Raymond Ogidi, 22, and Oluwakayode Salawu, 21, said they stole almost £5,000 from the Bradford and Bingley branch in Hertford to finance their studies.
Ogidi was planning to go on a computer course at Leicester University and Salawu was studying business at London Metropolitan University when they carried out the raid last August. The court heard that Salawu approached the customer service desk and told a woman staff member to open the safe, but instead she activated a timer locking the safe for 10 minutes.
Sheryl Nwosu, prosecuting, said: "Mr Salawu then threw a bag across the counter and ordered her to fill up the bag with cash from the till." He managed to collect £4,900 in cash before Ogidi, who had been acting as a lookout, shouted a warning.
The pair fled but it took police just 20 minutes to catch them after a security device hidden in the batches of cash exploded, sending smoke billowing from the bag and spraying both men with red dye. Yesterday Daniel Jones, defending Ogidi, said he had only decided to join the robbery on the spur of the moment.
Philip Sutton, defending Salawu, said his client had struggled to meet the cost of his course at London Metropolitan University.
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