Definition
Assessment period
Reviewed by BenefitCheck Editorial Team · Updated 18 June 2026
The one-month window Universal Credit uses to measure your income, savings and circumstances before paying you.
In plain English
An assessment period is the calendar-style month Universal Credit uses to work out how much to pay you. It starts on the day your claim begins and runs for one month, then repeats. Everything that happens inside that month — pay landing, savings rising, hours changing, a child being born — affects the payment seven days after the assessment period ends.
Why it matters
Timing is everything in UC. Money received on the last day of an assessment period is treated very differently from money received on the first day of the next one. A redundancy payment that arrives one day either side of the boundary can completely change a month's award. Knowing your assessment period dates is how you regain control of the timing.
Example
Your claim starts on the 6th of March. Your assessment period is the 6th of each month to the 5th of the next. If your final salary lands on the 4th of April, it counts in the March–April assessment period. If it lands on the 6th of April, it counts in the next one.
What people often confuse it with
Pay period at your old job
Your employer's pay date does not change your UC assessment period. UC fixes the date on day one of your claim.
Tax year
Assessment periods do not align with the April-to-April tax year — they are personal to your claim.
Related definitions
Tariff income
An assumed monthly income Universal Credit adds for every £250 of savings you hold between £6,000 and £16,000.
Work allowance
The amount you can earn each month before Universal Credit starts being reduced — but only if you have children or limited capability for work.
Joint claim
A single Universal Credit claim made together by a couple who live in the same household.
Run-on
A two-week continuation of legacy benefits (Housing Benefit, JSA, ESA, Income Support) after you first claim Universal Credit.