Hi all,
I graduated in 2009 with a First in English and I've now decided that I'm committed to Postgraduate study. My aim is to do my PhD so I'll be looking to get onto a Masters (research track) - hope that's the correct terminology!
Basically I would like to get an idea of how likely I am to receive funding from the AHRC. Do most students receive funding or do most self-fund? Like a lot of students, the idea of self-funding a PhD fills me with horror, so I just want a rough idea of what to expect...

Thanks in advance for any advice! It's much appreciated. :-)

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The odds of getting AHRC funding in the humanities are very slender. When I first applied for the AHRC for a PhD in 2006 the odds were something like 22% of applications got funded at my institution. I did not secure funding the first time and applied again the following year and got the AHRC doctoral funding for 2 years. I was fortunate to get money for the last year from a German funding body that required moving overseas.

I would strongly advise against self-funding a humanities PhD. I found it stressful enough in my first year - yet alone self funding for 3+ years. it was very difficult to pay bills and eat properly and even though I worked 30 hours a week for money whilst doing a full time PhD I still had to pay off the MA loan that I took out for my self-funded MA. It was an utter nightmare. I have psoriasis for months and lost a lot of weight. Not good.

Yes, one can love their subject - but in a pragmatic sense self-funding a humanities PhD to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds could be a phyrric victory. Year pass, money spent - and in this market one might be better with the work experience.

Base your judgement on the following: if you had to pay for your own PhD would it still be worth it if you don't get an academic job at the end?

I mean no disrespect to anybody who does self-fund and I know that there are many dedicated PhD students that do that.

I applied further back in time, in 2004, and the odds for the open AHRC competition then were 1 in 5. I was extremely lucky to win funding. I had a distinction in my Masters (which I self-funded), and had already started the first year of my part-time PhD, and had Research Assistant experience. All of these made me look like a very strong candidate even though I'd left an EPSRC-funded full-time computer science PhD 8 years earlier.

I know lots of people who self-fund all the way through: it's very common in my department for people to do part-time PhDs, and very very few people have any sort of funding. And they can be successful. But it's aiming to complete for a whole different set of reasons (few of them going into academia for example), it's extremely hard to do, and is obviously expensive. So needs to be weighed up carefully.

It is so incredibly difficult to say - I got AHRC funding for my MA, but although I have a first class BA and a distinction at MA I was unsuccessful in obtaining AHRC funding for my PhD due to my research being slightly too quantatitive for AHRC but too qualitative for ESRC lol. I'm very fortunate in that I was awarded a dept scholarship that covers my fees and another scholarship that gives me a small bursary (less than half what I'd get from the AHRC) so AHRC isn't everything - there are other options, tons of them but you have to do your homework and search for them. Ask in your dept what their funding situation is, but also bear in mind that funding application deadlines are very early - they are well passed for this coming academic year. It will also depend on the size of the block grant for your proposed dept, how many AHRC funded places are available and also, to be perfectly frank, who else puts in a proposal!
It really is one of those 'how long is a piece of string' questions. I also know several people in my dept who are all self funding - some part time and working, some somehow surviving full time - but its hard, really hard. If its what you want and you can afford it its worth it I think, but it all depends on your personal situation. What is certain though is that within the humanities funded PhDs are very very hard to come by, its a different world in the sciences.

you don't have to rely on only ahrc - many universities offer their own scholarships and bursaries. i applied for three different types of funding at three universities - i was offered a university scholarship for a 1+3 - having more than one place in mind broadens your options. i was told that much of it lies in thw quality and orginality of your research proposal plus demonstrating that you're the only one who can do it!
hope this helps :)

I have missed the chance of AHRC funding for my MSc in Creative Advertising. How much would the lucky successful candidates get on this scheme and what would it cover?

I'm looking into other avenues but it feels like I've missed out on something special.

AHRC funding is hard to get and having a first is no guarantee that you'll be one of the lucky ones. I'd recommend having a back plan to ensure that you still have the funds to do an MA should you be unsuccessful.