Cheap cinema ticket offers and deals (July 2025)

All of the deals for ODEON, Vue, Cineworld, Everyman, Picturehouse and more!

In this article you’ll find all the latest cinema ticket deals and offers, starting with the ones you can’t miss, then some chain specific offers, and then a few more well worth a look.

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Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Top cinema offers

2-4-1 via Meerkat Movies for £1

One of the most popular cinema deals is Meerkat Movies. Once a week you can access a code to get buy-one-get-one-free tickets on a Tuesday or Wednesday. You can use this deal at most UK cinemas all year (though not Everyman or Curzon). 

You get access through buying an insurance policy via Compare the Market, but we’ve got a hack that’ll get you access for just £1 each year.

Free tickets via your bank

Vue/ODEON: six tickets via Lloyds 

You can get six free ODEON or Vue tickets if you open a Club Lloyds bank account. You’ll need to deposit £2,000 into the account each month to avoid a fee, but that’s easily done.

At Vue cinemas, your vouchers also entitle you to half price popcorn. At ODEON cinemas, you can redeem your vouchers at ODEON Kids Screenings, which come with a free kids-size popcorn per ticket.

Vue: free Vue ticket via £7 Monzo Perks

You can claim a free, standard ticket at any Vue in the UK every month. You can upgrade to a VIP, 3D, recliner or IMAX ticket but you’ll pay an extra fee.

You’ll need to use the code before the end of each calendar month, but it can be for a screening at a later date. Monzo Perks costs £7 per month and comes with a range of money saving benefits, including an annual Railcard and weekly Greggs freebies.

Cashback on cinema gift cards

Whether you’re buying a full price ticket, or stacking with other offers featured on this page, you’ll save a little by using a discounted gift card.

Some of these are special offers at retailers like Tesco or Amazon where you save when you buy. When these are available we’ll share them as featured deals.

Others will learn you cashback on your gift card purchase, and these tend to run all year around via these apps:

Up to 40% off via your other memberships

There’s a good chance you can save up to 40% on cinema tickets via an existing membership or account – and if not, you could sign up as a new customer. 

The likes of Tastecard, Mastercard and Lidl offer you access to a service called Cinema Society which sells reduced tickets for ODEON, Vue, Picturehouse, Showcase, Cineworld, Empire and other independent cinemas. 

This can be a good way to save, but watch out as you might find your local cinema is cheaper itself when you buy direct! Or some of the other deals we’ve shared on this page could also work out better value.

In some cases you’ll need to pay for the initial membership, but others are free. Though you can find these in a number of places (check any work perk schemes for instance), here’s some of the more common ones you might have access to.

Available for free with other accounts:

Included with paid membership:

Other top cinema deals

We’ve listed more offers, both specific to the different chains and across different cinemas, below, but these ones in particular are worth a look:

  • Everyman: 2-4-1 Wednesday with Times+
  • Escapes: free film preview tickets

ODEON ticket deals and offers

Don’t forget we may have featured some ODEON deals in our ‘Top cinema deals’ section above, including how to hack 2-4-1 tickets for £1.

ODEON: discounts and points via ODEON Extras

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

Sign up for free to ODEON Extras scheme to earn points and other savings. You’ll get the following:

  • Tickets from £4.50 every Monday
  • A birthday treat (possibly a large popcorn and drink combo)
  • 500 points on joining
  • 25 points for every £1 spent

If you watch two films in three consecutive months you’ll get a free upgrade to ODEON Extras Plus. You’ll need to make another two visits every six months to keep at this level. Extras Plus will get you more and is still free:

  • 50 points for every £1 spent
  • 10% off tickets when you book online
  • An improved birthday treat
  • Invites to member screenings
  • Large popcorn for the price of a medium

You’ll need to earn a few points before you can use them. You’ll be able to swap as follows:

  • 5,000 points for a £5 food and drink voucher
  • 7,000 points for a standard seat ticket
  • 10,000 points for recliner seat ticket

So you’ll need to spend £280 to claim that free standard ticket on the base level Extras membership! If a ticket costs £10, that’ll be 14 tickets.

Points will expire 24 months after they’re earned, so don’t forget to use them.

ODEON: two tickets for £10 for Amazon Prime members

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

If you have Amazon Prime, you can get two standard tickets for £10 at ODEON, or two recliner tickets for £15 at ODEON Luxe. 

This offer can be used once per month for screenings from Monday to Thursday. This price includes the £1 booking fee per ticket. Can be stacked with discounted gift cards.

ODEON: two tickets for £8 for Voxi mobile customers

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

If you’re a Voxi Mobile customer, then you can get two ODEON tickets for £8 in its new monthly rewards scheme. You can choose to either get two standard tickets for £8 or two Luxe tickets for £13.

You can claim your tickets once each month by logging into Voxi Rewards.

ODEON: two tickets for £8 for Vodafone customers (+£1 booking fee)

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

If you’re a Vodafone customer then you can get two ODEON cinema tickets every week with VeryMe Rewards. You can do this once each week for any film showing at any time.

Two standard tickets will cost £8, while two Luxe tickets cost £13.

You can also get four standard for £16 and four Luxe for £26.

The voucher can only be used on the same screening, so you couldn’t use it for one ticket at two screenings for example.

You’ll need to pay an additional £1 booking fee when using the voucher on the ODEON website, though this covers the whole booking. If you use it at the box office you won’t pay this extra charge.

To get it, you just need to tap on ‘Rewards’ in the Vodafone app and claim the offer.

If you don’t have Vodafone this hack could get you access to the various offers.

ODEON: cheaper online tickets

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

If you book online ahead of your trip rather than buying tickets upon arrival then you get cheaper cinema tickets at ODEON. 

You’ll get charged a £1 booking fee online (included in the price you see), so check that special offers aren’t better at the box office.

Vue ticket deals and offers

Don’t forget we may have featured some Vue deals in our ‘Top cinema deals’ section above, including free tickets via bank accounts.

Vue: two tickets for £9 with O2 and Virgin Media

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

If you’re a broadband customer with O2 or Virgin Media you can use the O2 Priority app for discounted tickets. You can get two Vue tickets for £9 every week or four for £18 to use on any day, at any Vue location. There’s also 20% off food and drinks.

You can get a new code at 10am each Monday and it’s valid until Sunday of the same week.

If you don’t have O2 Priority, this hack can give it to you for £10 every six months.

Vue: two free tickets for Sky Cinema customers

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

If you’ve got Sky Cinema, you can get two free standard Vue cinema tickets every month. The tickets can be used at any Vue cinema in the UK or Ireland, at any time Sunday – Thursday.

You’ll need the MySky app to get access to this offer, where you’ll find a code to use online and a QR code to use in the cinema. 

There’s a limit to how many free tickets Sky gives out each month, so you may need to get in early.

Vue: tickets from £4 each with Wowcher (expired)

Deal expiry: 14 May 2025

You can buy bundles of Vue tickets on Wowcher, either two, five or ten, and you’ll get them at a much lower price. Two tickets cost £9.50 – making it £4.75 a ticket. For five tickets, you’ll spend £22 (£4.40 per ticket), and ten tickets cost £40, making it £4 per ticket.

You can use the tickets for Standard 2D screenings, sitting in super saver seats.

You’ll have til 18 May to use the tickets, but check that your cinema is listed, as there are some exclusions, and some cinemas will charge you a £2 surcharge when redeeming it – check this list in “The Fine Print”.

To get it, go to Wowcher and search “Vue” to find the offer.

