Getting a PhD with a MA pass?

Hey all! It's been quite a long time since I've been around.

So I recently finished my Masters degree, and much to my dismay I only get a pass (59%, literally 1% away!). There were extenuating circumstances that were well documented affecting me negatively throughout the course of my MA (In my first time I was getting 70+ on every piece of coursework, but it went down as the situation got worse), and my academic supervisors/references would be able to provide evidence as such.

My goal has been to, after completely my MA, do a PhD and either become a professor myself, or to perform research work: but that seem much harder now. In my UG I got a 2:2 (again with extenuating circumstances), and with the Pass from my Masters it's seeming less likely.

So whats the verdict? Is it still possible to get accepted for a PhD with these grades? I know that getting a funded PhD is almost definitely off of the table because of it, meaning I may have to get by on government loans, but if necessarily I'm willing to do so!

I guess it depends a bit on what the extenuating circumstances are, and what the scale/type of impact was. Any admissions officer and funding panel will have to consider whether you have the strength of academic foundation to complete a PhD successfully. So, for example, if you had two random events that impacted the day of written exams, and so you dinged those grades, against a background of strong coursework grades, then you might get an offer and funding. However, if it has been long-term issue that, notwithstanding promises of potential, mean you have missed large chunks of the foundational learning and practice, then you aren't likely to be competitive.

For the most part it was diagnosed mental health issues, that have since been diagnosed and treated. I was hit by pretty severe depression in the final year of my undergrad, and it made a return (in part due to covid) in the latter terms of my MA. I guess that I'm mostly afraid of my application being automatically denied due to my grades before I have the chance to discuss this honestly!