Career Development Loan - any suggestions?

emmasmith7171

I'd like to hear opinions/experiences with the Career Development Loan taken to fund a postgrad course.

I'm now entering my 4th and last year of my undergrad degree (in Scotland) and I will be able to save up about £2000-3000. I would prefer to go straight and do a postgraduate degree without taking a gap year.
I have looked into funding opportunities and I will be applying for research funding, scholarships etc. However, if I'm unlucky, I'm considering taking out the CDL. I know Co-op and Barclays offer it. It doesn't actually sound too bad. The payments are high but they seem to be manageable. I'm considering the possibility of a gap year, but I would really like to hear what do people think about the CDL and whether anyone here has taken it out and their experiences with it.

Thank you!

jonesMUFCforever

What happens if you don't get a well paid job or a job at all?
The loan company will want its money come what may - something to think about IMO.

tiger_eyes

I'm reasonably satisfied with my CDL, which I'm aiming to settle early, but I'm glad I foresaw that it could take a few months to find work after graduating. It is of course a bank loan, so unlike government undergraduate funding, you have to repay it even if you have no income. I opted for the maximum possible loan term and lowest possible repayments so that I could cover the repayments from savings if necessary. I've heard it's possible to request a short break from payments if you're in receipt of unemployment benefit, but didn't put this to the test. Just a few thoughts.

ch3101

What kind of post grad degree are you doing?

Get a part time job. Volunteer to be a tutor in tutorial sessions for under graduates doing the degree you have, £25 an hour?

I'd advise against taking finance for it anyway unless it is absolutely neccessary that you do this course ... law diploma etc

emmasmith7171

tiger_eyes wrote: »

I'm reasonably satisfied with my CDL, which I'm aiming to settle early, but I'm glad I foresaw that it could take a few months to find work after graduating. It is of course a bank loan, so unlike government undergraduate funding, you have to repay it even if you have no income. I opted for the maximum possible loan term and lowest possible repayments so that I could cover the repayments from savings if necessary. I've heard it's possible to request a short break from payments if you're in receipt of unemployment benefit, but didn't put this to the test. Just a few thoughts.

So you made sure you had savings after graduating to last you until you could find a job? How much if I may ask? My plan is to continue to a PhD but if I cannot secure funding for that, I would be looking for a job after my postgrad.

Thanks everyone for the useful answers! as i said, I'm not entirely sure about this and I am looking at other options like taking a gap year and saving up but I want to know what's out there.

boltneck123

I will be starting my Post Grad next September. I have opted to go part time so I can still work more or less full time to cover my living expenses. I will take the maximum loan I can and after the tuition is paid, take what is left and put it in a high interest account out of the way, only dipping into it when desperate. I plan to work even more during the summer after my first year and put back anything I used or save it. Then at the end of my course use it to start paying back my loan while I look for a new job.

I finished Uni a year ago and have worked full time since, getting money together to pay down debt and to save for a house, I have managed to find a job that will let me work 8 days a month in 2 X 4 day blocks (over weekends Fri - Mon) when next September comes around.

Of course I am going to try and save also from now and until then, even if it is only a small amount. I cannot avoid using the loan to pay for tuition for that I have no choice. But I think taking the part time option allows me more time to financially plan how I will pay it back etc etc.

Taking some time off is not such a bad thing, I have enjoyed working without constant pending deadlines and the free time has allowed me to do casual reading into topics of interest related to my Undergrad Degree; now all relaxed and with work experience behind me, I am very excited about starting my studies next year. When I finished my Under Grad I could not bare the thought of another dissertation so soon.

lushlifesaver

emmasmith7171 wrote: »

I'd like to hear opinions/experiences with the Career Development Loan taken to fund a postgrad course.

I'm now entering my 4th and last year of my undergrad degree (in Scotland) and I will be able to save up about £2000-3000. I would prefer to go straight and do a postgraduate degree without taking a gap year.
I have looked into funding opportunities and I will be applying for research funding, scholarships etc. However, if I'm unlucky, I'm considering taking out the CDL. I know Co-op and Barclays offer it. It doesn't actually sound too bad. The payments are high but they seem to be manageable. I'm considering the possibility of a gap year, but I would really like to hear what do people think about the CDL and whether anyone here has taken it out and their experiences with it.

