Finding opportunities after graduation

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What happens after graduation  

Well done on graduating, but now what? 

Well, you may fall into one or more of these camps: you have a job lined up, you don’t have a job lined up, you’re going to pursue PG or alternative study, or you just don’t know. Whichever camp you’re in, there are multiple different opportunities and facilities to help you reach or even find your goals.

The I don’t know camp/ I don’t have a job camp  

Kings CareerConnect provides a great service available to king’s alumni for up to 2 years from when you finish your course where they can help you through the process of discovering what you want to do with your degree and what you find interesting to the point where you can focus and take action to get the career you want. They can help you discover your passion through panels and the discover page on KEATS. Moreover, they can help you narrow down your options and help develop your skills and experiences to make it easier for you to get your dream job. Finally, kings provide application advice and practice interviews via kings connect to maximize your chances.  

Furthermore, if you want more general help KCL also gives you access to digital career education resources, recordings, and guidelines on Keats.

Here is the link to KCL CareerConnect. 

Pursuing postgraduate or alternative study camp 

Pursuing PG degrees can be a fantastic way to increase your skills and make you more specialized for the job or career path you would want in the future. However, it is important to note it does come at a price and a time/opportunity cost and so before pursuing it, it is important to know how you are going to fund the degree and you’re living whilst doing the degree. SFE gives a maximum loan of up to £11,836 which include both living and degree costs In London bundled into one. There are also funding bodies that provide grants for certain degrees and specialities, but they can be rare. Thus, it’s important to budget before starting your course. 

Alternative studies such as short courses on specific things and online courses can be a great way to beef up your CV and help make it more specialised for the career path you are going down. These often come at a lower cost than postgraduate study and might be good to look at if the career you want doesn’t mind about postgraduate studies. 

You have a job lined up at camp 

Congrats! But you will need to bear in mind that your student loan repayments are taken out of your paycheck automatically if you are an employee and pay tax and NI (national insurance) through the pay as you earn (link payslip blog) scheme based on your earnings for that period the April after you graduate depending on how much you are earning. It is also important that you check your payslip tax code – more about that here. 

Conclusion 

Each of these pathways has its benefits and costs and so you must weigh the pros and cons for each one. 

Yahye Mohamud
King’s Student Money Mentor
Part of Money & Housing Advice

The King’s Student Money Mentors blog shares our students’ personal experiences and thoughts on money-related topics. Any reference, opinions or recommendations on a particular company/brand are only the views of the student(s) who wrote the blog post. King’s College London, the Money & Housing Advice service and the Money Mentor project do not share the views in the blogs nor endorse any of the companies mentioned. Readers should conduct their own research before using any companies mentioned in our blog posts. 

Online Banking

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Banking these days has become a lot easier, thanks to the digital revolution. You no longer need to physically visit the bank to make simple transactions such as fund transfers and checking your bank balance. These services can now easily be accessed at your fingertips, online or on your phone. The added benefit of mobile banking is the ability to instantly block your card in the event that it is lost or stolen.  

Mainstream banks, such as Barclays, Santander, Lloyds and Nationwide, offer apps that can be downloaded from the Appstore or Play Store to access their services. Alternatively, newer banking methods include apps like Monzo and Revolut that exclusively operate online. Monzo requires you to load money onto the card, usually by a fund transfer to be able to make payments as you would with your usual bank card. This is an excellent way for you to budget, as a limited amount of money loaded onto your card enables you to restrict your payments to essential spending. These newer alternative banking methods also allow purchases in several countries abroad without worrying about paying a charge for these transactions. Therefore, these app-based online banking services provide a secure and hassle-free method of making payments.

Nevertheless, it is important to be always aware of scams and use your money with caution. If in doubt about the services being offered or the service provider, investigate and report any suspected scams immediately!  

Please see the articles (with links) below for more information on banking:

  1. How can I open a bank account? 
  1. Opening a UK bank account as an international student 
  1. Cryptocurrency: The basics, and where to find out more  
  1. A guide to money-related apps  
  1. Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL)  
  1. MoneySavingExpert: Banking & Savings  

Rhea Lopes
King’s Student Money Mentor
Part of Money & Housing Advice

The King’s Student Money Mentors blog shares our students’ personal experiences and thoughts on money-related topics. Any reference, opinions or recommendations on a particular company/brand are only the views of the student(s) who wrote the blog post. King’s College London, the Money & Housing Advice service and the Money Mentor project do not share the views in the blogs nor endorse any of the companies mentioned. Readers should conduct their own research before using any companies mentioned in our blog posts. 

Payslips!

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Why your tax code is a need-to-know 

For some of us, maybe a tax code is that confusing combination of letters and numbers in the corner of our payslip that we generally ignore. For most of us students, we wouldn’t be earning enough in our part-time jobs to pay income tax anyway – the first £12,570 you earn per year is tax-free (called the Personal Allowance) and it’s only over that amount that you start to pay income tax. 

What is a tax code? 

In the UK we work on a PAYE (pay-as-you-earn) system. This means that with every paycheck, your employer is automatically deducting tax on your behalf. Your tax code tells them how much tax to deduct. 

The numbers in your tax code indicate the amount of Personal Allowance, so for someone with the usual personal allowance of £12,570, the code is usually 1257 (with a letter on the end!). The letters also indicate things about your situation, for example, if you have more than one job, if you’re sharing some of your personal allowance with your spouse, or if you are using an emergency tax code (e.g. you’ve just started a new job and they aren’t sure how much to tax you yet!).

You can find your tax code on your payslip, or your P45, P60, and even online with HMRC. 

If you’re self-employed, we’ve provided more information in the links at the bottom of this article. 

What if it’s wrong? 

If your tax code is wrong, one of two things could happen: you could end up paying too much tax and have less money paid into your bank account each month than you should, OR you could be paying too little tax, enjoying your salary now but being hit by a huge bill (which could run into the thousands!) in a few months or years’ time. Neither situation is good. 

You can check whether your tax code is correct by using a tax code calculator, such as the one on Money Saving Expert. This can highlight any obvious problems. 

How can I fix it? 

It is annoying, frustrating, and sometimes very expensive to fix a tax code error, but you should sort it out as soon as possible! 

If you have paid too much tax, you can get the money back! Hooray! You need to let HMRC know, which you can do either online or by phoning them. 

If you haven’t paid enough tax, you will usually need to pay the money back to HMRC. This is often done by HMRC changing your tax code so that you pay more tax in the current year – this extra tax makes up for the shortfall in the previous year(s). 

If it’s a large amount that HMRC can’t get through paying more tax, they will send you a bill, and you can either pay it off in one sum or arrange a payment schedule with them called a “time to pay agreement”. However, if you don’t pay it off in one lump sum you will be charged interest on it and could be charged a penalty for any late payments. It acts more like a loan. 

For more information… 

If you think you’re paying too much tax 

Lots of FAQs for student taxes 

A tax code checker 

Find out if you need to pay tax in your student job 

If you’re self-employed 

Sarah Chitson
King’s Student Money Mentor
Part of Money & Housing Advice

The King’s Student Money Mentors blog shares our students’ personal experiences and thoughts on money-related topics. Any reference, opinions or recommendations on a particular company/brand are only the views of the student(s) who wrote the blog post. King’s College London, the Money & Housing Advice service and the Money Mentor project do not share the views in the blogs nor endorse any of the companies mentioned. Readers should conduct their own research before using any companies mentioned in our blog posts.