I agree, PhDs are very different than taught courses as you have no specific cohort, and everyone is doing very different things. COVID has only made PhD isolation worse, as this means that PhD students aren't necessarily in the city where their university is based either.

I make sure to touch base with other PhD students and my non-PhD friends at least twice a week (if not once a day), otherwise I get stuck in my own head.

It depends what else the application asks for. If you are required to include a CV, make sure it's crystal clear and emphasises transferable skills. Otherwise, it's a case of building your profile with relevant courses, knowledge and experience.

Studentships are competitive, so you'll inevitably be up against people with firsts and distinctions in their degrees - therefore, you need to focus on making your personal statement and proposal the best they can possibly be.

I'm just coming to the end of Year 1 of my PhD in a humanities subject in the UK. I have enquired about getting teaching experience with my department, but the short answer is: "We don't have enough TA spots to go around; keep a look out of emailed advertisements, but don't hold your breath".

I have noticed that my department seems to prioritise current/former TAs (by not advertising posts and just reoffering them to the PhD students who taught the exact same modules/seminars last year), rather than allowing new students a chance. No PhD students at my university are getting enough teaching hours to qualify to do the PgCertHE, but any experience is better than none.

I am worried about my employability within academia if I have no teaching experience under my belt come completion, so I was wondering if anyone else has been in the same situation, or has advice on what to do? I don't have another university local to me who offers the subject I could teach in, so I can't offer my services elsewhere.

Your perspective on the literature review is accurate, but I think you're a bit confused about what a theoretical framework is. A theoretical framework is where you place your specific research problem/question within a pre-existing theory in order to create hypotheses, or develop your own theoretical framework from a combination of related theories which becomes the literal framework you use to structure your inquiries.

If they let you change topic, will they still allow you to study for 3 years, or is the year you've done now lost? Also, will changing topic affect your funding situation? Will this also affect your supervisory arrangements? Those are three pretty vital questions, which once answered, should help you make your decision.

Generally, I think people do enjoy their own research project more than pre-proposed ones, but it can depend on the discipline, how complicated you want your project to be etc.

Maybe think about why you're doing a PhD in the first place: if you don't want an academic career, then will it help you in other ways? If it presents more losses than benefits, realistically it might be worth considering leaving.

I know this might be a stupid question, but can't you remove the blue line? Or re-colour it into grey/black?

If not, you can sometimes print the thesis yourself and go to a binders after, but you'll need to contact the binders ahead of time to ask 1) if it's possible, and 2) if you need to format the document in a particular way (e.g. put a thicker margin on the left side).

In addition to MALVOR87's great advice, I recommend the book 'The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research' by Petre & Rugg. I believe there is a free pdf version available if you Google it.