Thank you!

Hi there,

I went straight from my 3yr undergrad into a 1yr (full time) postgrad.
I did work during my summers and weekends, and evenings etc but due to circumstances and the cost of living I didn't get any money saved in the 2 years I lived outside of my parents home and in my final year I commuted - I could probably have saved some but I didn't.
My 'full time' course was one day in uni and a couple of days worth of study then a research project. And I worked 16hrs a week paid for the first few months (after which I left but again, different story!). My money was eaten up by commuting!

The repayments are straight forward. I took just shy of £9,500 and repay £183 per month (I rounded it up on my standing order). I'm not on a stellar salary, not even making student loans contributions yet, but it's fine. Not saying I wouldn't love the extra money to be in my account each month but it's still perfectly manageable (although I share rent with my bf who pays a little more than me but that's because of how we divide up home costs - e.g I pay all the council tax etc).

The only thing I'd say is, if you go with Barclays (as I did) do it early! As early as they'll let you as they can be awkward. Originally they didn't want to give me mine as my credit rating was 'too good' :rotfl:so I had to send in a formal written protest.

I will soon be bumping my repayments up to £200 per month and plan to knock chunks off periodically too.

The one thing is, if you want to settle the full amount do it as close to, or on, a scheduled payment date. Otherwise they charge you interest according to how many days it is until then. So if you pay on the 29th and your payment was scheduled for the 30th you'll pay 1 days interest (essentially a settlement fee), if you pay it off on the 30th you won't pay any extra, and if you pay it off on the 1st you'll pay an additional 29 days interest. So make sure you know when the payment is due.

Hoping mine will be gone in 2.5ish years rather than the 4yrs 4months left on it. Doing that by using parts of pay awards, extra savings etc though (not just chucking the extra £100 per month that would be those savings at it as I need to use some as a little buffer!)

Probably no help but...yeah

boltneck123

Hi lushlifesaver,

Although I am not the OP, that information you shared is very helpful, has given me some things to consider.

Thanks for sharing .

tiger_eyes

emmasmith7171 wrote: »

So you made sure you had savings after graduating to last you until you could find a job? How much if I may ask? My plan is to continue to a PhD but if I cannot secure funding for that, I would be looking for a job after my postgrad.

I'm the worrying type, so I wanted to have a plan for what would happen if I couldn't find a job. I knew I could move back in with my family rent-free if needed, and even though I had to take out the maximum loan, if I set the repayment term to five years, the repayments were just about affordable. I still had about £2000 in the tank when I finished my postgraduate degree. I did consider asking about that one-off repayment holiday, but being the worrying type, I wanted to save that option for a time when I really needed it.

If you don't have the option of moving back in with your family in an emergency, I'd be thinking hard about how you'd manage if unemployed. Try a sample budget to figure out whether you could cover living expenses and loan repayments from benefits and savings. Ideally you'd want to be prepared for at least a few months' unemployment.

My postgraduate degree was great fun and helped me set up a business and I'm about to pay off my five-year CDL after only two years, so it worked out well for me. But there was an alarming gap of about six months between repayments starting and my business taking off.

Idiophreak

I had a CDL when I did my masters, didn't have any issues with it. Paid it off in 3 years at £270/month or something then it was done.

That said, I got a job at my first interview after my exams finished...not sure how it would have gone otherwise.

Be aware that they may expect you to justify how the course is going to enhance your employability / earning potential...Shouldn't me an issue, but good to have answers in mind.

r0bb1e78

I enjoyed studying a Master's degree back in 2011 which I wouldn't have had the opportunity to do without a CDL. However, I am now worse off financially because the repayments are high and I was unable to find a permanent job in the field I studied. My salary remains as low as it was before I did my MA and now I have to pay the CDL every month with interest! I can't wait for it to be over.
It is a shame that the UK economy is still quite rubbish and most of my fellow classmates have not found any jobs related to the course. I have been lucky enough to find some temporary contracts to keep my up float but the pressure of having to make the repayments is hard.

Although the graduate jobs situation might vary depending on the profession / field of study, I would advice anyone to think twice before getting into a CDL as it is an irreversible commitment.