What is a Professional and Career Development Loan?
Professional and Career Development Loans are bank loans to help you pay for courses and training that will advance your career or help you get into work.
You can borrow between £300 and £10,000 towards fees and other expenses – up to 80 per cent of your course fees, expenses (including childcare) and living costs if you’re taking a full-time course. If you've been unemployed for at least three months before you apply, you can borrow 100 per cent of your course fees.
The government pays your interest on the loan for two years while you take your course (or three years if your course includes a year of work experience), and for one month after you finish or leave. After that you must pay back the amount you borrowed plus interest to the bank. You agree with them how long you’ll take to pay back the loan.
The interest you’re charged will vary, but at the moment it’s about 9.9 per cent a year. Check the rate with the bank when you apply.
Professional and Career Development Loans are only available from Barclays and the Co-operative banks at the moment.
Can I get a Professional and Career Development Loan?
In order to get a Professional and Career Development Loan you must be at least 18 years old, have been living in the UK for at least three years before your course starts, and plan to work in the UK, European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA) after you finish the course.
You must take a vocational course that’s provided by an organisation on the Professional Career and Development Loan Register. The course must provide skills to help you get a new job or get ahead in your current one (eg NVQs, Open University degrees or postgraduate courses). You can study full- or part-time, and through distance learning for up to two years (or three years if your course includes a year of work experience).
You can’t get a Professional and Career Development Loan to study for your first full-time undergraduate degree.
Unlike student loans, if you have a poor credit rating the bank may decide not to lend you the money.
If you're eligible for a normal student loan (eg from Student Finance England) or an employer training award, you can't get a Professional and Career Development Loan.
What else do I need to know?
Here are some points to bear in mind:
- If you get a Professional and Career Development Loan, it may affect the benefits you’re entitled to, so check with your benefits office before you apply.
- You must repay your loan even if you don’t complete your course or the course provider goes out of business.
- If you’re registered as unemployed at the end of the first month after completing your course, you can ask the bank to let you defer repayments for up to five months, and after that you can ask for two further extensions of six months each. But remember that you continue to accrue interest on the loan all the time.
- Banks other than Barclays and the Co-operative may offer career development or student loans similar to Professional and Career Development Loans, but with these you’re charged interest while you study, even if you don’t have to pay it until you’ve finished your course, and the government doesn’t pay that interest for you.
Where can I find more information?
For more information, including details of how to apply, see Professional and Career Development Loans.
For more information about the standard packages of student funding that are available from the government, see:
This information was updated in March 2013. NUS provides this information in good faith and has taken care to make sure it’s accurate. However, student finance issues can be complicated, and rules change frequently. You should contact the advice centre in your students' union, college or university for support if you’re uncertain or need more help.