Apply for Council Tax: apprentice or trainee discount

If you are an apprentice, a student nurse or a youth trainee, you may be able to claim a discount on your Council Tax bill. 

Eligibility

To get an apprenticeship or trainee discount, you need to prove you are one of the following:

An apprentice

You must be learning a trade, vocation or profession by undertaking a training programme that is Government accredited. You should be receiving an allowance or a salary that is less than you would be paid if qualified. This can be no more than £195 per week (before deductions). To apply for an exemption, you will need to supply a letter from your employer confirming your status, and a wage slip confirming your salary.

A student nurse

You must be attending a college of nursing and midwifery, or a college of health. The course must lead to registration on the Nursing Register. To apply for an exemption, you will need to supply a student certificate from the college that you attend.

A youth trainee

You must be under 25 and taking part in training as part of an approved training scheme (as defined in The Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 -  Section 28 (6) I.) To apply for an exemption, you will need to supply a letter from your employer confirming your status.

Before you apply

To apply for a young person or training Council Tax discount, you will need:

• to register for Council Tax in Bath and North East Somerset
• to have your Council Tax account number. This is a seven or nine digit number, and you can find it in the top left hand corner of your Council Tax bill. If you are unsure, please view this example bill.
• evidence that you are eligible for the exemption. (Please check the notes above for details of any documents you need.)

Next steps

• When we receive your application, we will verify your information and issue you with a new Council Tax bill. You should receive this within 28 days.
• We will check every year that you are still entitled to the discount. You may receive a letter, asking you to confirm this.

Your responsibilities

• After you have applied for a discount, you must still pay the amount on your current Council Tax bill, until we issue a new bill.
• If you disagree with the amount of Council Tax we ask you to pay, after the discount is applied, you can use our online form to contact us.
• You must respond promptly to any letters we send you about your discount. We may cancel your discount if you do not reply when we contact you.
• You must inform us immediately if your circumstances change (for example, your training course finishes)

Cancelling your apprenticeship or trainee discount

If you stop your apprenticeship or youth training, or cease to be a student nurse, you may no longer be eligible for this discount. You must tell us immediately about any change. If you do not inform us, this might increase your bill.

If your circumstances change in other ways, you may be eligible for a different Council Tax discount or exemption. Find out more about other benefits by following the links in the panel: More on Council Tax and Other benefits.