What are they?

•  The Career Development Loan scheme allows you to borrow up to £8,000 towards the cost of a part-time or full-time course. This can be a way of paying for private training courses.

•  The course must be ‘vocational’, that is, it must improve your employment prospects

•  You apply to any of three banks under the scheme : Barclays; The Co-operative; or the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Who can apply?

•  You must be aged over 18

•  You must live or intend to train in Great Britain

•  You can be employed, self-employed or unemployed

Which courses qualify?

•  Courses must last no longer than two years

•  They must be ‘vocational' (see above)

•  You must not be eligible to pay for the course through some other public source, such as a government grant

•  The organization who runs the course must be registered as part of the Career Development Loan scheme. You will need to check this before applying

What costs can a loan cover?

•  Between £300 and £8,000 for the cost of course fees.

•  You can normally only claim up to 80% of the cost of course fees. However, if you   have been unemployed for 3 months or longer you may be able to borrow up to 100% of your course fees.

•  A loan can also cover expenses related to the course, such as the cost of books, materials, tools and travel expenses.

•  In some cases, people on full-time courses can borrow money towards living expenses

Repaying the loan

•  No repayments are made whilst you are studying or training and for one month afterwards

•  Repayments are then made over a period agreed with the bank (usually between 6 and 60 months) at a fixed rate of interest

•  If you are unemployed and claiming benefits (or employed and claiming certain benefits) you can apply to the bank to postpone the start of repayments.

How to apply

•  Apply well in advance of your course starting as you may have to wait about a month before getting an answer from the bank

•  To get an application pack phone 0800 585 505 (8am to 10pm seven days a week)

•  If you think your credit history may be a problem, contact the bank before applying

•  Complete the application form and return it to the bank. You may need to send supporting documents such as bank statements or a bill to prove your address

•  The bank will consider whether you will be able to repay the loan once you have finished your course. They will then contact you to let you know if you have been successful

What are my chances of success?

•  If, as is likely, you are currently unemployed and on benefits, then it may be hard to get a Career Development Loan.

•  The key will be whether the bank thinks you will be in a position to repay after you finish the course. You therefore need to put a convincing case that the course is very likely to lead to employment soon after you course ends.

•  If you can get a grant (non-repayable) through Crisis Changing Lives or another homeless organization, then that is obviously preferable.

Further Information

Go to www.direct.gov.uk