You already know that the United Kingdom is an expensive country. The cost of expenses in the United Kingdom is very high, including the expenses of tuition fees and living. Any international student can hardly manage all the expenses in the United States of America. As the universities of the United States of America charge high fees from their students, and all the expenses, including living, food, etc., are also there to be managed by a student. Those students who want to go for quality education in the United Kingdom then they are most welcome there if they can manage the cost of the fees charged by the universities.
How to Apply for a Student Loan for higher studies in the United Kingdom?
Some of the finest universities of the world in the United Kingdom are offering courses like engineering, science, art and design, business and administration, law and finance. Most international students now prefer to get their higher education from the top colleges of the United Kingdom in order to avail the best of educational opportunities, career opportunities and exposure. But the high fees of colleges overseas make it difficult and unaffordable for students to pursue their higher education in such colleges.
In that case, students are self-forced to take out study loans for financial aid. Many banks both public and private like SBI, Axis Bank etc. and NBFCs like Avanse, Incred etc. offer various study loan schemes for higher studies in the United Kingdom.
Applying for a student loan for higher studies in the United Kingdom in 3 simple steps:
- Application for education loan: A student can apply to any of the banks and NBFCs considering their requirements (loan amount, secured or unsecured loan, etc.) just by filling out a detailed application form and supporting it with the validated KYC documents of them, admission letter from the University and collateral which is mandatory in the case of a study loan for higher studies in the United Kingdom’s colleges.
- NBFCs Bank review your application:
After a student has submitted all the documents, the Bank reviews the application of the borrower credit history of the co-applicant. Verification and value of the collateral and student’s background (academic and financial). Based on this data, the Bank then decides whether to approve or reject the study loan application. In cases where parents of the students have a negative credit history, banks insist on having joint borrowers with clear credit history. In that case, the request for a study loan for higher studies in the United Kingdom gets approved, and then the Bank will decide on the interest rate, which is negotiable depending on the course and the college selected by the student.
The loan interest rate for the tier 1 and tier 2 colleges offered by banks is lower than the interest rate offered for the rest of the colleges. The interest rate on study loans offered by banks and NBFCs also greatly varies. The interest rate of private banks and NBFCs (10-15%) is always slightly higher than that of public banks (9.3-11.76 %).
- Disbursal of the loan:
Steps that need to be followed to disburse the study loan for studying in the United Kingdom are as follows–
- The borrower shares the admission letter and fee details of the college with the Bank.
- Then banks do the verification of the information and calculate the amount required at the time of admission and throughout the course in the college of the United Kingdom.
- Now, the borrower has to share the requirement of detailed money with the Bank, and then the Bank will shift the amount to your account or will directly disburse it to the connected account of the college/institute after all the formalities and negotiations.
- It’s better to check earlier all the currency conversion charges with the Bank. As some banks and NBFCs may also charge remittance (currency conversion charges).
- There are some NBFCs, such as Avanse, which cover all college tuition fees without leaving any margin money on the table. Whereas public and private banks leave margin money of 16-20%, which has to be funded by the borrower himself to those banks.
- The letters of loan approval from nationalized or private banks can be submitted to the Embassy or High Commission for the purpose of demonstrating/proving your funding, but letters of loan approval from NBFCs like Avanse or Credila are not accepted for student visa applications. In that case, it is better to take the whole amount of the loan at once and keep all the lent money in your bank account. As it’s very important to apply for a student visa in case the student has to stay there to study for more than six months under tier 4 of the point-based system.
Eligibility Criteria for Getting Student Loan
- You need to have a good Academic profile with fewer Backlogs / No academic gap.
- You need to have a CIBIL score (must be above 700)
- Your Parent’s Annual Income must be more than five lakhs.
- If you have all the validated documents required by banks and if you fit into the eligibility criteria set by the banks, then you can easily apply for and get the study loan based on the kind of Bank you opt for and the amount required by the colleges.
Top universities of the United Kingdom
Selecting the right college for your career is truly important as it decides the path of your career, which will make you eligible for getting a good job with a good salary. Every year many students move to the United Kingdom from their hometowns to get admission into the best universities.
- University of Oxford
- University of Cambridge
- Imperial College London
- University College London
- University of Edinburgh
- University of Manchester
- King’s College London
- London School of Economics and Political Science
- University of Bristol
- University of Warwick
Conclusion:-
The procedure of student loan approval isn’t as simple as it appears because you have to face many hassles during the process of student loans. But if you want to secure your career and are highly interested in studying in the United Kingdom colleges. But your pockets can’t afford the cost of fees required by the colleges. Then you must apply for a student loan for higher studies in the United Kingdom.