My child is turning 16

Your benefits, tax credits and child maintenance may change once your child is 16 years old. Any changes depend on what your child does after they are 16.

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What happens to Child Benefit when my child is 16+?

Looking to find out about what happens to Child Benefit when your child is 16+? One Parent Families Scotland can help you understand your situation. You can get Child Benefit from HMRC for each child you are responsible for. The child does not have to be yours but you need to be caring for them. […]

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What happens to Universal Credit when my child is 16+?

Universal Credit provides financial support to families for living expenses and rent. It includes amounts for yourself and your children. Find out what happens to Universal Credit once your child turns 16.

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What happens to tax credits when my child is 16+?

Tax credits end on 5 April 2025. No more payments will be made after this date. If you’re eligible for Universal Credit or Pension Credit instead, you’ll be sent a letter. Child Tax Credit is paid for your children. Working Tax Credit is paid for you if you work 16 or more hours per week. […]

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What happens to Housing Benefit when my child turns 16+?

Housing Benefit is being replaced by Universal Credit. Most people will have been moved over to Universal Credit by December 2025. If you’re eligible for Universal Credit instead, you’ll be sent a letter. You have 3 months to apply to Universal Credit from the date you receive the letter. For more information see Moving to […]

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What happens to Council Tax when my child turns 16+?

You may get a Council Tax Discount and a Council Tax Reduction to reduce the amount of Council Tax you need to pay. You may get both at the same time. Find out what happens to Council Tax when your child turns 16.

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What happens to Child Maintenance when my child is 16+?

Parents have a legal duty to financially support their child. Child Maintenance can be arranged in 3 ways – directly with the parent who pays, through the Child Maintenance Service or through the Scottish courts. Find out what happens to Child Maintenance when your child turns 16.

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Advanced and non-advanced education

Trying to figure out if your child is in ‘advanced education’ or ‘non-advanced education’? We’ll break down these two terms to help you understand the differences between them.

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Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA)

Young people aged 16 to 19 who stay in school or college may get the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA).

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Covering your tracks

You may not want other people to know that you’ve been searching for information or help from OPFS.

When browsing the internet whether on a mobile phone, tablet or computer, you leave a ‘history’ trail of pages and sites you’ve visited.

It’s impossible to completely avoid being tracked online but if you’re worried about someone knowing which sites you’ve been looking at, there are some things you can do to help cover your tracks.

If you’re using a laptop or desktop computer, try keeping another document or website open in a new tab or window while browsing. If someone comes in the room and you don’t want them to see what you’re looking at, you can quickly switch to another window or tab.

Deleting browsing history

You can delete the history of websites you’ve visited, but it’s important to know that if you delete your browsing history, someone else using the same device may notice.

If you share a tablet, mobile phone, laptop or computer with someone, they might notice that passwords or website addresses have disappeared from their history.

Find out how to remove your browsing history and other data from some of the most commonly used browsers:

Browsing in Private mode (incognito)

When browsing ‘incognito’, the internet browser won’t store cookies or record your browsing history on the computer, mobile or tablet.

This option is available on popular web browsers i.e. -

Toolbars

If you use a search toolbar in your web browser, remember that your searched items can be saved as part of your history. Find out how to delete your searched items from the following search engines: