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Professional and Career Development Loans

A Professional and Career Development Loan (PCDL) could help you pay for learning that enhances your job skills or career prospects. It’s a commercial bank loan, so you will have to pay it back once you have left your course. However, you don’t pay interest for the period when you’re learning - the government pays this, and for one more month after you complete the course. You may be able to borrow between £300 and £10,000.

Are you eligible?

To qualify for a PCDL you must:

• be aged 18 or over
• have been living in the UK for at least three years before your course starts
• plan to work in the UK, European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA) after the course.

Which courses can you do?

Your course must:

• only last up to two years, or three years if it includes one year of work experience
• be provided by an organisation on the PCDL Register – check with your course provider
• help with your career – but your course doesn’t have to lead to a qualification.

It’s very important your course is registered because you’ll need the course name and provider registration number when you fill in the loan pack. If the course isn’t registered, the action you need to take will depend on who is running the course:

Public provider

Complete the loan application pack and the bank will verify that the course is suitable, and arrange for the course to be added to the register.

Private or international provider

Ask the course provider if they will register the course with the Skills Funding Agency.

A Professional and Career Development Loan might not be right for everyone - make sure you have looked at the full range of funding options. For instance, you may be able to get financial support that you won’t have to repay - for example, Discretionary Learner Support (which may be available from your college).

Ordering a PCDL application pack

You can order a PCDL application pack by contacting one of our advisers.

If you choose to call (Tel: 0800 100 900) our advisers will check that you and your intended course are eligible, and will then take the details they need to get a pack sent out to you.

If you choose to email please make sure you include your full name and address, your age and confirm that you meet the residency requirements stated above. Please also include the full name of the course, the qualification type and the course provider, so we can check it is an eligible course before we send you an application pack.

You can read more about Professional and Career Development Loans on the GOV.UK website.