Voluntary (Class 3) National Insurance contributions

Finding out about payments made by your employer to you as an employee when in full-time attendance at university or technical college and voluntary (Class 3) National Insurance contributions

If your employer has released you from your job to do a full-time educational course and they are paying you while you study, you may be eligible to receive this income without paying income tax or National Insurance contributions.

• To find out if you qualify for this exemption,

If you do qualify, you should check your National Insurance contribution record to make sure that there are no other significant gaps that might affect your entitlement to the basic State Pension and bereavement benefits. You may not need to do anything, as it is likely you will still be on course to build up sufficient qualifying years to be eligible for the full basic State Pension.

Voluntary (Class 3) National Insurance contributions

In certain circumstances it may be worth considering paying voluntary (Class 3) National Insurance contributions to protect your basic State Pension and bereavement benefits entitlement.

To find out more about qualifying years and the State Pension, download the leaflet PM2 ‘State pensions – Your guide’ from The Pension Service website.

Situations when you might want to consider paying voluntary (Class 3) National Insurance contributions to cover this next period of study

Class 3 contributions are wholly voluntary and there are several factors to bear in mind when considering if paying them might be in your interest.

You might want to investigate the possibility of paying voluntary contributions if, for example, you are:

• Aged 22 or over

and you:

• are studying for longer than the standard three-year course
• are returning to education after a previous period of study
• have travelled abroad for long periods
• have had a career break when you have not been eligible for Home Responsibilities Protection.

and you:

• don’t have enough earnings from working during the rest of the year while you are not studying to make the year a qualifying one for your State Pension. For more information about qualifying years download the leaflet PM2 ‘State pensions – Your guide’ from the Department for Work and Pensions website (PDF).

Further information

If you think the gaps in your contribution record mean that paying voluntary (Class 3) National Insurance contributions may turn out to be right for you, you’ll probably need a State Pension forecast to help you make a final decision. To find out more about getting a State Pension forecast take a look at The Pension Service website. or for details of how to pay voluntary (Class 3) National Insurance contributions, download leaflet CA5603 - To pay voluntary National Insurance contributions (PDF 154K)

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