How can I build my credit score?

[Bellman Tumasang]

I am 17 turning 18 in May. How can I start building my credit score when I turn 18 as eventually I want to borrow money to invest in real estate.

I’ve done research and found out that things like paying off credit cards and paying rent on time can boost it. By the way I’m in the UK living in London.

I’m thinking about signing up to Experian when I’m 18 to check my score. The thing is I have debit cards but not a credit card as I’m not yet 18 so do I have a credit score? Is it free and simple to check my score?

I am doing A-Levels and am in my last year. A-Levels are 2 years in the UK. I am planning to attend Sheffield Hallam University in September as I have got a conditional offer there (min 112 UCAS points which can be achieved by a BBC roughly)

I have applied for a student loan and am going to open a new student bank account soon to take advantage of the interest free overdraft and other features which may help me in building my credit score.

Any suggestions?