Postgraduate students who are parents are not eligible for the same loans and grants as undergraduate students, such as the Parents' Learning Allowance or Childcare Grant. However, you may be entitled to some funding from other sources.

If you have a child or children, you may be entitled to claim benefits and tax credits whilst studying. Working out and calculating entitlements for students can be quite complicated, and it can be hard to find clear information on the subject, so please contact the Student Support Office for advice. We can also check that your entitlement has been calculated correctly.

Child Tax Credit

• paid to households who have dependent children 
• full-time students are entitled to claim
• the amount you receive depends on your income (entitlement starts to be reduced when income is more than £16,040).  
• RCA bursaries are not treated as income for CTC, but any amount of Career Development Loan paid to cover living expenses would

Working Tax Credit

• based on income
• you or your partner must work 16 hours per week and have responsibility for a child or have a disability OR
• you must be 25 or over and work at least 30 hours per week.

For more information visit the HMRC website.

Child Benefit

Full-time students are entitled to receive Child Benefit for children in their care. Child benefit is not means tested and so is not affected by income.

Income Support
If you are a lone parent of a child under 12*, you can claim Income Support while you study, as long as you are not working for more than 16 hours.  Entitlement to Income Support is affected by the RCA maintenance bursary, but not the tuition fee bursary.  Other income that affects the amount you receive includes any Career Development Loan that is paid to cover living expenses, earnings from employment and maintenance payments.

*from October 2009 you will only be able to claim IS if you’re youngest child is under 10, and from October 2010 this age will be reduced to 7.  There will be transitional protection for students who have already started their course and are in receipt of IS

Housing Benefit

If you are a lone parent, or if you have a child and your partner is also a full-time student, and you pay rent then you may also be eligible to claim Housing Benefit. The amount of benefit you receive is affected by income (the RCA tuition fee bursary does not count), and also where you live and who lives with you.

For more information on claiming Housing Benefit and Income Support, visit the Directgov website.

Although limited in number and the amount of funding they can offer, some trusts and charities do offer grants to students with children. The best place to start looking is the Educational Grants Advisory Service.

You could also check The Grants Register, published by Macmillan Publishers Ltd which can be found under 378.3 GRA in the RCA library.