For council tax purpose, a person is a student if they are:
- Attending a university, polytechnic or college course which lasts for at least 24 weeks a year and involves at least 21 hours of attended study a week during term time.
- Under 20 years of age, studying for more than three months and at least 12 hours per week for any qualification up to an A Level, ONC or OND standard. Correspondence courses, or courses taken in connection with a job, such as day release, are not included.
Students in halls of residence at Warwick University
We will usually receive information from Warwick University which shows us your student status and/or tenancy dates. So if you live in halls of residence at the Warwick University Campus we do not need you to contact us. If we need any information from you we will write out to your address.
Students in other dedicated student accomodation
We usually receive information directly from letting agents about your tenancy details. Sometimes however we do not receive this so will need to ask you to provide it.
If you are a student in dedicated student accomodation and havent been awarded student discount or exemption you can send us your information directly to ensure your student status is correctly updated.
If you do not provide us your student proof you will be billed for a full council tax charge.
If you are in a property where you only rent part of the property eg your tenancy agreement is for a room or part of the property only, your landlord will usually receive the bill and any applicable exemption for being occupied by students.
If you are in a property and your tenancy agreement is for the whole property , you and any joint tenants will usually receive the bill in your names with any applicable discounts or exemption on it.
Students not in dedicated student accommodation
It is your responsibility to tell us if you are eligible for a student discount or exemption and also to provide your student proof and copy of your tenancy agreement. If you fail to provide your proof, you will be sent a bill with a full charge on it.
If you have moved into a new property and are a student please complete the student move into form.
If you wish to claim student exemption/disregard or need further advice on a specific case or set of circumstances then please complete the discounts and exemptions form.
Please provide evidence of student status by providing a copy of your student certificate supplied by the establishment to which you are enrolled. This evidence can be uploaded with the online form.
Acceptable student proof
The student proof can be a student card (Warwick University only) or student certificate that must show the following information:
- dated from the current academic year
- that the student it in fulltime education (a minimum of 21 hours study per week over 24 weeks)
- the start and end dates of the course
- the establishment studying at
Properties where there are some non students also living there
In a property where one resident is a non student, regardless of the number of students who also live there, the non student will be solely liable for payment of 75% of the whole charge. If there are 2 or more non students, then they will be jointly and severally liable for the full charge. The students will be disregarded for council tax purposes.
In a property where the landlord is liable they will get the applicable charges billed to them.
Expired student status
If your student status has expired because you have finished your course (final year students) or have left your studies, any student discount or exemption will be ended. This means if you still hold a tenancy for longer than your student status exists you will have a charge for council tax.
If you live in a property where the landlord is liable to pay, the landlord will be sent the bill with any charges on it.
If you believe your student status has ended too early you should contact your education establishment to discuss this. If they issue you with an extended student status please send this over to us.
Students who own their own properties
If you are a student and own your own property, you may be entitled to an exemption when the property is empty. You can only receive the exemption for an empty property if you previously occupied the property as your sole or main residence before it became empty and nobody else other than students were living there. If you think you qualify for this exemption please complete the council tax discounts and exemptions form. When we receive the form we will check to see if you are eligible.
Landlords or owners of student accommodation
If you are a landlord or owner of a student property please see our dedicated landlord and letting agent page.