Student Services

While pregnant, you are eligible for free NHS prescriptions and free dental care. You might also qualify for Healthy Start food vouchers.

If you are pregnant but have also been working, you might also qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance.

If your partner is pregnant, you may qualify for Paternity Pay.

All students are entitled to 2 weeks leave after the birth of their child. You should contact your school to inform them of the birth and they will give you authorised absence for that time.

If you need to take time off for hospital or GP appointments you can ask your school for Authorised Absence.

If you need more time to submit coursework you can request an extension from your school before the submission deadline.

You can apply for mitigating circumstances if you have not been able to submit coursework and a school approved extension is not long enough, the submission deadline has passed or you are unable sit an exam.

Depending on when your baby is due, you may need to consider interrupting your studies. You can discuss this in more detail with your School or the Advice Service.

You might be eligible for extra Maintenance Loan funding, if you meet any one of the qualifying criteria.

If you have a partner who is not a student and is the benefit claimant for your family, you will not be eligible for the additional Maintenance Loan.

Qualifying criteria:

• You’re a lone parent or lone foster parent who is responsible for a child or young person under 20 who is in full-time education below higher education level or on an approved training course
• you have a partner who is also a student, and one or both of you are responsible for a child or young person under 20 who is in full-time education below higher education level or on an approved training course
• you have a disability and qualify for the Disability Premium or Severe Disability Premium
• you’re waiting to go back to a course having taken agreed time out from that course due to an illness or caring responsibility that has now ended
• you’re deaf and qualify for Disabled Students’ Allowance
• you’ve been treated as incapable of work for a continuous period of at least 28 weeks
• you have a disability and qualify for income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• you’re aged 60 or over on the first day of the first academic year of your course
• you’re entitled to Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• you’re entitled to Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• you’re entitled to Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP)

You’re eligible for Parents’ Learning Allowance if all of the following apply:

• you’re a student in England
• you have dependent children
• you’re taking a full-time undergraduate course or an Initial Teacher Training (ITT) course
• your household income is less than £18,739.99 a year
• you’re eligible for a tuition fee loan and a maintenance loan from Student Finance England or your funding authority.

You do not need to be paying for childcare to be eligible.

If you and your partner are both full-time students, you can both claim the Parents Learning Allowance but only one of you can claim the Childcare Grant.

Further information can be found on the gov.uk site.

Childcare Grant applications are made online as part of your main Student Finance application.

To qualify for a Childcare Grant all the following must apply:

• you’re a full-time student
• your child must be under 15, or under 17 if they have special educational needs
• you get undergraduate student finance based on your household income (or are eligible for this)
• you’re not getting a Postgraduate Loan
• you’re a permanent resident in England
• your household income is less than £19,549.80 – if you’re applying for 1 child
• your household income is less than £27,958.20 – if you’re applying for 2 or more children
• neither you or your partner are claiming Tax-Free Childcare, the childcare element of working Tax Credit or Universal Credit
• neither you or your partner receive help with childcare costs from the NHS
• the children in your grant application are financially dependent on you
• your childcare provider is on the Ofsted Early Years Register or General Childcare Register – (check with your provider)

If your child is cared for at home, the carer cannot be a relative and must be registered with an appropriate body.

If you and your partner are both full-time students, you can both claim the Parents Learning Allowance but only one of you can claim the Childcare Grant.

Further information can be found on the gov.uk site.

To get an Adult Dependants’ Grant, another adult must depend on you financially. They cannot be any of the following:

• your child
• a relative who earns more than £3,796 a year
• getting student finance during the same academic year
• your partner if you’re under 25 – unless you’re married or in a civil partnership

You’re also not eligible if:

• your household income (your own taxable income plus that of anyone else living in your household) is over £15,453.98
• you’re getting a Postgraduate Loan

Further information can be found on the gov.uk site.

You may be able to get Universal Credit if you’re studying full-time and any of the following apply:

• you’re aged 21 or under, in full-time non-advanced education and do not have parental support
• you’re responsible for a child
• you live with your partner and they’re eligible for Universal Credit
• you’ve reached the qualifying age for Pension Credit and live with a partner who is under that age
• you’re disabled, were assessed as having limited capability for work before starting your course and are getting:

Personal Independence Payment
Disability Living Allowance
Child Disability Payment in Scotland
Attendance Allowance
Armed Forces Independence Payment

The University of Lincoln decides whether their courses are classed as full-time.

If you attend a full-time course on a part-time basis, you will be treated as studying full-time. For example, if you are retaking failed modules from the previous year or returning to complete your year after a period of interruption.

Students who study on a part time basis are eligible to claim Universal Credit if they are available for work whilst studying.

You may be asked for evidence of the course that you are studying on and will be required to sign an agreement called a ‘claimant commitment‘ which is a record of what you agree to do in relation to work.

New claims for Universal Credit are made online.

If you have a partner, you must normally make a joint claim for Universal Credit. In a joint claim, you and your partner must usually meet all the basic qualifying conditions. You and your partner may still be entitled to Universal Credit as joint claimants if one of you is in full-time education (as long as you both satisfy all the other basic qualifying conditions).

If you are claiming Universal Credit before becoming a student, you need to inform your work coach, as being a student is a relevant change of circumstances.

To evidence the course start and end dates, you can obtain a Certificate of Study letter once you are enrolled by going onto your OneUni portal – Support – Forms. The University of Lincoln’s term dates are also available on the website.

You will also need upload evidence of any student income to your journal. If you fail to notify your casework manager or a benefit office of a relevant change in your circumstances, this may result in an overpayment.

