The Official Funding questions/moans/possible joy Thread

I applied to do an MA at UEL starting this september but it was a really late decision and a really late application. I seem to have missed any deadline for funing that may have been going so I am considering a Proffessional and Career development loan. Has anyone else used them/ even considered one?? Good look to everyone else that isstarting in September too!!

Hi,

I'm just wondering about English funding - specifically for a research-preparation Masters. I'm aiming to start in 2011 (just finished my undergrad; taking a compulsory year out because of serious health problems), and everything I've heard about the AHRC situation has been... less than confidence-inspiring. Just how well does one have to have done, in English, in order to make getting funding a realistic possibility?

I have a general sense of the recent directions that scholarship has taken in my probable field, but turning that into the kind of 'sexy' project reportedly required by AHRC feels like a very difficult task indeed.

Any advice would be really appreciated.

It will depend where you want to study, but you are in a strong position (graduating from Oxford) assuming you have a high 2.1 or first. If you know what you want to do then the next step is to find someone who can supervise you (even if that is not actually the case) then write a strong research proposal and have good references. There is no magic formula so you have to spread yourself out a bit; application competition might be strongest at Oxford because of its prestige, for example, but I believe York has the most AHRC awards in English.

Thanks! I did not know that about York - will definitely look into it.

I did get a first, but according to the university websites I've been browsing, that is no longer any guarantee of automatic funding. (I was vaguely aware of this from friends' experiences, but it takes on a whole new aspect when it's oneself. Although I realise it must be Funding 101 to the people on here!) I don't know my ranking, but I'm guessing it will be respectable-but-nowhere-near-stellar.

Hello all. I've applied for the AHRC studentship competition, and it just occurred to me that I haven't actually applied to the university for the MA I was intending to study. It's the same university I did my undergraduate degree. My tutor never mentioned anything about it, and as she'd put me forward for the funding I just sort of presumed I'd be accepted onto the course if I was awarded funding. But will it go against me if I've not been formally offered a place?

I didn't even manage to get a first (0.42 of a mark off - ouch!) so I'm presuming it's game over anyway...

Does anyone have experience of applying for grants from charities/other organisations. It is going to be my only option if I do the course full-time in a year. If not I will have to do it over three years somewhere else to get accreditation

People on TSR might be in awe of Oxford/Cambridge firsts, but if that were the case then they would all walk into funding before anyone else- which isn't how it pans out in reality. For history, there are eight times as many UK firsts as there are places for PhDs and double that for masters, and I gather for English it'll be something similar. Getting a first at Oxford is no mean feat though, so it will carry weight, but as you're probably aware that's only part of the application. Some exceptional references and your best essay for the writing sample will certainly help matters. I think, if you spread your net fairly wide and aren't set on one department, then you should be fine for PhD, although masters has half the places and more applicants- even if in practice there's very few who get masters funding that don't get PhD funding. I ended up with a college scholarship at Balliol, not RPM funding, since history had one allocated to my program in a 1+3 scheme and it went to a student already with a masters as a +3 instead. When I came to look for PhD funding, I cast the net much wider, although still with my preferences, and found out I got a few offers. For your D.Phil, and with Oxford already on your CV, I don't think there's much to be gained from staying- IF it's for the name alone. If you're working with a more relevant supervisor/research group/department, then when it comes to get a job that will be recognised, so it shouldn't hold you back. If it's not a good match for your thesis, that's another matter, but I know of people rejecting Oxford for Aberyswyth and Sheffield for various programs for the right reasons. If you can take the hit on the masters funding and not limit your options to just your top 2/3 departments, then you'll be in a good position to compete, I think. I spoke with Paul Kennedy at Yale about a PhD for a while, and we decided that the American system didn't really benefit British students so much, and my research would be better off in the UK. The university name in arts/humanities research isn't all that important, although a well known group obviously is an advantage. It's a bit of a moot point anyway, since only the best 30 or so departments out of 100 have any AHRC money anyway.

My advice would be to get in touch with your tutors at Oxford in the areas you're interested in and ask them which academics at other universities would be suitable supervisors, then you can get in touch with them too. They all understand that funding is often make or break, and actually students are the big beneficiaries of the BGP system, because you can apply to more than one place, previously in the open competition you had to put all your eggs in one basket.

