| Britons looking to take out a loan for the purpose of | | | | government website, with the Royal Bank of Scotland |
| career development will find themselves judged in the | | | | (RBS) and Barclays also providing these specialist |
| same way as applying for a personal loan at a bank, a | | | | credit options. Such loans range anywhere from |
| spokesperson for the Co-operative Bank has said. | | | | £300 to £8,000 and cover a maximum of |
| Career development loans can be used to help people | | | | three years of learning. |
| acquire new job skills, training, qualifications or | | | | Also highlighted by Mr Hammerton was that a career |
| experience integral to them getting a new job or even | | | | development loan was not the route to take for |
| launching a new career, according to the Directgov | | | | consumers looking for the cheapest loans on the |
| website, yet Andy Hammerton from Co-operative | | | | market, with personal loans providing a much more |
| Bank has ruled out any suspicion that it is easier to get | | | | likely route to cheap credit for British borrowers. He |
| a career development loan than a personal loan when | | | | said that due to the personal loans sector being "a |
| it comes down to the matter of credit history. | | | | very competitive market at the moment", there were |
| "If they [an applicant] had a very, very poor credit | | | | "cheaper" loans available than the career |
| history then we wouldn't accept them just because it's | | | | development-specific ones. |
| a career development loan, they still have to be credit | | | | However, if competition is the driving force behind loan |
| scored. We have to be a responsible lender," Mr | | | | costs, it is unlikely that the cost of career development |
| Hammerton said. "A credit score in the past is usually a | | | | loans is going to fall in the near future. As the |
| good indication of what's going to happen in the future, | | | | spokesperson noted, there are only three "players" in |
| so if somebody's been a poor credit risk previously, | | | | the market, with RBS, Barclays and the Co-operative |
| just because they're taking a course doesn't | | | | Bank having not been joined by any newer entrants. |
| necessarily mean they're going to be a sound credit | | | | "There's nowhere near the competition that you see in |
| risk in the future. They need to have a reasonable | | | | the [personal] loan market," Mr Hammerton added, |
| credit record." | | | | although he did suggest that loans could be found "for |
| The Co-operative Bank is just one of the lenders | | | | six per cent, seven per cent" if you were looking to |
| offering career development loans, according to the | | | | pay the loan back quickly. |