The Student Room Group

Can you get a loan at 17 for educational purposes?

This may sound unorthadox but is it possible to get a loan at the age of 17 for educational purposes? I'm considering self teaching and doing exams in 3 a levels but I'm worried my parents may reject the idea and force me to continue attending college due to finacial reasons. And if so, I was thinking of getting a job and paying back the loan during a gap year next year.
Original post by onequestion805
This may sound unorthadox but is it possible to get a loan at the age of 17 for educational purposes? I'm considering self teaching and doing exams in 3 a levels but I'm worried my parents may reject the idea and force me to continue attending college due to finacial reasons. And if so, I was thinking of getting a job and paying back the loan during a gap year next year.


To the best of my knowledge there are no government provided loans/funding for this purpose.
Funding for 16-19 is targeted to help them stay in education
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-education-financial-support-for-students

Advanced learner loans don’t cut in until 19.

I doubt a commercial lender would be at all interested due to age, lack of income and lack of security. I imagine your parents could borrow on your behalf but they would carry the responsibility of repayment if you couldn’t.
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 2
Original post by onequestion805
This may sound unorthadox but is it possible to get a loan at the age of 17 for educational purposes? I'm considering self teaching and doing exams in 3 a levels but I'm worried my parents may reject the idea and force me to continue attending college due to finacial reasons. And if so, I was thinking of getting a job and paying back the loan during a gap year next year.
*unorthodox

Why don't you just go to college? Self study is all well and good, but it sounds like you just want to make a point.
Original post by Tootles
*unorthodox

Why don't you just go to college? Self study is all well and good, but it sounds like you just want to make a point.

What makes you think that? I clearly avoided mentioning that as it was irrelevant to what I was asking. I have my own personal reasons as to why I would prefer to self teach. Apart from proofreading this reply, do you have any other valuable feedback?
Original post by gdunne42
To the best of my knowledge there are no government provided loans/funding for this purpose.
Funding for 16-19 is targeted to help them stay in education
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-education-financial-support-for-students

Advanced learner loans don’t cut in until 19.

I doubt a commercial lender would be at all interested due to age, lack of income and lack of security. I imagine your parents could borrow on your behalf but they would carry the responsibility of repayment if you couldn’t.

I guess I'll see whether my parents are willing to borrow on my behalf. V helpful, thank you.
Reply 5
Original post by onequestion805
What makes you think that? I clearly avoided mentioning that as it was irrelevant to what I was asking. I have my own personal reasons as to why I would prefer to self teach. Apart from proofreading this reply, do you have any other valuable feedback?
"Valuable feedback"? C'mon, kid, you're talking about refusing to matriculate with other people your own level. What reason do you have for that? Do you think yourself above them, or something?
Original post by Tootles
"Valuable feedback"? C'mon, kid, you're talking about refusing to matriculate with other people your own level. What reason do you have for that? Do you think yourself above them, or something?

Not at all. At what point did I say that? I literally haven't given any justification as to why I'd prefer not to attend college. You clearly haven't considered all the possible circumstances. If you haven't got any information regarding the initial question, go make yourself useful in an alternative thread.
why not just go to college during the day, and self-study after school and at weekends.

Try your best to avoid loans - they are tempting, but over the course eof your life, they are best avoided if you want to be financially sound.

Some you can't avoid, but any loan that you can avoid - do.
Reply 8
Original post by onequestion805
Not at all. At what point did I say that? I literally haven't given any justification as to why I'd prefer not to attend college. You clearly haven't considered all the possible circumstances. If you haven't got any information regarding the initial question, go make yourself useful in an alternative thread.
Wow. Such burn. Very pain.
Original post by onequestion805
This may sound unorthadox but is it possible to get a loan at the age of 17 for educational purposes? I'm considering self teaching and doing exams in 3 a levels but I'm worried my parents may reject the idea and force me to continue attending college due to finacial reasons. And if so, I was thinking of getting a job and paying back the loan during a gap year next year.


You cannot sign a credit agreement at 17 and thus cannot access commercial credit. There are no government loans as far as I am aware apart from advanced learner loans, which could only be accessed if you were on a recognised course of study provided by a college etc. What do you need the loan for - A level examination entry fees?
Original post by Reality Check
You cannot sign a credit agreement at 17 and thus cannot access commercial credit. There are no government loans as far as I am aware apart from advanced learner loans, which could only be accessed if you were on a recognised course of study provided by a college etc. What do you need the loan for - A level examination entry fees?

Yes. I was considering self teaching and entering as a private candidate, but I'm concerned that my parents may reject the idea due to how expensive the exam fees are. Someone suggested that my parents could borrow a loan on my behalf to pay for these. I plan to take a gap year, in which I could work and pay back the loan. Do you think this would be a good idea?
Original post by Tootles
Wow. Such burn. Very pain.

Weird.
Original post by onequestion805
Yes. I was considering self teaching and entering as a private candidate, but I'm concerned that my parents may reject the idea due to how expensive the exam fees are. Someone suggested that my parents could borrow a loan on my behalf to pay for these. I plan to take a gap year, in which I could work and pay back the loan. Do you think this would be a good idea?


Hmmm....

If you're just thinking about studying them entirely on your own, and the only fees will be exam fees, then it's going to be about £700 (I'm basing this on an exam entry for sciences). In other words, you're not thinking about tuition fees in the form of a private tutor or anything. This isn't a huge amount of money, and I think it would be reasonable to approach your parents to fund this once you've shown that you're serious about it. That way, you're presenting a much more credible 'business plan' to your parents, and they won't feel like they're funding a bit of a gamble.

I don't know your financial situation, and it would be impolite to ask. However, I suspect that your parents would just fund this themselves and maybe ask you to repay them with a nominal interest rate rather than taking on commercial debt themselves. Your plan to repay during a gap year sounds sensible and credible to me, and further strengthens your case.

Does that sound like a plan?
Original post by Reality Check
Hmmm....

If you're just thinking about studying them entirely on your own, and the only fees will be exam fees, then it's going to be about £700 (I'm basing this on an exam entry for sciences). In other words, you're not thinking about tuition fees in the form of a private tutor or anything. This isn't a huge amount of money, and I think it would be reasonable to approach your parents to fund this once you've shown that you're serious about it. That way, you're presenting a much more credible 'business plan' to your parents, and they won't feel like they're funding a bit of a gamble.

I don't know your financial situation, and it would be impolite to ask. However, I suspect that your parents would just fund this themselves and maybe ask you to repay them with a nominal interest rate rather than taking on commercial debt themselves. Your plan to repay during a gap year sounds sensible and credible to me, and further strengthens your case.

Does that sound like a plan?

Yes, that sounds like a good idea. Thank you very much.
Original post by onequestion805
Yes, that sounds like a good idea. Thank you very much.


You're welcome. :smile:

Quick Reply

Latest