Did a lot of digging on the sites you suggested, but nothing much doing. Wrote to a few potential supervisors in different unis, and although the response has generally been helpful and most seem interested (I was particularly impressed with the UEA response, as although the lecturer said that my topic was outside of her area of expertise, she nevertheless passed on some very helpful suggestions), they all mentioned that funding may be a problem. From what I can gather from the responses, my best bet of funding might be at my present uni. My supervisor seems confident that I have a very good chance of funding, and is helping me to polish my proposal to that effect, but its always nice to have fall back position if possible.

Was thinking of applying to Oxford also, as I (just about) meet their entry requirements (high 2:1 + Distinction. strangely, Cambridge asks for a First + Distinction), and they say they fully fund about 75% of their students, and acceptance rate for my topic is about 1 in 4. Not sure if that is thinking above my station, though. Plus they want 75 quid for an application.

There are very few fully funded projects for PhDs outside of the various RC DTPs/DTCs in the social sciences. I did spend countless hours searching. I'd be eternally grateful if you could point me to a few adverts, as I need a back-up plan in case the ESRC application doesn't get through. The RC deadlines are just ridiculous.

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I would not recommend a self funded route at all, but I just want to say that in respect to conference funding, this last bit isn't accurate in my experience.

I was a funded student with no provision for conference fees in my funding package, However, I went to 1 major international conference and several smaller national ones during my PhD. I was funded by the alumni association and several scientific societies and didn't spend a penny of my own money in order to go.

Also, no one apart from your supervisors knows how you are funded unless you tell them.[/quote]

I was just quoting the advice given to me by my MA personal tutor, who also happen to the PGR director of the department. He said that there tend to be a two-tier structure between the funded and self-funded PhD students, and knocked the idea of my going down the self-funded route via the £ 25 K, 3-year PhD loan due to start in 2018.

He suggested applying to another department within the same school, and a couple of other unis fairly nearby. Luckily I managed to scarped a distinction, and found a supervisor in another department who is at present bending over backwards in trying to get me an ESRC funded place. Fingers crossed!

This next bit is OT and a whine. What is the rationale for the ridiculous early deadlines for those RC funding applications? Deadline is usually in Jan/early Feb, which means that applications, with a proposal, need to be planned in November, and submitted by December. Not really doable for those us returning to education after a long lay-off. The system forces most of us to skip a year, and whereas that might be good for the youngsters, its a waste of of a year for us oldies who can ill-afford to waste another year.

Getting someone to take you on isn't really the problem. Funding is. It is extremely unlikely that you can get a funded place with those grades. So the question is, do you really want to do a self-funded PhD, with all the hardships that it entails? The proposed loan starting in the 2018 academic year will help a little, but £25 K over 3 years isn't a lot to live on after tuition fees of around £4.3 K a year.

I was advised by my personal tutor to forget the self-funded route, as my department does not have any money for funded PhD places for the next few years when I was considering that option. Apart from the hardship and debt, self-funded PhD students (unless personally very rich) tend to be considered second class citizen within the graduate school, with little chances of conference trips etc., which would add to the already stressful nature of PhD study.

Good luck with your quest.

I am 54. Just finished my masters with a distinction, after over 25 years out of education. I have found a supervisor in another department willing to take me on and is giving me feedback on how to polish my proposal in order to get funding. I think the idea is to do something that they are passionate in. My advice is to keep searching online for potential supervisors, and tailor your research to their area of interest. Good luck with your quest.

Of course, for older students returning to education, non-honours degree courses were once offered by some institutions, so a non-honours degree need not denote failure at the final year in England.

While it may be true that a basic pass at Mater's level may not affect your chances of getting on to some PhD programmes, I think some of the better Unis do expect passes at the merit level. In addition, if you are applying for funded PhD, then I would say that you would need at least a very high merit to stand any chance, and in most cases, they expect a distinction.

I think you have a case fort lodging an appeal on procedure grounds, but do check with the regulations in the degree handbook. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.