Good student accounts in the UK (with the best student loans)

bplalor2004 · 11-09-2008 10:29am #1

Hey I'm gonna be moving over to England soon to start a Masters course. I'm looking for a bank that offers the best student loan conditions.
I'm a bit stuck in a rut financially. Its easy to jump on the bandwagon and blame Bank of Ireland but I must accept responsibility for allowing myself to be easily persuaded to commit to long-term savings plans. Theoretically I would have enough money to fund an entire year of college. But that would involve me having to stop payments into and cashing in my Smart Choice savings plan which is three years old and requires at least another four to mature. Would it be wise to suspend my PRSA pension plan and life assurance plan for one year? If I could do that then I may not require a loan. But if anyone can suggest the best British student bank I would be grateful.

pow wow · 13-09-2008 9:21am

I don't know if Masters' students can have them but HBOS and Natwest were the best as regards overdrafts etc. when I was taking out my accounts. A graduate account may be more beneficial though and offer the option for career development loans.

Re the savings plans and pension arrangements - are there penalties other than loss of future interest for cashing in the savings plan? Dependant on age I'd be reluctant to suspend pension arrangements if you have money sitting in a savings account, but that's something you need to weigh up personally.

bplalor2004 · 13-09-2008 6:12pm

For the savings plan, I would be charged a small admin fee as well as losing the interest. For the pension and income protection plan, not so sure. I am 27 and the pension has been going for three years. A fixed amount per month is paid and last year, I decreased the payment by half. The income protection plan has been only going for six months

Good student accounts in the UK (with the best student loans)

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