We've had a customer-led Ethical Policy for over 25 years and we put our customers at the heart of everything we do. That's why we designed our Student Account to help you get the most out of student life and you can apply as soon as you have your confirmed place on a full time course.
You can apply as soon as you are 18 and you have a confirmed place on a full time course. We accept students with a place on any of the following:
We do not accept Open University courses or apprenticeships
You can only have one student account at one time. If you have a student account with another bank, you will need to switch to us. You can do this by calling us on 03457 212 212 or visiting us in a branch, once your account is open.
More about switching your account
You must pay your student loan or other funding into your student account. If you don’t, we might convert your account to a standard current account and you could lose your student overdraft.
Your student account has an interest-free overdraft that can be increased each year you’re studying:
There is no monthly fee. You'll only be charged debit interest if you go over your agreed interest-free overdraft limit.
You will need to contact us to request an increase to your overdraft limit. Your overdraft limit will not automatically increase in your 2nd, 3rd, or further years of study. Approval will depend on an assessment of account conduct and a review of regular funding. You'll be charged debit interest if you go into an unarranged overdraft.
You will need to pay in at least £300 within 28 days after your account has been opened to activate it. The funds must remain in your account for 48 hours, after which your overdraft will be applied automatically. For further details please read below for the eligibility criteria you must meet in order for your student overdraft to be made available to you.
Your overdraft will remain interest free for one year after you graduate. There will be no monthly account fee. We will treat the end of your final year as the end date that you submitted as part of your application.
One year after you graduate, your account will convert automatically to our standard Current Account. We'll send you a letter to remind you about this 1 month before it happens.
Your overdraft limit will not automatically transfer to your new account. This means you will need to repay your overdraft within the first year after graduating to avoid incurring debit interest.
If you want to keep your arranged overdraft, you can call us or visit a branch to apply. Approval is based on a credit check, an assessment of your personal circumstances and is subject to status. You'll be charged debit interest on your overdrawn balance.
You’ll need to let us know if your end date changes. Call us on 03457 212 212 and we will make the changes to your account. You may need to provide evidence confirming your end date.
Here at The Co-operative Bank, we like to do things differently. We are the only UK bank with a customer-led Ethical Policy that guides the way we do business.
Together with our customers and colleagues we’ve raised £1.4m for Centrepoint to help them continue to provide vulnerable 16 – 25 year olds with safe accommodation, access to learning and physical and mental health support.
We believe in doing what we can to protect the environment, that’s why we’re committing to becoming zero waste to landfill by the end of 2020. You can help too, by updating your email address either online or by giving us a call, we can keep you informed without the unnecessary paper waste.
We know we all have an important part to play when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Our values drive us towards making society better for everyone, regardless of sexuality, race or gender, which is why we have proudly been a part of Manchester Pride for the last 5 years.
If you only have a conditional offer, wait until your place has been confirmed (after your exam results) to apply.
Approval is based on a credit check, an assessment of your personal circumstances and is subject to status.
If you've been accepted for a student account, that also means we've approved you for the overdraft limit that's applicable to your year of study. We approve student overdrafts with the expectation that your student loan or other funding will be paid into your student account, so your overdraft won’t be available to you right away. If you want your overdraft to be made available to you, at least £300 needs to be paid into your student account within 28 days of the date that your account was opened. This amount needs to remain in your account for 48 hours, after which your overdraft will be made available to you automatically. If you want your overdraft to be made available to you and it's more than 28 days after the date your account was opened, you'll need to call us.
You need to provide a proof of ID, proof of address and proof of your confirmed course with your application. Your application will be delayed if these documents are not correct
Proof of address and identification you can use for your application
Everyone applying for a student account should read how our overdrafts work.
Once you have completed your application form and signed it, send it with the requested proofs to:
The Co-operative Bank plc
PO Box 638
Salford
M5 0JQ
Please save the form in a PDF format before completing to ensure you do not lose any changes.
We recommend completing this form using a desktop. However, if you are accessing the form from a mobile device you will need to follow these instructions.
Please read the important documents below, and save copies of them for future reference.
