A house in Aberdeen lived in only by full-time students pays no council tax — but the exemption is not automatic, and it is not backdated indefinitely if you never claim it.
| All-student household | Fully exempt |
| How to claim | Complete an application for Council Tax Exemption or Council Tax Discount and return it to the council — but if you study at Aberdeen University, RGU or North East Scotland College your name is checked against lists the institutions send the council, so no certificate is needed. |
| Evidence they want | None if your name appears on the student lists supplied by the three local institutions; otherwise a certificate from your student records office proving your student status. International students' family members also need passports/proof of no recourse to public funds. |
| University sends your data directly | Yes |
This is the council's own leaflet 'A Guide to Council Tax and Students' (linked from aberdeencity.gov.uk/media/293, which 301s to sites.aberdeencity.gov.uk/media/293). The data-sharing line is explicit: 'Aberdeen University, North East Scotland College and Robert Gordon University provide Aberdeen City Council with lists of full time students. If your name does not appear on these lists or if you study at a different educational establishment, you will need to provide proof of your student status.' Student status ends when the course is completed or abandoned, not on graduation day. International students can claim on the same terms as UK students. The leaflet also warns: 'if you don't apply for a reduction on your bill, we can't award one'. band_d_2026_27 is null because the main aberdeencity.gov.uk site is a JavaScript application that serves no readable content to a non-browser client, so the 2026/27 charge could not be read from the council's own pages.
Only full-time students (21+ hours a week, 24+ weeks, course of at least one academic year) are disregarded, plus under-20s on qualifying non-advanced courses of 12+ hours a week, foreign language assistants and student nurses; if all but one resident is disregarded the bill is cut by 25%.
The councils nearest Aberdeen City Council on the Band D charge — what the exemption is worth where you might have gone instead. The full table has every one.
| City | Council | Band D |
|---|---|---|
| Reading | Reading Borough Council | £2,613 |
| Liverpool | Liverpool City Council | £2,674 |
| Oxford | Oxford City Council | £2,676 |
| Bristol | Bristol City Council | £2,714 |
| Nottingham | Nottingham City Council | £2,755 |
| Aberdeen | Aberdeen City Council | — |
| Belfast | Belfast City Council | — |
| Chester | Cheshire West and Chester Council | — |
| London (Greenwich) | Royal Borough of Greenwich | — |
| London (Hillingdon) | London Borough of Hillingdon | — |
| London (Islington) | Islington Council | — |
No, not if every adult in the property is a full-time student — the household is exempt. The exemption has to be claimed; it does not apply itself just because you are a student.
Complete an application for Council Tax Exemption or Council Tax Discount and return it to the council — but if you study at Aberdeen University, RGU or North East Scotland College your name is checked against lists the institutions send the council, so no certificate is needed.
None if your name appears on the student lists supplied by the three local institutions; otherwise a certificate from your student records office proving your student status. International students' family members also need passports/proof of no recourse to public funds.
Only full-time students (21+ hours a week, 24+ weeks, course of at least one academic year) are disregarded, plus under-20s on qualifying non-advanced courses of 12+ hours a week, foreign language assistants and student nurses; if all but one resident is disregarded the bill is cut by 25%.
Checked 18 August 2026 against sites.aberdeencity.gov.uk. Councils change their forms and evidence rules; the council's own page is the authority when you claim.
Processes checked 19 August 2026 against each council's own pages. This is information, not advice, and the council's page is the authority when you claim.