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Cineworld and Picturehouse cheap tickets

Don’t forget we may have featured some other deals in our ‘Top cinema deals’ section above, including how to hack 2-4-1 tickets for £1.

We’ve also details of Cineworld and Picturehouse memberships later on this page.

Cineworld: 25% off Cineworld Unlimited

You can currently get 25% off a new Cineworld Unlimited subscription if you use the code UNLIMITED25 between 30 June and 13 July 2025. The price of a membership depends on the cinema that you’re signing up for and your subscription period.

You’ll also get 10% off snacks and 25% off at partner restaurants.

Cineworld: £1 Family Films

Cineworld has brought back its Family Films for £1 from 25 July to 28 August. You can get tickets for just £1 each to selected family films, starting with The Wild Robot from July 25 to 31.

Here are the showing at all cinemas:

  • The Wild Robot – July 25 to July 31
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 3 – August 1 to August 7
  • Moana 2 – August 8 to August 14
  • Paddington in Peru – August 15 to August 21
  • A Minecraft Movie – August 22 to August 28

And there are some films only showing at selected cinemas:

  • Mufasa: The Lion King – July 25 to July 31
  • Flow – August 1 to August 7
  • Transformers One – August 8 to August 14
  •  Disney’s Snow White – August 15 to August 21
  • Dog Man – August 22 to August 28

You can see if your local cinema is showing the additional films on the website.

It’s £1 a ticket for both adults and kids, and the excluded cinemas are Dublin and Leicester Square.

Cineworld/Picturehouse: £3 tickets via Three+

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

Every week, Three+ customers can nab a code for a discounted ticket to use Friday to Sunday. Codes are available from Monday. It’s for 2D screenings only, though you can pay to upgrade.

Picturehouse Central and Picturehouse Fulham Road are excluded. You’ll pay a booking fee to redeem the code online, but it’s free to use in the foyer.

Picturehouse: Happy Mondays

All day, every Monday (excluding bank holidays) you can watch any film at a discounted rate at every single Picturehouse. 

The most you’ll pay for a standard ticket on Happy Monday is £8.20, or £10.20 at Picturehouse Central.

Cineworld: two tickets for £12.95 with Wowcher (expired)

Deal expiry: 31 March 2025 (though may be extended)

You can buy two Standard Cineworld tickets on Wowcher for £12, plus a £0.95 booking fee when booking the tickets.

You’ll have til 31 March to use the tickets, but check that your cinema is listed, as there are some exclusions. There’s an uplift fee for things like 3D screenings or IMAX. And be aware that you need to use them both at the same time.

To get it, go to Wowcher and search “Cineworld” to find the offer.

Everyman cinema ticket deals and offers

Everyman offers are pretty rare!

Everyman: 2-4-1 Wednesday with Times+

If you subscribe to The Times, you’ll be able to get two-for-one tickets at Everyman on Wednesdays. You can get a one month free trial or £3 for 3 months then it’s a pricey £26 a month. 

Showcase ticket deals and offers

Don’t forget we may have featured some other deals in our ‘Top cinema deals’ section above, including how to hack 2-4-1 tickets for £1.

Showcase: 10% back via Insider scheme

Showcase Insider is a free loyalty program. Members earn 10% of spend back on ticket, snack and drink purchases to use on future visits. 

Members also get discounted admission tickets, sometimes as low as £4.99 on Saver Mondays.

Other cinema deals and offers

Don’t forget we have featured some other deals in our ‘Top cinema deals’ section above, including how to hack 2-4-1 tickets for £1.

Santander: £5 off a ticket

If you have a Santander account you can access Cinema Society for discounted tickets via the free Santander Boosts scheme.

From 10 February, there are 3,000 £5 off vouchers, meaning you can pick up a ticket for Cineworld, ODEON, Vue, Showcase, Picturehouse, Merlin, The Light and more.

As of 1 April 2025 there were still vouchers available.

Escapes: free film preview tickets

With Cinematik, you can get free tickets to select films for free. Each month, a film is voted to be screened and you can book to see it on a specific day. You can book a maximum of one ticket per screening. You also have the option to reserve an additional ticket for a guest, which they’ll need to confirm separately via a shareable invite link.

The cinemas taking part are mainly local independent ones, but there are Picturehouse and Reel cinemas included. There’s a full list of all participating cinemas on the Cinematik website.

Mubi Go: free ticket every week

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

Mubi is an online streaming service. For £11.99 a month you get a classic, world cinema or art-house flick to watch, with the curated selection adding a new film every day.

For an extra £7 per month you also get a free cinema ticket every week via the Mubi Go service. There’s a 7-day free trial and if you sign up for an annual membership, you’ll save 33%.

You typically won’t be able to watch blockbusters, instead there’s a specific new film every week. You can go to see that film once, and another film choice will be given the following week. 

With many of the films being smaller, they’ll have limited releases, so if you don’t live in a big city there’s a good chance you won’t be able to take advantage every week as not all the films will be shown at all cinemas.

Vitality: free ODEON/Vue ticket each month

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

If you’ve got a Vitality membership, usually offered as a healthcare perk with employers, then you can nab yourself a free Vue or ODEON ticket once each month.

You need to earn Vitality points each month for tracking your activity, then just log into the website or app to generate your personal cinema ticket code.

Enter your code on the cinema’s website when booking your tickets.

Fever: discounts at Vue, Cineworld & ODEON

You can buy a ticket from £5.60 to use for movies at Vue, Cineworld or ODEON with the entertainment site Fever.

The actual price you’ll pay varies by location. If you have a larger town or city close by, you could get a better discount by choosing a cinema there instead. 

You can also use a refer-a-friend link to save £4.

Again, do check you can’t get a ticket for less via a different offer before buying.

Here’s what you need to know about getting discounted tickets with Fever:

ODEON: you can get a standard 2D ticket at select cinemas in the UK. It’s not valid at Luxe locations or the Islington Luxe & Dine. If you want to upgrade to IMAX, 3D or recliner seats, you’ll have to pay extra. 

You can use the voucher online via the ODEON website or app, but there’s a £1 fee per ticket. You can also redeem the voucher at cinema kiosks – but not at the box office. The voucher can’t be used for special screenings or events and can’t be combined with other offers.

Vue: you can get a ticket for a film either online or via the Box Office. Each voucher is only valid once and if you cancel your booking, you won’t get it back. 

It’s not valid for premieres, special events or things like Mini Mornings or Scene screenings. With a Super Saver voucher, you can book general 2D seating, while VIP vouchers give more options, including recliners and 3D screenings (with an upgrade fee). 

Cineworld: you can get a ticket for any standard 2D film, but if you want to upgrade to 3D, IMAX or 4DX you’ll have to pay extra (plus the cost of 3D glasses if needed). If you’re booking online, there’s a small fee added.

You can’t use this ticket for Event Cinema, special screenings, Movies for Juniors or ViP seats though, so check before booking.

Cheap kids cinema tickets

Kids tickets from £2.49

Most of the big chains have deals where you can get cheaper kids or family tickets. Here’s our roundup of what’s on offer:

ODEON: £2.75 per ticket – you’ll get the same cheap price for both adults and kids at weekends and school holidays.

ODEON: Family ticket – you can get adult tickets at child prices for the same film. You’ll see the option at check out for an adult and child combo ticket.

Vue: tickets for £2.49 – Vue Mighty Mornings are kids screenings on Saturday and Sunday mornings at 10am and every day of the school holidays.

Cineworld: from £2.50 – kids and adults pay the same price via Movies for Juniors.