People on TSR might be in awe of Oxford/Cambridge firsts, but if that were the case then they would all walk into funding before anyone else- which isn't how it pans out in reality. For history, there are eight times as many UK firsts as there are places for PhDs and double that for masters, and I gather for English it'll be something similar. Getting a first at Oxford is no mean feat though, so it will carry weight, but as you're probably aware that's only part of the application. Some exceptional references and your best essay for the writing sample will certainly help matters. I think, if you spread your net fairly wide and aren't set on one department, then you should be fine for PhD, although masters has half the places and more applicants- even if in practice there's very few who get masters funding that don't get PhD funding. I ended up with a college scholarship at Balliol, not RPM funding, since history had one allocated to my program in a 1+3 scheme and it went to a student already with a masters as a +3 instead. When I came to look for PhD funding, I cast the net much wider, although still with my preferences, and found out I got a few offers. For your D.Phil, and with Oxford already on your CV, I don't think there's much to be gained from staying- IF it's for the name alone. If you're working with a more relevant supervisor/research group/department, then when it comes to get a job that will be recognised, so it shouldn't hold you back. If it's not a good match for your thesis, that's another matter, but I know of people rejecting Oxford for Aberyswyth and Sheffield for various programs for the right reasons. If you can take the hit on the masters funding and not limit your options to just your top 2/3 departments, then you'll be in a good position to compete, I think. I spoke with Paul Kennedy at Yale about a PhD for a while, and we decided that the American system didn't really benefit British students so much, and my research would be better off in the UK. The university name in arts/humanities research isn't all that important, although a well known group obviously is an advantage. It's a bit of a moot point anyway, since only the best 30 or so departments out of 100 have any AHRC money anyway.

I was not really in awe of an Oxford first, but realistically other universities want to attract the best students. In terms of AHRC funding in English, at least in the early stages, having a first from Oxford will separate the person in question from other applicants; if they have a good research proposal then I would say she will get funding.

I was not really in awe of an Oxford first, but realistically other universities want to attract the best students. In terms of AHRC funding in English, at least in the early stages, having a first from Oxford will separate the person in question from other applicants; if they have a good research proposal then I would say she will get funding.

I applied to do an MA at UEL starting this september but it was a really late decision and a really late application. I seem to have missed any deadline for funing that may have been going so I am considering a Proffessional and Career development loan. Has anyone else used them/ even considered one?? Good look to everyone else that isstarting in September too!!

Applied for a loan at Barclays 2 weeks ago. Have not heard from them yet. Fingers crossed. Will post here how it goes but as far as I have red here that its sort of a lottery, if we trust this information. Some could get with rather bad financial situation, some couldnt even though the finance looks fine. Not sure about myself as Im not british, whihc i assume isnt a plus to the application even though i have lived here for enough time.

Good luck to you if you consider to apply!

Hi, I wonder if anybody knows anything about charities that could support students in PG study? I don't like to be so arrogant about being given the chance to continue to study but I was really quite surprised to get absolutely no funding at all. I graduated from Manchester University in Art History a year ago with a very high first, high enough to get me into the top 30 of the whole university that year and with £1000 prize. Encouraged by my tutors, I took a year out to apply for PG study, and now I'm at the point where all the institutions I applied for didn't offer me anything at all. I didn't really expect to get the AHRC studentship for any of them as that is so competitive, but I thought I might at least get course fees.
Now really I think my only option is the Courtauld Institute, as Oxford's college fees is really an extra £2000 for nothing, but thinking how I will fund London accommodation is a bit of a worry, even with a part-time job (I live up north in Blackpool so can't commute like I did to Manchester). The Courtauld's scholarship page links to http://www.charitychoice.co.uk/ but I can't really work out why, since the charities there seem to have slightly more worthwhile causes than helping individual students keep writing about medieval art.

I have been reading this thread for a while so I know about Career Development Loans and all that, and since there's not been any discussions about charities I would guess its kind of a long short. But at least it's a bit of an example to anyone who thinks they are a shoe-in for some sort of funding, as I would say (with caution) my high first was the equivalent of a regular Oxbridge first, as Manchester does have a well respected Art History department. Although, that said, it did seem at some points I was in a very small minority in the undergraduates who actually showed interest in the subject they were studying.