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Get an application pack

Call the National Careers Service on 0800 100 900 to get an application pack - or if you have any questions about Professional and Career Development Loans. You can also email a National Careers Service adviser, or book a call back at a time that suits you.

• Request a call from a National Careers Services adviser Opens new window

• Email the National Careers Service Opens new window

Once you’ve completed the form, return it to the bank you’ve chosen to apply to.

Is a Professional and Career Development Loan right for you?

Before applying, it’s important to consider whether a Professional and Career Development Loan is the right option for you. Following the steps below should help you decide.

Step one: make sure you’ve looked at all your funding options

A Professional and Career Development Loan isn’t right for everyone: make sure you’ve looked at the full range of funding options.

You may be able to get financial support you don’t have to pay back, for example discretionary learner support which may be available from your college.

• Help with learning costs: an introduction

• Funding postgraduate study

Step two: are you eligible?

There are some conditions you and your course need to meet in order to be eligible. These are based on the type of course you want to do, your residency status and a few other factors. See ‘Professional and Career Development Loans: what are they?’ for details.

• Professional and Career Development Loans: what are they?

Step three: make sure the course is right for you

Since you’ll have to repay your loan even if you don’t complete your course, it’s important to make sure you’re ready to commit to it.

• Find an adult learning course

• Finding a postgraduate place

Real experiences: foundations for a new career

One graduate believes that further study has helped him develop the knowledge, skills and contacts he needs to build a successful career...

"[The course] 'hits the nail on the head' and opens up career opportunities that would otherwise have been closed"

- Sam Thomas

Step four: make sure you’ve checked out the learning provider

Ask your learning provider if they are on the Professional and Career Development Loan Register of learning providers (or willing to be registered). Learning providers should call 0845 600 7979 to find out more about registration.

But it’s important to remember that the register is there only to help with administration of the loans. Being included isn’t a guarantee of a learning provider’s quality or financial stability and not all providers will meet the requirements for registration.

If you don’t complete the course, you’ll still have to repay the loan. This applies even if you leave because you’re unhappy with the quality of the course, or the course provider goes out of business.

So before you choose a learning provider, it’s well worth asking some questions about them. These might include:

• if there are qualifications on offer, are they recognised?
• what is the learning provider’s policy on refunds (in case your circumstances change, and you need to or withdraw – temporarily or permanently)?
• is there a guaranteed level of support from tutors – and is it face-to-face, by email or by phone?
• are they willing to send you some examples of their learning materials?
• can they put you in touch with people who have completed the course?

Step five: make sure you can afford the repayments

Work out how much you’d need to borrow, and what the repayments would be once you leave your course. Make sure you’ll have enough left over from your monthly budget to make the repayments. Paying back a Professional and Career Development Loan is like repaying a commercial bank loan and repayments will start one month after your course has finished. Repayments aren’t linked to your income like with a student loan for example.

• Repaying a Professional and Career Development Loan

It’s also worth thinking about the kind of improvement to your job prospects you’d expect in order to justify the amount you want to borrow. If you need to talk through your career options, there’s plenty of advice available.

• Find careers, learning and skills advice

If you’re getting benefits

If you’re getting benefits, a Professional and Career Development Loan could change what you’re entitled to. So before you apply, get in touch with the relevant benefit office to find out how it will affect your claim.

• Jobcentre Plus

• Find your local council

When to apply

The bank will usually take between six weeks and three months to process your application – so make sure you apply well in advance.

If your application is successful, the bank will send you a credit agreement. Both you and your learning provider will need to sign this– so you’ll need to check that they’re on the Professional and Career Development Loan Register of learning providers (or willing to be registered).

If your application is turned down, you can apply to one of the other participating banks.

If you already have a Career Development Loan (CDL)

If you’ve taken out one of the Career Development Loans (CDLs) that were available up to June 2009, you can’t get a Professional and Career Development Loan for the same course.

• If you already have a Career Development Loan