Picturehouse: from £3.30 per ticket – kids’ Club screenings are shown every Saturday morning and prices depend on the cinema you visit. There’s also preschool specials, exclusively for preschool children and the adult goes for free. With the family ticket option, adults only pay kids prices. It’s for four people, at least two must be under 15 (e.g. two adults and two kids or one adult and three kids).

Cheap over 60s cinema tickets

Over 60s tickets from £3.50

ODEON, Cineworld and Picturehouse have cheaper tickets for over 60s (Vue don’t have anything on offer at the moment). Here’s our roundup of the deals:

ODEON: from £3.50 per ticket – ODEON Silvers has screenings during quieter times of the day with a selection of new releases or classic films. Tickets with standard seats are £3.50 when you book as a myODEON member online and £4.50 in-cinema. Standard seats are £4.00 when you book online as a guest and £5.00 in cinema. The price includes tea, coffee and biscuits, served before the film.

Cineworld: tickets for £4.50 – CineSeniors runs every Wednesday and you also get complimentary hot drinks and biscuits.

Picturehouse: discounted tickets – Silver Screen is a free-to-join club for over-60s. Members get a free tea or coffee at Silver Screen shows. 

Memberships

These memberships could save you money on tickets – if you go frequently enough.

ODEON myLimitless: from £14.99 a month

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

ODEON myLimitless is an annual membership that allows you to see as many films as you like in ODEON cinemas. You pay £14.99 per month or £17.99 for myLimitless Plus, which also gets you ODEON Luxe, seat upgrades and screen upgrades. 

If you go via a cashback site, you could cut the cost even more. With TopCashback you can get up to £4.25 of the price back on your first payment. Plus, you could get a welcome bonus offer.

ODEON sometimes offer discounts on annual membership, and we’ll share them here when they run.

Cineworld Unlimited Card: from £10.99 a month

Deal expiry: Ongoing offer

If you frequently go to a Cineworld, its Unlimited Card lets you go as much as you want (2D only). The minimum subscription is 3 months and starts at £10.99 a month, going up to £21.90. 

Each cinema is bracketed into a group – the amount you pay depends on the group your cinema falls in. The Cineworld website has a full list of which cinemas are in which groups

  • Group 1 cinemas – £10.99 a month
  • Group 2 cinemas – £16.99 a month
  • Group 3 cinemas – £19.40 a month
  • Group 4 cinemas – £21.90 a month

Members are also invited to preview screenings and get 10% off food and drink. If you continue your subscription for a second year, membership then includes 3D films and the food discount goes up to 25%. 

There’s also a referral scheme where you get an extra month for free if you get a mate to sign up.

We’ll share any discounts on membership here when they’re available.

Picturehouse: free tickets and £3 off with memberships

Picturehouse memberships give you free tickets and discounts at any Picturehouse cinema. The free tickets are sometimes restricted to your member cinema so it’s best to save them for the weekends when prices go up.

There’s two tiers of membership – Member and Member Plus. The Member option gives you five free tickets and costs between £57 and £97 per year depending on the member cinema you join. 

Member Plus gives you an extra card so you can split the costs with a mate or family member. You’ll get ten free tickets and it costs between £100 and £170 per year. 

After the freebies you’ll also get £3 off our further tickets.

Members also get a 10% discount on food and drink, free previews, no online booking fees and occasional other freebies.

At certain points in the year there are discounts on memberships, and we’ll share them here if they’re any good.

Everyman Memberships

There are a few options here, though the basic one (i.e. cheapest) allows you to take a friend for free on Mondays. You also get six free tickets for the £89 cost.

The next level up costs £325 a year, and comes with 24 free tickets. After this you can spend £680 and get unlimited tickets for two for a year.

Curzon Membership

For £65 (£50 concessions) you can get an annual “Classic” membership. This comes with five credits to use for free tickets or at home streams. You can use the credit to buy tickets for yourself and guests. There’s a further 20% discount for you and a guest on other tickets. You’ll also get 10% off drinks and snacks.

If you go to a Curzon a lot, there is a £285 “Cult” option. This annual membership gives you five free credits a week. Use them all and it’s just £1.10 a ticket! You can’t use the credits to get a ticket for a guest. If you want to pay monthly it’s £25 a month, but you’re still tied in for 12 months.

The Cult + membership doubles down with 10 free tickets a week (which are valid for events such as theatre and ballet screenings) and an additional cardholder. It comes in at £850 a year.

Expired deals

ODEON: 20% off gift cards at Tesco – expired

Deal expiry: 22 December

Get 20% off ODEON e-giftcards from Tesco until 22 December. The discount applies to e-giftcards valued between £5 and £25. These e-giftcards are valid for two years.

Discounted gift cards and offers

Here are some of the latest offers to get you money off gift cards

When you buy gift cards for yourself or as a present, it’s really important you make a note of the expiration date and don’t forget about them at the bottom of the drawer! There are more details on what to watch out for in our article five things you need to know about gift cards.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

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Gift card special offers

Amazon: up to 15% off gift cards

Amazon is currently offering a number of discounted gift cards and bonuses on gift cards for Prime Day, including:

  • Apple – get a £10 bonus when you get a gift card of £100 or more
  • JustEat – get a £5 bonus with gift cards of £50 or more
  • Uber/Uber Eats – 10% discount
  • One4All – get a £15 reward on gift cards of £100 or more
  • Lego – get a £10 reward on gift cards of £100 or more
  • Ikea – get a £10 reward on gift cards of £100 or more
  • ODEON – 15% discount
  • Vue – 15% discount
  • New Look – 15% discount
  • Hotels .com – 15% discount

Some offers are for digital cards, while others are for physical ones. Check the terms on each gift card to ensure you’re meeting the minimum spend levels and you may need to enter a code at checkout – you can find this in each listing.

Ends 11 July 2025.

Amazon gift card bonuses

Over on our Amazon deals page, we’ve got a couple of deals where you get extra money when topping up your account or buying a gift card. These offers tend to run most of the year, though they are normally only for people who haven’t done either of these in the last three years.

Amazon also offers discounts on some retailer gift cards, especially in the run-up to Christmas and during shopping promotions like Cyber Monday and Black Friday.

Tesco: 20% off gift cards (ended)

Tesco is selling a variety of gift cards for 20% off until 15 June 2025.

The gift cards available include:

  • Virgin Experiences – including Afternoon Tea, driving experiences and spa experiences.
  • Prezzo
  • Odeon

One4All: £15 Amazon extra (ended)

You can get a £15 Amazon promo code if you buy a £100 One4All card from Amazon between 25 and 31 March 2025.

The £15 will automatically be taken off future orders- though it expires 17 May 2025. It’s limited to one per person.

Cashback on gift cards

JamDoughnut: cashback when you buy gift cards

With JamDoughnut, you can buy gift cards both as gifts and for everyday purchases and earn cashback on them. Plus, if you’re a new JamDoughnut user, you can get a £4 welcome bonus using our link* (double what you’d usually get).

Retailers on the app include supermarkets like Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and M&S.

TopCashback: get cashback on gift cards

TopCashback has a spin-off site called TopGiftCards with money back on brands including Asda, Ticketmaster, Uber, Costa and Clarks. You need to click through from TopCashback and choose your gift card.

These are all digital gift cards but check the individual retailer terms to see if it can be spent in-store, online or both. Cashback is then paid back to your TopCashback account.

Remember, if you’re new to TopCashback you can also get a bonus of £20 when you sign up and spend £10. This counts when you buy gift cards too, but excludes takeaways.

