Council Tax is a system of local taxation collected by local authorities. Some property is exempt from Council Tax and some people do not have to pay Council Tax. Most students are entitled to some form of exemption or discount, but this depends on individual circumstances.

Full-Time Students

Full-time, fully registered students are eligible for exemption from Council Tax. Once a student is fully registered, they can produce a Council Tax exemption certificate via the  Student Self-service (S3P).  The certificate calculates a student’s start and end dates based on their registration on the University’s student record system.

A research student will be exempt from Council Tax during the candidature of their research programme, provided they continue to be a full-time, fully registered student. The University calculates candidature from the date of first registration to the submission deadline date.

Part-Time Students

To be eligible for Council Tax exemption a student must be full-time as per the government’s definition of full-time which is that a course must last at least 1 year and involve at least 21 hours of study per week.  The University does not record hours on the student record and the Council Tax exemption certificate can only be produced through S3P if a student is registered full-time. Any student whose registration is recorded as part-time (which includes staff candidates registered on a research degree) will be unable to produce a Council Tax exemption certificate through S3P.

Where a student is registered part-time but is studying 21 hours or more they should submit a Council Tax exemption request form to the relevant Graduate School.  On receipt of a request, the Graduate School will consider a student’s eligibility for a Council Tax exemption certificate, in liaison with the student’s Supervisory Team. The University will advise the student by email of the decision and where appropriate produce a manual Council Tax exemption certificate.

Interruption of Studies

If a research student is on an approved interruption of studies, this may affect Council Tax exemption eligibility. The Local Authority will be able to provide more information on this issue and a research student should notify the Local Authority of any changes in their circumstances.

PGR students ‘Under Examination’

Once a student has submitted their thesis for examination and classed by the University as ‘Under Examination’, they are no longer automatically eligible for a Council Tax exemption certificate.

Before a Council Tax exemption certificate can be produced the University can produce an exemption certificate for an ‘Under Examination’ student, it is required to confirm that a student is continuing to attend University and engage with their study, in accordance with the regulations set by the Local Authority for Council Tax exemption.

In order to request a Council Tax Exemption certificate, an ‘Under Examination’ student should submit a 'Council Tax Exemption Request‌' form to assess eligibility.

On receipt of a request, the University will consider a student’s eligibility for an exemption certificate, in liaison with the student’s Supervisory Team. The University will advise the student by email of the decision.

A student is normally unable to apply for an exemption while ‘Under Examination’ if:

• They were registered on a part-time research programme prior to submission
• They are a staff candidate
• They are working full-time while 'Under examination'

 

On receipt of a request, the University will consider a student’s eligibility for an exemption certificate, in liaison with the student’s Supervisory Team. The University will advise the student by email of the decision.

Useful Information

UKCISA provides useful guidance on the definition of a student for Council Tax purposes:

More background information on Council Tax is also available on the Student Health and Wellbing pages.