Students and Foreign Language Assistants

If all the residents in the property are qualifying full time students or students under 20 years of age you may be entitled to an exemption.

Qualifying Full Time Students

To qualify as a full time student for Council Tax purposes, the student must be enrolled with a specified educational establishment on a specified course for which:

• Periods of study, work experience or tuition amount to at least 24 weeks in each academic year, and
• The required periods of study, work experience or tuition amount to an average of at least 21 hours each week.

How to apply:

To complete the application, you will need:

• The details of the person liable to pay Council Tax.
• Details of all other residents in the property (aged 16 or over), and
• A digital copy of your student certificate provided by your educational establishment (university, college, etc.) which you will be able to upload as part of the application process.

Student Certificates:

By law, educational establishments must provide the student with a certificate for Council Tax purposes, free of charge, on request. Where a request is made more than one year after the student ceased to follow a course of education the request may be refused.

A student certificate must include:

• The name and address of the educational establishment.
• The full name of the student.
• The student's date of birth.
• The student's home address, and where different, the term time address.
• A statement certifying that the student is (or has) followed a qualifying course of education at the establishment.
• The start and end date (or expected end date) of the course

Note: If you are a student at West Lothian College you do not need to provide a student certificate as the college will provide us with this information.

Once you have this information make your application for a Council Tax discount. 

Qualifying Students Under 20 Years of Age

If the student is not full time but is under 20 years of age you may still be entitled to a Council Tax discount.

To qualify as a student under 20 years of age they must be enrolled with a single educational establishment, on either:

• A qualifying course of education, that lasts for more than three months, where the relevant number of hours each week exceed 12, or
• Two or more qualifying courses of education, that last for more than three months, where the cumulative relevant number of hours each week for all those courses exceed 12

In addition, the course(s)must not:

• be conducted mainly through evening classes, or
• be principally conducted through correspondence. or
• be a taken as a requirement of the student's employment or office, or
• be part of a youth training scheme.

How to apply:

To complete the application, you will need:

• The details of the person liable to pay Council Tax.
• Details of all other residents in the property (aged 16 or over), and
• A digital copy of your student certificate provided by your educational establishment (university, college, etc.) which you will be able to upload as part of the application process.

Student Certificates:

By law, educational establishments must provide the student with a certificate for Council Tax purposes, free of charge, on request. Where a request is made more than one year after the student ceased to follow a course of education the request may be refused.

A student certificate must include:

• The name and address of the educational establishment.
• The full name of the student.
• The student's date of birth.
• The student's home address, and where different, the term time address.
• A statement certifying that the student is (or has) followed a qualifying course of education at the establishment.
• The start and end date (or expected end date) of the course

Note: If you are a student at West Lothian College you do not need to provide a student certificate as the college will provide us with this information.

Once you have this information make your application for a Council Tax discount. 

Qualifying Student Nurses

To qualify as a student nurse, they must be undertaking at a specified educational establishment, a course which if successfully completed will lead to registration on any Parts 1 to 8, 10 and 12 to 15 of the Register maintained under section 7 of the Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act 1997 as a first inclusion on that Register.

How to apply:

To complete the application, you will need:

• The details of the person liable to pay Council Tax.
• Details of all other residents in the property (aged 16 or over), and
• A digital copy of your student certificate provided by your educational establishment (university, college, etc.) which you will be able to upload as part of the application process.

Student Certificates:

By law, educational establishments must provide the student with a certificate for Council Tax purposes, free of charge, on request. Where a request is made more than one year after the student ceased to follow a course of education the request may be refused.

A student certificate must include:

• The name and address of the educational establishment.
• The full name of the student.
• The student's date of birth.
• The student's home address, and where different, the term time address.
• A statement certifying that the student is (or has) followed a qualifying course of education at the establishment.
• The start and end date (or expected end date) of the course

Once you have this information make your application for a Council Tax discount. 

Qualifying Foreign Language Assistants

To qualify as a foreign language assistant, they must be registered as such with the British Council and appointed at a school or other educational establishment in Great Britain as such an assistant.

How to apply:

To complete the application, you will need:

• The details of the person liable to pay Council Tax.
• Details of all other residents in the property (aged 16 or over).
• A digital copy of your registration with the British Council which you will be able to upload as part of the application process, and
• Digital evidence of your appointment at the educational establishment which you will be able to upload as part of the application process.

Once you have this information make your application for a Council Tax discount.