The Official Funding questions/moans/possible joy Thread

History. Your 2:1 is not good; apparently Research Councils now rule out everybody without a first. If you have a master with distinction and good experience, it could perhaps compensate your 2:1, but it didn't work for me. Maybe you have more funding options in your fields though.

Just in case this puts anyone off - this isn't true. A decent proportion of the 35 people on my nerc DTP got 2:1s and a number also got merits at masters level. They've also just changed the application system so more people come in straight from undergraduate.

The research council can't call the shots on who is admitted- that's pureley down to the uni. There's anything ranging from mine where Oxbridge is given no more credit than any other uni and you can get in with a 2:1 or straight from undergraduate, then there's ones like imperial where pretty much 100% of them went to imperial/Oxbridge.

It's true for the ESRC/AHRC.

Really? I doubt it given a friend of mine just got into an ESRC funded PhD with a 2.1 :/

Yes - they definitely don't rule it out, but as far as I know (I'm a few years out of the loop on this one) you're more likely to get funded with a first. In my cohort it was something like a 3:1 ratio of firsts to 2.1s, but things may have changed with the introduction of DTCs, I don't know. I certainly think that if you have a 2.1, a cracking proposal, relevant non-academic experience etc you should apply, but be aware that this may be something you need to justify in some way.

Well obviously.
I never disputed that, it's just not impossible. I was told by so many people before my PhD that its nearly impossible to get NERC funding without a1st, preferably from Oxbridge. It was really depressing and counter productive. In the end I was offered a place on by far the best DTP I applied for...

I was also never asked to justify my 2:1, seemed like with a good distinction action at masters they weren't bothered so much about undergrad. May be the fact my dissertation supervisor is renowned for being atrociously awful though lol.

I think DTPs have made it easier for more normal people to get on to be honest.

Well, you had a distinction at MA - I was assuming we were talking about the 1+3 model for the ESRC, where it's maybe not so obvious to applicants that it's still worth a go with a 2.1. So in case it wasn't clear, I was agreeing with you...


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I will say that my own experience with the AHRC (I don't know anything about the ESRC or any of the others) is that it's overwhelmingly given to people with firsts. The only person I can think of at my university who has an AHRC award with a 2.1 is a former undergrad of the same institution, so there was an element of in-house 'bias' there. Of course, this is just a snapshot of what I've experienced, and things will be different in each university. But here the competition is such that you really need to be something amazing in some other respect to get one if you have a 2.1, there are just too many well-qualified (on paper anyway) applicants for each scholarship. Having a distinction at Master's level would definitely help, but unless you're applying after you've finished the Master's, committees will just have your undergrad results as the only completed degree thus far.

I will also note though that my experience of the AHRC has been with the 'open' funding where you just apply with your own project. From my encounters with AHRC studentships that are offered as part of funded projects, I have seen a handful of these go to people with 2.1s. Usually these projects are so specific and looking for people with very particular interests and skills, and so if you can demonstrate how your idea would contribute to the overall project, that seems to be most important.

Just my two cents anyway. Funding is such a minefield, and what is true at one institution could be very different elsewhere.

I'd also say it can change dramatically year on year. My PHD programme took on students from different disciplines under the broad heading of earth sciences. First year they took people on in the same ratios in which they applied. This year they took on more geologists/physical scientists even though less applied, so it was a lot more difficult for natural scientists to get in as it was like 10 applicants to every place as opposed to 2 for physical scientists.

Absolutely, it's the same within disciplines of my own subject - sometimes more studentships seem to go to one particular area in a particular year, and although sometimes it's an attempt to 'balance out' the different fields, sometimes there seems to be no pattern at all! Applicants don't see the internal pressures and debates concerning how funding is allocated, and so the process becomes even more opaque.

Any news about the student loans for 2016/17?

These ones.... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-30293964

It was a coalition promise - so its effectively been dumped by the election result.

We will ensure that if you want to go to university, you can. This year, for the first time, over half a million people have been admitted to our universities, including a record proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. From September, we will go even further, abolishing the cap on higher education student numbers and removing an arbitrary ceiling on ambition. Our reforms to university funding mean you do not have to pay anything towards tuition while studying, and only start paying back if you earn over £21,000 per year. We will ensure the continuing success and stability of these reforms, so that the interests of both students and taxpayers are fairly represented. We will also introduce a national postgraduate loan system for taught masters and PhD courses. We will ensure that universities deliver the best possible value for money to students: we will introduce a framework to recognise universities offering the highest teaching quality; encourage universities to offer more two-year courses; and require more data to be openly available to potential students so that they can make decisions informed by the career paths of past graduates.

I have an AHRC funding interview on Wednesday! :-) No idea what to expect though, and it's only 20 minutes long and described as an "admissions/funding" interview!

Does anyone have any more info about the govt. loans for masters?