About to get £55k loan and getting the heebie-jeebies...

SteveyLomas wrote: »

Grants are a route which has reached a dead-end. The only other possible source is the Bank Of Mum and Dad, which whilst is a trusty institution with friendly staff and free meals thrown in with every visit, does not have an enormous capital base.

:rotfl: That made me laugh. I agree though about the bit regarding remortgaing, it'd be a massive gamble for them

The people I know have already been pretty senior members of staff, well Directors actually, but they have definitely found it worthwhile although hard work part time obviously and takes longer. I think like you say a lot of it is to do with the actual knowledge you gain. One is now a Director but with larger company (more pay )

I've been doing a BA Hons part time (finished last month hoorah) so I have some experience of what it's like studying and working full time and it's really hard. I looked into doing a masters but gave up all hope of that for now (I'm also nearly 28 but with a have house and debts so no chance I can afford another part time course, the BA Hons was bad enough to fork out for!!)

I am worried about this flexible APR thing as I can tell you are as well. £1200 would be a hell of a lot to pay out of your wages if it did end up being that in a few years, especially as you do at some point want to be getting on the property ladder, could end up forking out £2k just on paying the loan and mortgage not to mention the other bills which is a huge sum no matter what your earnings are.

It's a shame you can't get some sort of sponsorship to help with fees but obviously you've already looked at grants etc. I really don't know what they make it so hard (impossible for most) to do this sort of qualification, you're wanting to spend this money on getting yourself a better education for your future not throwing it away so you'd think it'd be easier than this really. Aside from the loan you have had offered to you to pay this, I wonder if there are any other financial institutions that would offer any form of postgraduate loan and maybe an overdraft facility for some of the entertainment/general living? Preferably with a fixed APR.

I definitely definitely would not ask my mum & dad to risk £55K on my career development - it just doesn't seem fair to ask them to take that kind of risk.

If you are earning in the region of £50K, what is the big rush to do the course now - if you could wait for a couple of years and live on £25K, you could save up a big chunk of the money. It would be much less risk if things did go wrong, and save you thousands in interest.

Sorry to maybe be a little bit negitive. a 50k salary is around £2900 a month after tax and NI for this year before you consider pension/expenses. To commit yourself to a loan paying out roughly 33% of your projected salary seems madness.

You also have to consider where this 50K job is and what would be your living costs to live within a reasonable distance. I'd bet the rent on a 1 bed rabbit hutch in london is alot higher than a one up in the wilds of Sscotland.

Have you looked into career development loans from UK banks? The Royal Bank of Scotland do government-backed loans which are just over 6% (or they were when I did my MA a few years ago). You have to be careful though, because most UK high street banks offer something along the lines of a career development loan, but it's only the RBS and I think a few other lenders that do these government-backed ones where the interest is fixed.