Universal Credit calculations can be complicated. You can request an explanation of how your award has been calculated through your UC journal. You need to request this within one month of receiving that month’s award notification. If you have questions once you receive the information, please contact the Advice Service who will be able to check whether your Universal Credit award is correct.

If instead of UC you are still receiving old style welfare benefits such as Housing Benefit or Employment and Support Allowance, please contact the Advice Service for further assistance.

Please also see https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

Student loans count as income. If you could get a loan by taking ‘reasonable steps’, even if you choose not to apply for one, UC will still take the loan you could have into account. However if you are not eligible for a loan then it would not be counted.

The full undergraduate Maintenance Loan you are entitled to is taken into account as income by UC.  However, if you are entitled to the Special Support Element (SSE), this part should be disregarded. 

For postgraduate students, 30% of the maximum amount of Master’s or Doctoral loan is taken into account as income. 

Income from Postgraduate scholarships and from NHS Bursaries is counted.

The following income is ignored:

• Income from Supplementary Grants and NHS Allowances except for the Adult Dependants Grant
• Disabled Students Allowances  
• Financial Assistance Fund awards 

Universal Credit is paid for ‘an assessment period’ of one month. Student income counts as income in assessment periods that fall during the course as well as the assessment period in which the course begins. Student income is ignored in the assessment period in which the last week of the course or the start of the summer vacation falls (summer vacation does not apply to full-time Postgraduate courses). Student income is also ignored in any other assessment period that falls completely within the summer vacation. 

The Coram website has information about help with childcare costs. Eligibility will depend on your circumstances. The guidance includes information about free early education depending on the age of your child or children.

Please note: If you are an international student and your immigration permission has a ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition, any free childcare which is only available to people receiving certain benefits will not be available to you, because you are not allowed to claim welfare benefits. This is explained in the guidance. 

If you are eligible for undergraduate funding from Student Finance, you have dependent children, and you are a lone parent or have a partner on a low income, you can apply for a Childcare Grant to pay 85% of your childcare costs up to a maximum weekly amount. Further information can be found in the Childcare Grant section of this page.

You do not have to repay this money. The amount you get depends on your household income. If you have a partner, the income thresholds for the Childcare Grant are lower than for the Maintenance Loan.

To qualify, your childcare provider must be on the Ofsted Early Years Register or General Childcare Register – check with your provider. If your child is cared for at home, the carer cannot be a relative and must be registered with an appropriate body. If you are unsure, you can check with Student Finance England.

An application is made online as part of your main Student Finance application and you will need to provide evidence. For more information check the gov.uk website.

Most children start school full-time in the September after their fourth birthday. This means they’ll turn 5 during their first school year. There is guidance on the gov.uk website about applying for a school place. Remember that you may still need to pay for before or after school care depending on your study commitments.  

Under UK law a student is required to take 2 weeks off from their studies after giving birth.

If you are a student and you are pregnant, it is very important that you talk to the International Advice team as soon as possible. If you think you will need more than 2 weeks absence due to pregnancy, you may need to interrupt your studies. This will mean that you and your dependants will need to leave the UK. When you are ready to resume your studies, you, and your dependants if you wish, will have to apply for new visas to return to the UK. 

Being born in the UK does not automatically make a baby a British citizen. The baby needs to have a parent with British citizenship or settled status in the UK in order to be a British citizen.

If your baby is born in the UK but is not a British citizen, it is quite lawful for him or her to remain in the UK without making an immigration application. However, the baby will need immigration permission and a passport to re-enter the UK after any travel abroad, and for babies born to students, there are a limited number of situations where you can apply for a baby to be your dependant on your visa.

From April 2015 babies born in the UK are not entitled to free healthcare from the age of 3 months unless it is emergency treatment. In order to access healthcare for your baby, you will need to make an immigration application before the baby is 3 months old and pay the Immigration Health Surcharge.

To make any immigration applications on behalf of a child, you’ll need to get a national passport or travel document for the child from the relevant embassy, consulate or issuing authority in your country.

More information about applying for a visa for a baby born in the UK can be found on the UK Council For International Student Affairs (UKCISA) Dependents webpage.

You can also contact the International Advice team at the University of Lincoln for further information and advice.

If your children are young, you will probably have to look after them yourselves as domestic help is hard to find and very expensive. There are private day nurseries which take children under school age but many have waiting lists and the costs are high.

The Lincolnshire County Council have links to daycare facilities and nurseries for children under 5 years of age.

Early years education – Lincolnshire County Council

There is also an independent nursery based on the University of Lincoln Brayford campus site called The Marina.

Free Childcare for 2 year olds

If your immigration status says you have ‘no recourse to public funds’, you may still get 15 hours of free childcare for your 2-year-old. You must live in England and your household income must be no more than:

• £26,500 for families outside of London with one child
• £34,500 for families within London with one child
• £30,600 for families outside of London with two or more children
• £38,600 for families within London with two or more children

You cannot have more than £16,000 in savings or investments.

Contact your childcare provider or check with your local council if you’re unsure if you can get free childcare.

Free Childcare for 3-4 year olds

If your immigration status says you have ‘no recourse to public funds’, you may still get 15 hours of free childcare for your 3-4 year old.

Further information and how to apply can be found on the Gov.uk website.

Children in the UK are legally required to attend school from the ages of 5-16, and remain in either education or training until they are 18.

Children between 5 and 16 years can attend government primary and secondary schools in the UK, as long as they are here as your dependants. You will not have to pay for this. However, schools may sometimes refuse places to children if they consider their stay in the UK will be too short, or if the schools have no free places.

To find out what schools are nearby, see the Lincolnshire County Council information –

Schools and education – Lincolnshire County Council