HyperJar: earn cashback on gift cards

As with JamDoughnut, you can buy gift cards through the app and earn cashback on them with HyperJar.

There are more than 60 retailers on the app, including some supermarkets like Morrisons and Asda.

Cheddar: cashback on gift cards and spending

You can earn cashback in two ways with Cheddar: buying gift cards through the app, earning instant cashback, as well as by spending at specific retailers with a linked account.

There are more than 80 brands in the app, and once again, you can get cashback from supermarkets like Tesco, Asda and Morrisons. Use the code CLEVER2 when signing up to get £2 welcome cashback.

Discounted “work-perk” gift card trick, including John Lewis

We’ve written in detail about how you can get access to discounted gift cards, including John Lewis and Marks & Spencer, if you open up a Scottish Friendly ISA. 

Expired offers

Tesco: 15% off cinema gift cards (ended)

Until 27 October you can get 15% off ODEON, Vue or Cineworld gift cards at Tesco.

You can get gift cards between £10 and £100 in the offer.

Our top deals

Here are a few ongoing and recent offers you might have missed:

Banking offers

Savings and investing offers

Shopping vouchers and other deals

Entertainment deals

Food and drink offers

Food and drink deals

The best deals right now for some free or cheap food and drink

From lunch discounts and vouchers to free samples and deals, read on for the best food and drink deals currently available.

We’ve split the supermarket special offers and tea and coffee shop deals over to separate deals pages as there are just so many!

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

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Shop deals

Hotel Chocolat: free chocolate baton

Between 7 and 13 July, you can get a free chocolate baton at any Hotel Chocolat store. You just need to find your closest store and ask to sample one. There’s a limited number of batons available so be quick!

Hotel Chocolat: free treat on your birthday

If you sign up to Hotel Chocolat’s VIP ME scheme you’ll get a free gift on your birthday (I got a free £5 voucher to spend), as well as other offers through the year such as 15% off your next purchase. You can only sign up in-stores.

Krispy Kreme: free doughnuts

Download the Krispy Kreme Rewards app to get a free Original Glazed doughnut when joining and another on your birthday. You’ll also get points every time you spend that can be spent in-store.

25% off Krispy Kreme

You’ll be able to get 25% off your doughnuts Sunday to Thursday if you have Meerkat Meals from Compare the Market. There’s a hack that’ll get you access to this for a year for £1, as well as 2-4-1 movies.

Krispy Kreme: free donut for members on 4 July (ended)

Members of Krispy Kreme’s membership scheme can get a free glazed donut on the 4 July from one of its shops.

Just check your Krispy Kreme app and add the freebie to your wallet. To redeem show the member of staff the offer in your Rewards wallet as well as your Loyalty ID on the app.

You won’t be able to get the offer from supermarkets, garages or anywhere else, apart from the Krispy Kreme shops.

Recipe box discounts

We’ve written about recipe boxes in detail here, but below are some special offers.

Gousto: 75% off first box via Quidco

There are often voucher codes for Gousto, but if you’re new to Gousto and go via a cashback site you can save even more.

The deals seem to change fairly regularly and switch between TopCashback and Quidco, so it’s best to check both to see which is best.

At the time of writing, going via Quidco can get 50% off your first box, and up to £12 cashback on top.

So the most expensive box (four meals per box for four people) would normally cost £47.85, but the discount brings it down to £23.93. Add in the cashback and you’ll get the recipe box for £11.93 instead!

If you’re also new to Quidco, then you can get an additional new customer cashback bonus.

Hello Fresh: 66% off first box via TopCashback

If you go via TopCashback (this one also switches between the two cashback sites, so check Quidco too) for HelloFresh then you can get 50% off your first box and £10.20 cashback on top. When you order the largest box (five recipes a week for four people), it brings the total down to £21.30.

Here you can nab a new customer bonus for the cashback sites too if you’re new to either site.

Hello Fresh: free delivery with Amazon Prime

You can now get free delivery on your Hello Fresh deliveries for a year with an Amazon Prime membership. Delivery usually costs £4.99, so this could save you £20 a month if you get a box every week.

You’ve got to go here and sign in to your Amazon account where you can connect it with your Hello Fresh account. This works if you already use Hello Fresh. You get free delivery for a year if you keep your Prime membership.

[Skimlinks]

Cashback site welcome bonus offers (July 2025)

Get new member bonuses of up to £47.50 combined

If you want to boost your savings when shopping online, there’s a simple way to make money – cashback.

If you’re new to cashback sites, you can nab sign-up offers giving you close to £50 in free cash when you first buy something.

Text saying 'Cashback Deals' and the Be clever with your cash logo on a blue background.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

How cashback sites afford to give you money

Retailers often pay a commission to websites that help them make a sale. Cashback sites simply pay you a cut of this money if you shop with them.

How to get even more money from the cashback sites

Since there are a few of these sites, they’re all competing for you to shop via them – which means they all give incentives to get you to sign up.

So even if you’ve already registered with one, you can sign up with another and shop away.

They all have different custom cashback rates at different shops, so it’s worth signing up for them all and shopping around for the one which will give you the most money.

Right now you could earn a free £30 for doing your shopping as normal, and get further cashback on top. Here are the best ones:

New customer offers

Quidco: £20 bonus when you spend £10

The best deal is for subscribers to our free newsletter who get access to an exclusive £20 first-time bonus when they spend £10. You’ll also get the cashback offered by the retailer on top.

Once you sign up, you’ll need to click on the sign up confirmation email that will be sent immediately. If you don’t see it please check your spam folders as it could be there, and then add our email address to your safe senders list.

Then look for a special email that will be sent to you with the exclusive Quidco sign-up link. Make sure to read the terms and conditions on Quidco’s website before making your first purchase to ensure it tracks.

This offer is due to end 30 September 2025, but will hopefully be extended.

TopCashback: £20 bonus when you spend £10

You can get a £20 new member bonus. You need to spend £10 via one of the retailers listed on TCB to get this bonus (excluding takeaways). You must go via this link or the button below.

Read the full terms and conditions when you click through. Ends 30 September 2025.

JamDoughnut: get £4 for signing up

We’ve managed to snag a cheeky boosted welcome offer for Be Clever With Your Cash readers. You can get £4 extra cashback – double the standard welcome bonus.

It’ll be paid as two sets of 200 points when you make your first purchase.

The first 200 points you get are standard for first-time users of JamDoughnut, while the extra 200 points are for coming through our link. The first 200 points will be instant, while the second ones will take a few days to be added by the JamDoughnut team.

You might be prompted to enter a code. You don’t need to do this as the link will track. But if you want to, then add BCWYC.

Cheddar: £2 for signing up

You can get £2 when you sign up for cashback app Cheddar using the referral code CLEVER2 and buy your first prepaid card. You’ll also get boosted cashback rates for two weeks.

You have to make the purchase within 14 days of signing up using the invite code to get it.

Airtime: £1.50 when you sign up

Another decent cashback site is the app Airtime. New member bonuses are much smaller. You’ll get 50p for signing up with code H9HJCPAY and another £1 when you spend within seven days. Sometimes these are boosted.

Quidco: £10 back when you spend £5

If you’d rather not get our newsletter then you get £10 back with a £5 spend via the sign-up link below.

Existing customer bonuses

From time to time both Quidco and TopCashback offer an extra bonus. You need to activate these deals and they generally only run for a short period of time – often just one day.

Airtime tends to have promo codes you need to enter on the app to get the extra offer.

