week and normally be carried out between 8am and 5.30pm. Child Benefit for the student may also have stopped.

You may also be entitled to a discount if you are the spouse or dependant of a student and you are not a British citizen and are prevented by immigration rules from taking paid employment or claiming benefits.

To apply, you must complete the student discount form and provide a student certificate for every student. You can get these from the college or university.