Message: Am I exempt from child maintenance payments to the child support agency as an EPSRC funded PhD student in the UK? I am a non-resident parent of a child from a previous relationship.

You may have already contacted the CSA regarding this issue but in case you haven't, their national helpline number is 08457 133 133 or you can e-mail your query to them via the following webpage; https://secureonline.dwp.gov.uk/csa-contact/contactus.asp

There is some potentially helpful info on this page http://www.csa.gov.uk/newcsaweb/calculate.asp e.g. it says that some "non-resident parents do not have to pay maintenance. These include students in full-time education (full-time means a course at a recognised school or college where there is at least 12 hours a week tuition).” However, could be a grey area as PhD students don't generally receive that much actual tuition...best to contact CSA directly I think.