Going onto a postgrad course - read this!

djohnsonhk

I'm a postgraduate student and only just now realised that postgrads might still be entitled to keep your student account!

I'm with HSBC and went into postgrad education straight after I finished my undergraduate degree. Not one member of staff mentioned to me about their postgraduate services. Even the times I went in to explain why I wanted to keep my overdraft limit up (where I explained I was still a student doing a PhD) no one mentioned it.

Now 3 years down the line and only just having discovered that I could have been entitled to £1750 of interest free overdraft, I am now not eligible to get my student account back as there is a limit of 3 years after graduating on this service. I well peeved as I've had a graduate account the whole time.

Anyhow if you are a postgrad or thinking of going back to Uni after just having graduated etc. check with your bank if they will let you keep your student status after you graduate - they sure as hell won't tell you themselves.

elisebutt65

Yeah - I checked with Abbey yesterday - I'm starting 3rd year in October and wanted to check that I can keep my account for when I do my PGCE year after and they just said to tell them when I stop being a student - LOL

lillydrip

If you are going to get the postgraduate accounts, it's worthwhile waiting till the start of the academic year as they do promotional offers like £50 in your account, or 10 free CD's etc.

djohnsonhk

But not all postgrads start at the same times as the undergradiate academic year. Would those benefits also still hold true if you've already had a students account as an undergraduate?

Gem_

Most offers only apply to undergraduates - bad luck for us oldies! I found when I became as postgrad that keeping up my old undergrad student accounts would be better than any other accounts on offer. Both barclays and natwest allow you to keep using your undergrad accounts with the same interest free overdraft limits until you stop being a student. At which point you get 3 years graduated reduction of the free overdraft bit down to a charged for one.

Sneeky things banks. I once found natwest had put a time limit on my overdraft to run out after a year - because I was apparently supposed to confirm that I still wanted a higher amount than they usually offer. However instead of cancelling the higher bit they stopped the whole lot and started , charging me 8% on £2000! That gave me a small heart attack until they fixed it.

G

lillydrip

I got my CD offer with HSBC for transferring my current account to a postgraduate account, that was in October last year.

djohnsonhk

Anyhow, I know it was probably my own responsibility to find out about the postgrad service, but does anyone think it would be worth complaining to my bank manager about not being given any information about it despite the fact they knew I was a postgrad student? I can't help but feel like I've been ripped off.

KtheK

djohnsonhk - theres no harm in complaining im sure, it's kind of their fault for not making you aware of what you could have been intitled to, if they had made you aware of it you would have gone for it - so its kinda their fault.
go for it!!

im currently finishing my degree and am taking a year out before i go on to a post grad course - do you think i'd get a student account back after a year out??

greyster

Some banks will let you have a student status as a postgrad - treated as final year student in terms of overdraft given.
Some only will if you had your undergrad with them
Some dont acknowledge postgrads as students

Things to look out for is ... your overdraft still goes flying down 12 months after graduation (i.e. 2k to 1k) and .... none of the banks seem to acknowledge the "later" graduation dates for postgrads. Therefore the Jun/July dates apply when they lessen your o/d. I heard recently however Barclays didn't get round to downgrading o/ds their accounts to August time last year.

I opened two further students accounts when I started my MSc, so I could max the overdrafts at 0% rather than take out a loan. I have four in total although one has never been used.

djohnsonhk

KtheK wrote:

djohnsonhk - theres no harm in complaining im sure, it's kind of their fault for not making you aware of what you could have been intitled to, if they had made you aware of it you would have gone for it - so its kinda their fault.
go for it!!

im currently finishing my degree and am taking a year out before i go on to a post grad course - do you think i'd get a student account back after a year out??

Yeah I think I might just do that then...

The student account as a postgrad depends on the bank I think. I'm pretty sure the HSBC one doesn't require you to have previously having an account with them (there's nothing about restrictions on their website).

Joey_3

According to the advisors at HSBC (who I had a student account with and am now one year into their Graduate account and am now returning to study in September), you can only have a maximum of 4 years under student status with them. If you completed a 3 year course and have a 1 year postgraduate course then this is fine, and yes you can take a year out on Graduate first as this is what I have been offered.

If however you have already used 4 years then you cannot get anymore, and you cannot open another student account with them (the first advisor I spoke to told me that I could however the next said I couldn't).

If your postgraduate course is longer than that (mine is), then you can only have the student account until your 4 years are up, when I presume it goes back to Graduate status.