The best are generic promos which you can gain with any spending. Sometimes they might be for specific retailers or types of service (eg travel or broadband). I’ll share any decent ones I spot here.

Things to watch out for

Cashback is never guaranteed. If your purchase doesn’t track (i.e. there isn’t a record of you buying the item via the cashback site) you won’t get the money.

Here’s how to increase your chances you will get the money:

  • Read the (short) terms and conditions for the sign-up deals, and also the individual shop promotions.
  • Be careful using voucher codes. If they aren’t listed on the cashback page they might stop you getting cashback.
  • Make sure you don’t already have a browser window open for the retailer.

Quidco bonuses: up to £20 for new members (July 2025)

Get free cash when you shop at thousands of shops or other bonuses with these Quidco sign-up bonus offers.

We’re big fans of cashback and – even better – you can often get a bonus when you sign up for the first time.

Quidco is one of the big cashback sites, and we’ll list the best deals here, as well as any other specific cashback deals we think you can’t afford to miss.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Wording that says Quidco with the Be clever with your cash logo on a blue background

What is Quidco?

Quidco is a cashback website that lets you earn money back when you shop through its platform. It works with thousands of retailers across different categories, including fashion, tech, travel and groceries. When you make a purchase through Quidco, a percentage of what you spend is tracked and later paid out as cashback, which you can withdraw to your bank, PayPal, or as a gift card.

First time Quidco user offers

There are regular retailer-specific offers that come and go which could save you £10 or £15 if you buy at those shops. But the two generic offers below are far better as they mean you can spend your money wherever you want on whatever you want.

£20 bonus cashback when you spend £10

The best deal is for subscribers to our weekly newsletter who get access to an exclusive £20 first-time bonus when they spend £10. You’ll also get the cashback offered by the retailer on top.

Once you sign up, you’ll need to click on the sign up confirmation email that will be sent immediately. If you don’t see it please check your spam folders as it could be there, and then add our email address to your safe senders list.

Then look for a special email that will be sent to you with the exclusive Quidco sign-up link. Make sure to read the terms and conditions on Quidco’s website before making your first purchase to ensure it tracks.

This offer is due to end 30 September 2025, but will hopefully be extended

Get £10 cashback when you spend £5, plus extra cashback

This is an ongoing offer that can get you the cashback on any purchase, as long as you spend £5 or more. So if you spend £5 at any of the 5,000+ retailers listed on Quidco – which is pretty much all of them –  you’ll get £10 back plus whatever the cashback rate is. There are so many shops you’ll definitely find a way to get your cashback.

Existing Quidco customer offers

It’s worth looking for bonus cashback deals which can pop up from time to time. You need to click to activate these offers. We’ll add them below when we see them.

Quidco Flashback offers

Often Quidco has boosted cashback known as Flashback that runs for 24 hours. Sometimes we can share them in advance, although they could change or be cancelled. Always check the Quidco homepage for the full terms and conditions. You might also have to activate some offers.

Already with Quidco?

TopCashback also offers new member bonuses. Check out the latest here.

Free cashback offers

Some deals will give you money without actually spending any money:

£3 bonus when you install Quidco reminder (ended)

If you use Chrome as your internet browser you’ll be able to earn a £3 bonus by installing the Quidco Reminder extension, then using it to activate cashback while shopping and spend at least £3. There are a handful of retailers excluded which are listed in the terms and conditions when you click through. The offer comes and goes.

Travel money: Find the best currency exchange rates

Here’s how to get the most Euros, Dollars and more for your Pounds when you’re getting travel cash for your holiday

Looking for the best ways to get your currency? Well, coins and notes aren’t going to be the best way to pay, and I rarely use them. In fact, when I go overseas the bulk of my spending is with a debit or credit card (a fee-free one naturally).

But from giving a tip through to buying from street vendors, not everywhere takes cards – and ATMS can charge per withdrawal. So having some cash with you makes sense, and here’s how you can get the best exchange rates.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Ignore “0% commission” signs

One of the most misleading signs on the high street is the one that says “0% commission”. It makes you think that you’re not getting charged anything to change your cash – but you will be.

Rather than add a commission on top of your swap, the bureau de change will simply set their own exchange rate! You can read more about this in my “Why 0% currency commission is a lie” article.

Don’t get travel money at the airport

Since bureaus and banks are allowed to set their own exchange rates, it makes sense that the worst rates around will be at the airport. Once you’re there, and particularly once you’re through security, there is nowhere else you could go to get travel money than the bureaus in the departure lounge. 

The only workaround if you really have left it too late to go elsewhere is you can order in advance online to collect at the airport, and you’ll get a better rate than just walking up to the booth. You will often need three or four hours notice though.

Compare for the best exchange rates

Instead of just popping to your bank or the Post Office as many do, it’s better to compare all the different rates available in your area. The tool I use for this is Money Saving Expert’s Travel Money Max. You can choose between collection, delivery and even airport collection, and you’ll be shown the best rates.

Your choice will increase massively if you live in London, but you’ll still get a decent range of options elsewhere. Do check whether you need to order in advance to get the rate you see – some will charge you a worse rate if you don’t.

Don’t use a credit card to swap your cash

Once you know where you’ll get your cash, you want to avoid any extra charges on your swap. This means paying with cash or a debit card. That’s because using a credit card is what’s known as a “cash advance“.

With this you’re effectively taking money off your card as cash and then using the cash to make the transaction – even if you don’t actually get your hands on any physical notes and coins to hand over.

Featured savings deal
Trading 212 Cash ISA
AER (variable)
4.98%
Minimum
£1
New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.86% AER to 4.98% for 12 months
More details ▼
Additional Info

Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 4.1%

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in?: Yes

Flexible ISA?: Yes

Get a specialist card for extra cash machine withdrawals overseas

Don’t take too much cash with you. Apart from the risks of losing it, if you don’t spend all of it you’ll get a poor rate when you try to swap it back to sterling. So instead I’d recommend you only take out enough to cover essentials for the first few days – depending on the infrastructure at your destination of course.

Then, if you need more cash, you can use an ATM. Though some of these will have local fees set by the bank you use, you won’t have any charges on the exchange rate at all if you use a specialist card such as Chase or Starling.

Amazon vouchers & deals (July 2025)

From Amazon vouchers and free trials of Amazon Prime to flash sales and tricks for free delivery

Let’s face it, Amazon is probably the one website that most people use pretty regularly, so it helps to have a voucher or discount stored up. Here are the best deals at the moment.

If you’re thinking of reducing how much you use Amazon, check out Andy’s article, which looks at why it can be good to cut back.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

blue background with text that says "Amazon deals"

There are some decent offers throughout the year to watch out for. You won’t be eligible for all of them but it’s worth a look.

Prime Day 2025

Prime Day is Amazon’s big sale just for Prime members. This year, it runs from 8 to 11 July.

It’s important to remember that not all the deals are the best price. Some are simply old stock that needs clearing, while others are often as cheap throughout the year. We’d recommend using uk.camelcamelcamel.com to see the price history before making any purchase

And don’t get caught up spending money just because there’s a sale on. If you don’t actually need it, don’t buy it.

Most offers are product-specific, and we’d encourage you to check for price matching elsewhere, especially on tech like Echo speakers and Ring doorbells.

Prime Day: 8 – 11 July 2025

Amazon is running its special four day sale for Prime members on 8 and 11 July 2025. The summertime deal event could offer the chance to grab a bargain ahead of larger autumn sales such as Black Friday.

It’s worth shopping around and seeing if you can get the same item for less elsewhere, or with added features. If you do buy something at Amazon and the price drops during the sale you can get a refund for the difference.

