Parents have less than two weeks to tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) their 16-19 year-old is continuing education or training, or their Child Benefit payments will stop.

Hundreds of thousands of teenagers will decide on their future this week as they receive their GCSE results on Thursday (August 22, 2024).

Parents can continue receiving Child Benefit if their child is going to continue in approved education or training, and HMRC is urging them to extend their claim now online on GOV.UK or via the HMRC app.

Parents should keep their claim details up to date, even if they've opted not to receive Child Benefit payments due to the High Income Child Benefit Charge. Parents who want to opt back into receiving Child Benefit payments, can do this quickly and easily online on GOV.UK or in the HMRC app.

More than 270,000 parents have extended their claim digitally so far, with the changes applied to their record without the need to wait on the phone.

Child Benefit is worth up to £1,331 a year for the first or only child, and up to £881 a year for every additional child.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said:

“Child Benefit is an important financial support for many households and we don’t want to see any eligible family miss out. You can extend your claim quickly and easily online or via the HMRC app, just search ‘Child Benefit when your child turns 16’ on GOV.UK.”

Victoria Benson, CEO of Gingerbread, the charity for single parent families, said:

“Child Benefit is valuable to families and particularly single parent families, who are forced to make ends meet on a single income.

“It's really important, with the August 31 deadline fast approaching, that parents whose children are going into further education and training extend their claim as soon as possible to avoid missing out on this crucial financial help.”

Child Benefit can continue to be paid for children who are studying full time in non-advanced education, which includes A levels, International Baccalaureate, home education - if it started before their child turned 16, or after 16 if they have a statement of special educational needs and it was assessed by the local authority, T levels and NVQs, up to level 3.

Child Benefit will also continue for children studying on one of these unpaid approved training courses in Wales: Foundation Apprenticeships, Traineeships or the Jobs Growth Wales+ scheme

If a child changes their mind about further education or training, parents can simply inform HMRC online or via the HMRC app and payments will be adjusted accordingly. Parents can check the status of their claims at any time by viewing their proof of entitlement in the app or online.

Parents will need a Government Gateway user ID and password to use HMRC’s online services. If they do not have one already, they can register on GOV.UK and will just need their National Insurance number or postcode, and two forms of ID.