Thousands of parents and guardians could see their Child Benefit claim stopped at the end of next month.

Child Benefit is worth £25.60 a week for your first child, then £16.95 a week for any additional child you may have. It is paid every four weeks. You have to be responsible for someone under the age of 16 to claim Child Benefit - however, you may be able to keep on claiming until your child turns 20.

In order to do this, your child must be in approved education or training. This can include A-Levels, NVQs or even home education, but it does not include university or BTEC qualifications. You can see a full list below. HMRC will send you a letter asking if your child is still in full-time education when they turn 16.

If the answer is yes, you must reply, or let HMRC know on GOV.UK, before August 31 after your child's 16th birthday. When your child leaves approved education or training, payments will stop at the end of February, May 31, August 31 or November 30, whichever comes first. This means the next key date where thousands of parents could see their payments stop is from May 31.

What counts as approved full-time education?

  • A-Levels or similar, for example Pre-U, International Baccalaureate

  • T-Levels

  • Scottish Highers

  • NVQs and other vocational qualifications up to Level 3

  • Home education - if it started before your child turned 16 or after 16 if they have special needs

  • Traineeships in England

Your child must be staying in approved education or training for 12 hours or more each week. Courses are not approved if paid for by an employer.

Who is eligible for Child Benefit?

You need to live in the UK and be responsible for a child - this usually means they live with you, or you pay at least the same amount as Child Benefit towards looking after them. If two people look after a child, only one person can claim Child Benefit. You can claim Child Benefit if you fostered a child, as long as the local council is not paying anything towards their accommodation or maintenance.

Child Benefit is also available if you adopted your child, as well as in certain circumstances where you're looking after a child for a friend or relative. If you or your partner earn less than £60,000 per year, you can claim the full amount of Child Benefit - the rates we mentioned above.

But if one of you earns over £60,000, you have to pay some of the benefit back at a rate of 1% for every £200 you earn over £60,000 - this is known as the High Income Child Benefit Charge. Earn over £80,000 and you'll need to pay back 100% of your Child Benefit - meaning you don't get anything.