As always the biggest discounts are on Amazon’s own devices, such as Kindle, Echo, Fire, Eero and Ring. If you’re new to TopCashback you can get an additional £20 bonus plus up to 2.12% back on these devices. We’ll add some here once they launch.

So far you can get:

Amazon Prime membership offers

Amazon Prime is Amazon’s big membership scheme. You can learn more in our comprehensive Amazon Prime review.

It’s worth knowing that even if you’ve had a free trial in the past, it doesn’t mean you can’t get free or cheap offers o rejoin.

30-day free Amazon Prime trial every year

You know the drill here. You get free next day delivery, Amazon Prime Instant Video, access to Amazon Prime Now and loads of other goodies. It’s normally £95 a year but you can get a free 30-day trial.

You will hopefully be able to do this every 12 months, but it’s unclear if this is guaranteed for all customers. You can always try your luck (you never know), but if you’ve not yet taken out a trial, I’d wait until you’ve got a lot of spending coming up, or a big sale such as Prime Day or Black Friday.

99p for one week of Amazon Prime

If you’ve previously had Amazon Prime but aren’t yet eligible again for a second free trial you might be offered a week for 99p. After this you’ll pay full price unless you cancel.

£2 off Prime via O2

If you have an O2 SIM you can now add Amazon Prime to your bill and receive a £2 discount each month. You’ll find the details here.

Amazon Student and 18-22 year-olds: six months free, then £47.49 a year

If you have a student card you should also be able to join Amazon Student. This is essentially Amazon Prime. You get six months free, then 12 months at half price. Amazon might ask for additional proof you are a student. You’ll get the student account for as long as you’re a student or for up to four years.

If you’re between 18 and 22 then you can get this too, but you’ll need to prove your age with a valid driving licence or passport. You can get this account until you’re 23.

Amazon gift card and voucher offers

Snoop: £5 Amazon Voucher

Snoop is an app to help you track your spending. It also analyses your bank date to suggest ways you can save money. Right now there’s an offer to get a £5 Amazon voucher.

You must go via the link below for the offer to track.

Once you’ve downloaded the app and signed up you need to connect a bank or credit card account and stay connected until the end of the following month. The voucher will then be paid.

£20 credit card welcome offer

Sign up for the new Amazon Barclaycard and you’ll get £20 in Amazon credit added to your Amazon account. This may even be more if you’re a Prime member – Prime members can currently get £50 as an early Prime Day deal.

You’ll also earn 1% at Amazon and 0.5% elsewhere, dropping to 0.25% after a year. There are double points during the Black Friday sale.

Free credit when you buy a gift card

This one’s worth trying even if you’ve used a similar promotion. However you can normally only qualify once every couple of years. Check the offer is displayed when you click through. The latest offer we’ve seen offers £6 extra when you buy £60 in gift cards. 

If nothing is displayed, it could mean it’s ended or you’re not eligible. These deals are often extended or return after a short absence.

£5 extra when you top up by £60

Similar to the gift card promotion, here you top up your Amazon account and get some extra credit added. The promo value changes often, but it’s currently £5 when you add £60.

If it is running, it’s only for people who haven’t topped up their account in the last 36 months. Again, this deal can come and go, so it’s worth checking.

Amazon offers

Check eligibility for promotions

You might have personalised Amazon offers. It’ll show you trials and discounts you are eligible for. However, we still think it’s worth looking at the offers above and below in case they don’t show.

£5 off £15 (for some)

Click the button below to see if you’re eligible for a £5 off £15 spend promotion. You’ve 15 days from choosing to ‘activate the offer’ to take advantage.

The offer is running until 31 December 2025.

Prime member offers

Free Kindle book

There are lots of ways to save on Kindle books, but Prime members can also nab one of six titles every month for free via First Reads. There’s normally a mix of genres and once you pick your book you can send it to your Kindle.

Prime Big Deals Day 2025

This sale for Prime members took place on 8 and 9 October 2024. It’s pretty much a carbon copy of Prime Day. As soon as we spot any early offers, we’ll share them below.

As with Prime Day, don’t get carried away. Only buy the things you actually need, and check that they’re decent prices.

Don’t forget you’ll need to be a Prime member to get the offers – but we’ve listed deals above that’ll save you money or perhaps help you get it for free.

October’s Prime Big Deals Day sale (expired)

Amazon is running its special two-day sale for Prime Members on 8 and 9 October 2024. The autumn deal event could offer the chance to grab a bargain ahead of Black Friday and the Christmas sales.

It’s always worth shopping around and seeing if you can get the same item for less elsewhere, or with added features. If you do buy something at Amazon and the price drops during the sale you can get a refund for the difference.

Before the actual day, the offers are mostly on Amazon’s own products and devices.

Early offers include:

  • Discounts on Echo devices – 31% to 58% off.
  • Blink cameras and doorbells – 31% to 61% off
  • Fire TV – 28% to 62% off
  • Kindle Scribe – 24% off (just a few pounds off its cheapest price)
  • Amazon Music Unlimited – get 4 months free (usually one month)
  • discounts on branded gift cards, including Lego, Vue and One4All – details on our gift card deals page

Amazon Black Friday

Black Friday 2024 (ended)

The Black Friday week of deals is at the end of November, but the sale starts before this and carries on after.

You need to have a Prime membership to get early access to the best deals, but the 30-day free trial will give you that.

If you’re after an Amazon device (Echo, Kindle, FireTV, Eero, Ring) then this is likely to be one of the cheapest times to buy.

Amazon Black Friday week 2024 (ended)

Amazon started its Black Friday sales a week early, beginning on Thursday 21 November 2024 and it’ll run until Cyber Monday on 2 December.

Remember to use price history tools to check if something is a good price, and check you can’t get it for less elsewhere.

We’ll update here with the best deals, including:

Amazon Business offers

Every now and then there are offers such as £50 off for new Amazon Business users. I’ll update here as and when.

It can take time to set up the account but you should be approved in around two days.

The best children’s savings accounts

The highest paying easy-access and regular children’s savings accounts and Junior ISAs

Here’s our guide to the best children’s savings accounts. Check the date to see when this was last updated.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Wording that says 'the best children's savings account' with the Be clever with your cash logo on an orange background

Easy access accounts

These can be current accounts for kids or specific children’s savings accounts and are open to anyone under the age of 18. Rates are usually variable, which means they can change, and are often only on a limited amount of money.

With these accounts, your children will be able to manage the money themselves once they reach a certain age.

  • Nationwide FlexOne Saver (5% AER variable on up to £5,000 saved)
    • For 11-17-year-olds
    • Requires a FlexOne current account
    • Can get a Visa debit or a cash card
  • HSBC MySavings (5% AER variable on up to £3,000 saved / 2.25% above this)
    • Min £10
    • Ages 7 to 17
    • Debit card from 11
    • Can be opened online if parent/guardian has HSBC account, otherwise in branch only
  • Virgin Money M Power Savings (5% AER variable on up to £5,000 / 2.25% or 1.75% above this)
    • No minimum or maximum balance
    • Requires an M Power Bank Account
    • Ages 11 to 17
  • Kent Reliance Demelza children’s savings account (4.3% AER variable)
    • Min £10 / max £25,000
    • Under 18 years old only
    • No debit card
    • 0.25% of the average balance of all Demelza accounts given to Demelza Children’s Hospice each year
    • Open it in branch or via post

Regular Savers

These children’s savings accounts pay higher rates but you’re limited on how much you can save each month. Usually, it’s a fixed rate for a year. When the time months is up, the account will close and the money will be transferred to a linked savings account.

