Career Development Loans

A Career Development Loan (CDL) is a bank loan designed to help students pay for work-related learning that will enable them to gain the experience, training and qualifications they need to improve their job skills or even launch a new career. They are available through an arrangement between the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and three high street banks: Barclays, The Co-operative Bank and The Royal Bank of Scotland.

CDLs may be used to fund a variety of vocational courses to help pay for course fees, travel expenses, books, equipment, tools, childcare and living expenses. Students may borrow anything between £300 and £8,000, which does not need to be paid back until at least one month after the course is complete.

Loan Details

Students may borrow between £300 and £8,000 to help fund up to two years of learning. This may be increased to three years if the course includes one year of relevant practical work experience. The Learning and Skills Council pays the interest on the loan whilst the student is still learning, and for up to one month after they complete the course. They must then repay the loan to the bank over an agreed period at a fixed rate of interest. It is important that students are confident that they will be able to make the agreed monthly repayments before taking out the loan.

If a student fails to complete their course (for whatever reason), they must still repay the full loan amount back to the bank.

Eligible Courses

A CDL may be used to pay for a range of full-time, part-time or distance learning vocational courses, from NVQs to postgraduate qualifications. A course does not necessarily have to lead to a qualification to be funded by a CDL.

However, some courses may have some restrictions for CDL funding or may not be eligible at all.

1. Foundation Courses

Although a stand-alone foundation course that leads to employment is eligible for a CDL, a foundation course used as the first step towards a degree course is not.

2. Careers Counselling Courses

Although a CDL can be used to fund a course leading to a professional qualification in career guidance, it may not be used to fund any course that solely provides the student with careers advice or information. This includes CV writing, job-hunting, careers counselling and careers progression courses.