The Council Tax assumes that there are two adults living in the property.

• If you live alone then we can give you a 25% discount.
• We may 'disregard' or not count certain people, including students, student nurses and school leavers, when counting the number of adults in a property.
• If after disregarding people there is only one adult counted, then we can give the 25% discount.
• We can't give you the discount if there are still two or more adults living in the property after we have disregarded someone.
• If all the people in the property are disregarded then we can give a 50% discount.

Do I qualify?

The information below explains how students, student nurses and school leavers qualify for the discount.

Students

There are two types of students:

1. those who are on a full-time course:

• which runs for at least one academic / calendar year at certain places;
• which runs for at least 24 weeks a year; and
• which includes tuition or work experience for 21 hours a week on average.

2. those who are on a qualifying course:

• where they are not classed as a student by the rules above;
• where the student is under 20 and the tuition is for more than 12 hours a week;
• where the course lasts for more than 3 months and is normally carried out between 8am and 5.30pm;
• which is not a course of higher education; and
• where the study is not by correspondence or as a result of their employment.

If the house is only occupied by students who fall into one of these two groups, then the property will be exempt from Council Tax. For these purposes a student nurse does not qualify as a student. More information about student nurses is below.

School leavers

You will qualify for a disregard if:

• you are under 20; and
• have finished a qualifying course within the period 30 April to 1 November. (see students above for details of a qualifying course).

Student nurses

You will qualify for a disregard if you are on a course which leads to registration under the Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act 1979.

How do I get the discount?

If you think you qualify then please complete the application form, which is available for download below, and return it to the address on the back of the leaflet along with the evidence we ask for on the application form. If your college or university does not issue certificates then ask it to complete the declaration.

Contact Details
South Derbyshire District Council
Revenue Services
Civic Offices
Civic Way
Swadlincote
Derbyshire
DE11 0AH

Telephone: 01283 595971
Fax: 01283 595857
Email: revenues@south-derbys.gov.uk

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