We aim to reply to you within 7 working days of receiving your application form. If successful, we'll send out your welcome pack and debit card. We will send your PIN number separately.
Once you have completed the application form, please then print, sign and send it to us.
Overdrafts are intended for short term borrowing and not suitable for long term borrowing.
An arranged overdraft is a set amount you've agreed with us in advance. You'll only be charged debit interest if you go over your arranged interest-free overdraft limit.
You'll go into an unarranged overdraft if you go over your arranged limit or your account balance falls below £0 without an arranged overdraft in place. You will be charged debit interest for going into an unarranged overdraft.
Your payments might be refused if you try to go overdrawn without having arranged an overdraft.
Any type of borrowing shows on your credit file. However, an unarranged overdraft shows as arrears which can negatively impact your credit file and may make it harder for you to obtain credit in the future.
If you are accepted for the Student Account, you’ll be eligible for its overdraft.
You'll only be charged debit interest if you go over your agreed interest-free overdraft limit.
To find out more about the cost of using an unarranged overdraft, we have an overdraft calculator that will tell how much this will cost in pounds and pence.
More information on account charges
Your student account has an interest-free overdraft that can be increased each year you’re studying:
You will need to contact us to request an increase to your overdraft limit. Your overdraft limit will not automatically increase in your 2nd, 3rd, or further years of study. Approval will depend on an assessment of account conduct and a review of regular funding.
You cannot request an increase to your arranged overdraft above the interest-free overdraft limit applicable to your year of study. You must make regular payments into your account to reduce the amount you owe.
If you already have an arranged overdraft limit with us, which you'd like to remove, you can do this by contacting us.
To help manage your money and avoid/minimise debit interest you might pay, we send overdraft text alerts if you go into or you're about to go into an arranged or unarranged overdraft. We will also send alerts if you have payments due that may not be paid.
As long as we have your mobile number, you'll be automatically opted in for overdraft text alerts. You can opt out of arranged and/or unarranged overdraft alerts at any time by contacting us.
Use online banking or our mobile app to view your accounts, pay people and transfer money to your other accounts.
You can get in touch over the phone by calling us on 03457 212 212, 8am to 8pm every day.
You can also visit us in one of our branches, located across the UK. We’re open Monday to Friday, with some branches also open on Saturday mornings.
When you switch your account from you current bank or building society, we do all the hard work for you.
We make sure that:
If anything does go wrong, we guarantee to sort it out for you and cover any losses you might incur. This is covered in the Current Account Switch Guarantee.
The representative APR provided can enable you to compare the costs across different products and providers.
Based on the representative example above, if you didn't pay it back for
you would owe a total of
There are other charges, including:
Please read the Important Documents below and save copies of them for future reference.
Account charges
Download Account charges PDF (87KB)Terms & conditions
Download Terms & conditions PDF (202KB)Our lending commitments and what we ask of you
Download Our lending commitments and what we ask of you PDF (112KB)How we use your personal information
Download How we use your personal information PDF (622KB)Student overdraft pre contractual information
Download Student overdraft pre contractual information PDF (902KB)Fee Information Document
Download Fee Information Document PDF (132KB)How our overdrafts work
Download How our overdrafts work PDF 436KBGlossary
Download Glossary PDF (129KB)Financial Services Compensation Scheme Information Sheet and Exclusion List
Download Financial Services Compensation Scheme Information Sheet and Exclusion List PDF 60KBHelp and information about current accounts, for our existing customers.
The Co-operative Bank reserves the right to decline any application.
Whether we can offer you credit depends on your circumstances and our lending policy. We may decline your application based on your circumstances or our lending policy. We may be able to offer a product that's different to the one advertised.
smile, The Co-operative Bank and Britannia are trading names of The Co-operative Bank plc, which is a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
You'll go into an unarranged overdraft if you go over your agreed limit or your account balance falls below £0 without an arranged overdraft in place. You will be charged debit interest for going into an unarranged overdraft.
Your payments might be refused if you try to go over your overdraft limit or try to go overdrawn without having arranged an overdraft. If we do allow the payment(s) this will mean you've entered into an unarranged overdraft and you will be charged debit interest.
If you'd like more help & information, you can: