The Parent Student

Career Development Loans are bank loans with a slight twist – you don’t have to start paying them back immediately. You may be able to borrow £300 to £8,000 to pay for a course lasting up to two years, or three years if it includes a year of approved work experience, and your repayments won’t begin until a month after the course ends. 

The Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and The Co-operative Bank all offer Career Development Loans. While you are studying, the interest on your loan is paid by the government’s Learning and Skills Council (LSC), so by the time you begin to make repayments your loan will have decreased in real terms. The loan is then repayed at a fixed rate of interest according to your agreement with the bank.

More information can be found on the directgov website and from the Learning and Skills Council.