THOUSANDS of full-time students have failed in a bid to receive housing benefit following a decision by the Housing Benefit Review Board. More than 3,000 students swamped Oxford City Council with benefit claims after Appeal Court judges ruled that Anthony Webber, a student at Oxford Brookes University, was entitled to income support. The council turned down the claims but 240 students appealed against the decision. In a ruling made last week on a sample case, the review board rejected "the contention that taking a degree through a modular programme necessarily rules out the pursuit of a full-time course of study".