Junior ISAs

You or your child can save £9,000 a year in a Junior ISA. These can be cash ones earning interest or stocks and shares ISAs which are invested (meaning the value can go up and down).

Though interest or gains earned in an ISA are tax-free, it’s unlikely it makes much difference as there are other allowances that will be more than enough for most kids.

Money in Junior ISAs is also locked away until the child turns 18. Then it’s their money to use as they want.

Parents or guardians have to open the account but anyone can add money – handy for grandparents and other family members who want to put money aside.

Loughborough Building Society
AER (variable)
4.15%
Minimum
£1
Open account
Via branch or by post
More details ▼
Additional Info

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in: Yes

Coventry Building Society
AER (variable)
4.00%
Minimum
£1
Open account
Via branch or by post
More details ▼
Additional Info

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in: Yes

Leek Building Society
AER (variable)
3.85%
Minimum
£1
Open account
Via branch or by post
More details ▼
Additional Info

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in: Yes

Skipton Building Society
AER (variable)
3.75%
Minimum
£1
Open account
Via branch or by post
More details ▼
Additional Info

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in: Yes

NS&I
AER (variable)
3.55%
Minimum
£1
Open account
Online
More details ▼
Additional Info

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in: Yes

Tax and children’s savings

Andy’s analysis

When choosing a children’s savings account, you probably won’t need to worry about tax on interest.

Children can earn a total of £18,500 from savings and other income each financial year. That’s the £12,500 personal tax allowance, the £5,000 starting savings allowance and the £1,000 personal savings allowance.

However, if parents (and parents only) are adding money to any of the non-tax free accounts then there’s a £100 interest limit each year per parent.

So say the child has £2,000 saved earning 3.75%, they’d make £75 in interest. That’s fine. If they amassed £3,000 in contributions from the same parent the amount earned would be £112.50.

That’s still ok if the money comes from both parents, as the allowances would be combined and the total interest that can be earned would be £200.

But if it’s from one parent, then the entire £112.50 would need to come out of that parent’s Personal Savings Allowance. That might not be a problem – but if it exceeds this, then the whole amount will be subject to tax at the rate the parent pays, which could be 20% or 40%.

To avoid this you might want to save into a Junior ISA.

Other ways to save for kids

Premium Bonds

You can also buy Premium Bonds for children. These cost £1 each, but there’s a minimum purchase of £25. Grandparents are able to buy Premium Bonds, as well as parents and guardians.

The current prize fund is 3.6%, which isn’t the same as 3.6% interest. It’s very likely that with small amounts of cash in Premium Bonds you won’t win anything, but there’s the chance of getting up to £1 million every month.

Pensions

Yep, you can start putting money into a person pension for a child at any age. They won’t be able to access the cash until they reach 57 years old (though that will likely increase when they’re older). However, they can manage where the money is invested from the age of 18.

As with adults adding to pensions, they’ll get 20% tax relief from the government, meaning for every £80 that’s added, £100 will be invested.

There is an annual limit though of £2,880 where you’ll get this extra top-up.

Piggy banks

It can be good to get young kids familiar with coins and money by giving them a piggy bank to save with. Obviously they won’t earn any interest (unless you want to work that out yourself).

Once they get a little older to understand branch and online banking it might make sense to replace the piggy bank with the accounts above.

Apps

Starling offers a free app to help kids learn about money and spending while also giving the parents extra control over purchases called Starling Kite. You can also pay a monthly fee for apps like Go Henry and HyperJar. However, you’re unlikely to get any decent rate of interest from any of these.

The best student bank accounts 2025

The best 0% overdrafts and freebies for students

Choosing the best student bank account is typically about finding the one with the best benefits, such as the size of the interest-free overdraft, then other things, like money management tools, freebies and what’ll happen when you graduate.

Here are the best bank accounts for students in 2025 and what they offer.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

How to choose the best student bank account

When choosing a student account, you typically want to focus on the size of the interest-free overdraft, despite freebies being tempting.

It’s also worth noting that most accounts are designed for three-year courses, so check the terms — especially for the overdrafts — if you have a longer degree.

When looking at your options, these are the key questions to ask.

How big is the 0% overdraft?

A 0% overdraft could be essential to help you get through your time at university. You won’t be charged any interest on the money in there, making them the cheapest way to borrow money.

Of course, you need to be careful about using it and not treat it as free cash as you will have to pay it back. You will generally have a few years after you graduate (and hopefully start working) to do this, but even so, don’t spend this money just because it’s available. 

The lengths of 0% overdrafts change between the banks – and you might not even get the advertised amount. If the wording says the overdraft is “up to” that means you might not get the high sum mentioned in the adverts. 

But it might be best not to go for the largest amount, as the bigger the overdraft the bigger the temptation to use it all. Instead, work out how much you think you’ll need to use and ask for that.

Plus, even if you think you won’t need one at all, it’s worth choosing a bank that offers one and applying for it at the start – you never know how things could change.

Some banks will also increase the size of overdraft each year, though you often have to ask. This means you can’t blow it all in the first year.

However, there could be conditions attached to having one of these fee-free overdrafts, so make sure you read all the T&Cs upfront. It could be something like pay in £500 every term. 

There’s also the chance you could get rejected for the overdraft so check your credit file before applying. Most students won’t have much on their file, but it’s worth making sure there’s nothing wrong there.

And of course, if you spend more than your overdraft allows you may be hit with huge interest charges of around 40%.

What freebies are available?

Freebies typically come in the form of cash, although we’ve seen some accounts offer other things, such as subscriptions, including Headspace. Santander’s been offering a Railcard for years, a great perk if you’re moving further away.

Some of these could save you a fair bit of cash, if you’d have bought them anyway, that is. These should generally be a second deciding factor once you’ve looked at overdraft options.

It also pays to check how much these freebies would cost if you looked around for extra deals and discounts. Often the value advertised is much higher than you’d actually need to pay.

What happens after you graduate?

Banks go all out for your business as a student as they know there’s a good chance you’ll stick with them for the rest of your life – and that’ll make them money. You’ll usually be moved to a Graduate account with the same bank, but you don’t have to stick with them — you could choose a better graduate account or go for bank switching cash or other rewards. You can see the types of offers currently on offer here.

The best bank accounts for students

Here’s our pick of the best accounts to get. You can only have one student account at a time, usually, but you can open up additional standard bank accounts on top. 

You’re also able to switch from your student account to a new one if you want to change banks mid-degree.  However with most, you’ll be subject to a credit check, so don’t apply for these too close to each other.

BankAccount name0% overdraftPerks
Natwest & RBSStudent Bank AccountFirst term: Up to £500
Years 1 & 2: Up to £2,000
Year 3: Up to £3,250
£85 and a 4-year Tastecard
NationwideFlexStudent current accountYear 1: Up to £1,000
Year 2: Up to £2,000
Year 3: Up to £3,000
£100 cash and £120 in Just Eat vouchers
SantanderEdge StudentYears 1-3: £1,500 guaranteed4-year Santander 16-25 Railcard
HSBCStudent AccountYear 1: Up to £1,000
Year 2: Up to £2,000
Year 3: Up to £3,000
2025 perk not announced yet

Up to £3,250 overdraft: Natwest or RBS Student Account

Perk: £85 cash and a 4-year Tastecard

The interest-free overdraft is up to £500 in the first term and then up to £2,000 after this. You can get up to £3,250 in the third year. By offering you an increasing amount, you’ll be able to budget more efficiently and reduce the risk of blowing it all in Freshers’ week.

