Do Bursaries Affect Tax Credits ?

Student loan income is ignored when working out the amount of Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit you will get.
Some student grant income is ignored for Tax Credits, including:
•    any amount for tuition fees
•    a postgraduate maintenance grant
•    certain bursaries (such as a health bursary or social work bursary)
•    childcare grants
•    a parents’ learning allowance.
If you don’t apply for student income, which you could claim, you can still be treated as if you have that money. This is called “notional income.”

The period over which student grant and loan income is taken into account

Most student income is averaged out over only the weeks of the year when you are studying (usually 42/43 weeks), but there are exceptions:

• Some student income is averaged over the whole year (52 weeks), such as some National Health Service (NHS) bursaries and postgraduate awards
• If you are on a “sandwich course” your grant income is normally not taken into account for the periods when you are on the placement or work experience part of the course
• If you stop being a full-time student before the end of your course, your grant or loan income may still be treated as income, until the date your course should have ended or until the date you repay your grant.

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