Natwest and RBS both also offer £85 cash and a free 4-year Tastecard. If you don’t go for this account there are other ways to get cheap or free dining discount memberships.

NatWest/ RBS Student Account

OverdraftUp to £500 in the first term, up to £2,000 in the first year then up to £3,250 in the third year. 
Opening offer£85 and a four-year Tastecard
Bonus paidWithin 10 working days of meeting criteria
RequirementsOpen an account after 1 July 2025
Not have had a student offer from NatWest since 1 July 2021
Lived in the UK for at least three years
Offer endsUnknown

Up to £3,000 overdraft: Nationwide FlexStudent

Perk: £100 cash, one of the largest overdrafts and top ethical choice

The Nationwide student account offers £100 if you open an account after 1 July 2025 and pay in £500 by 12 December 2025. You can’t have had a FlexStudent or FlexGraduate account on 30 June 2025.

This also has one of the largest overdrafts over the course of the degree (NatWest offers up to £3,250 and HSBC also offers up to £3,000). The overdraft builds gradually over your degree, stopping you from blowing it all in one go.

This is so far one of the best student accounts in 2025 due to its large interest-free overdraft and the cash perk. It’s a good choice if you’re worried about the ethics of your bank, too.

Nationwide FlexStudent

OverdraftUp to £1,000 in year one; up to £2,000 in year two; Up to £3,000 in year three
Opening offer£100 cash and £120 in Just Eat vouchers, plus an additional £40 in Just Eat vouchers when you refer friends
Bonus paid14 days after meeting criteria
RequirementsOpen a new FlexStudent account no more than five months before and 12 months after starting your course
Deposit £500 by 12 December 2025 (for the bonus and vouchers)
Deposit £500 every term (for the overdraft)
Not had an open FlexStudent or FlexGraduate account on 30 June 2025
Have been a UK resident for three or more years
Offer endsUnknown

Guaranteed overdraft: Santander Edge Student

Perk: Free 4-year railcard

The Santander Edge Student account offers a guaranteed £1,500 overdraft for the first three years, so it’s a decent option if you want certainty on how much you can borrow. If you study longer it increases to £1,800 in year four and £2,000 if you stay on for a fifth year.

You also get a free four-year 16-25 railcard, a nice option if you are likely to be travelling by rail a lot as it knocks a third of train fares but I’d opt for hard cash instead.

Santander Edge Student

Overdraft£1,500 in years one to three, £1,800 in year four, £2,000 in year five (if still studying)
Opening offer4-year 16-25 Railcard
Bonus paidWithin 5 working days you’ll get a code to redeem the railcard
RequirementsDeposit £500 every term
Have proof of an accepted or unconditional offer
Live in the UK for tax purposes
Offer endsUnknown

Up to £3,000 overdraft: HSBC Student Account

Perk: Not announced for 2025 yet

The HSBC  Student Account has an overdraft of up to £1,000 overdraft in the first year, but you can get up to £1,000 added to your limit further up to £1,000 increases in the second and third year, though you’ll have to ask for it.

HSBC Student Account

OverdraftUp to £1,000 in year one, up to £2,000 in year two, up to £3,000 in year three
Opening offer2024: £125 for existing customers
Not announced in 2025 yet
Bonus paid2024: Within 30 days of meeting criteria
Requirements (2024)Open the account after 15 August 2024
Make 5 debit card transactions within 30 days
Deposit £500 every term
Not had an HSBC Student Account on or after 1 July 2021
Lived in the UK for at least three years
Offer endsUnknown

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Other student accounts

It’s worth checking out these accounts too, some of them offer good overdrafts, but they mainly offer freebies. These might seem more attractive than 0% overdrafts, but if you do need to borrow, an overdraft is probably worth more.

If you’re really not bothered by an overdraft then it’s still worth nabbing one and putting that cash in savings.

BankAccount nameOverdraftPerks
LloydsStudent Current AccountYears 1-3: Up to £1,500Not announced in 2025 yet – in 2024, this was £110 cash and 20% off student union events
HalifaxStudent Current AccountYears 1-3: Up to £1,500Not announced in 2025 yet – in 2024, this was £110 cash
BarclaysStudent Additions AccountYear 1: Up to £1,000
Years 2 & 3: Up to £1,500
Not announced in 2025 yet – in 2024, this was 1 year of Perlego
TSBStudent Bank AccountYears 1-3: Up to £1,500None
Co-opStudent bank accountYear 1: Up to £1,400
Year 2: Up to £1,700
Year 3: Up to £2,000
None

How to get a student bank account

You have to be over 18 and living in the UK to get any student bank account, and most will require you to be at the start of your first year to get the freebie. 

You’ll need to show ID such as a passport, driving licence or birth certificate. You’ll also need to bring along proof of your acceptance to the uni or college – possibly your UCAS letter or university acceptance letter.

You don’t need to wait until you get to your university to open the account, so doing it now before you head off means you can get your bank card and PIN sent out and your online banking set up in advance.

Can I have more than one student account?

Most of the time you can only have one “student” account, this is usually laid out in each bank’s T&Cs – you’ll likely not get the perk or overdraft if you try and attempt it. 

You could potentially open one of these accounts to get the freebie, then close it down and open up another one (or switch it). You’ll need to do this within the stated timeframes to get any perks, and it’s worth double-checking the T&Cs of each account to make sure you’re allowed.

There’s nothing stopping you from opening another bank account that’s not got the “student” perks – keep reading for more on these.

Can I switch my student bank?

You can switch your student bank account to any other account of your choosing, whether that’s another student account with another bank or a standard current account. This is as long as the bank is part of the Current Account Switching Service.

In some cases, this can get you an extra perk, so it could be worthwhile.

If you want to switch after you’ve graduated, this is possible too, just be careful about trying to switch if you’re overdrawn, as you may wind up paying overdraft fees.

Can I earn interest on my savings?

Though some of the student accounts will offer interest on money in the account, they are quite limited and not a reason to pick one account over another.

However, if you think you’ll have more money available or don’t think you’ll need to use all of your overdraft, then you could look at other savings accounts.

Just be careful not to lock it away if you think you’ll need to access your savings.

Could you stooze your overdraft?

Stoozing is where you borrow money at 0% and put that cash into savings. Normally it’s via a specialist credit card – but you don’t need to do that when you have an interest-free overdraft.

To take advantage you simply transfer the money from your current account to a top-paying savings account. Putting £1,000 into a 5% paying account will earn you £50 in interest in a year.

If you’re confident you won’t need to use the money at all then you can get higher rates by fixing your savings.

If you do this, make sure you have enough cash in the bank to cover your everyday spending. 

Alternative to student accounts

The bulk of the specialist student current accounts will have perfectly decent apps. But if you want one that’ll help you budget or have more advanced features you’ll want to look at digital banks Starling, Chase or Monzo.

They have a number of features that will help you do things like keep track of your spending, split your money by purpose (e.g. bills, going out, groceries) and it’s also a lot easier to set alerts for when your balance is getting low.

However, none of these offer specific student accounts and therefore don’t have a 0% overdraft. Instead, they could be a good secondary account alongside a high-street bank, getting you the best of both worlds.  

I suggest using one of these as your day-to-day bank or everyday spending, transferring over a set amount to spend each week from the student account with an overdraft.

They’re also decent bets for spending abroad, whether studying overseas or on holiday.

You don’t have to stick with just a student account. You can open one with other features at another bank to use in addition.