Hi all,

Was just wondering if anyone knows what happens about your stipend when you finish. I have submitted, and have my viva in a few weeks. Just before then, I will also start working full time. My uni have emailed asking me to confirm my job start date so they can stop my stipend. The thing is, they have already paid my April stipend into my account.

So my question is, will I have to pay back the 'remainder' of the April stipend, i.e. from the date I start work? I get paid in advance for my stipend but won't get my first pay packet from my job until the end of April (and then it will only be 2 weeks worth of pay), so there will be a gap of a couple of weeks where I won't have anything to live on!! Does anyone have any experience of this, and will the uni let me keep the last couple of weeks stipend even though I am working?

Thanks in advance

:-)

Depends on how efficient your university is - mine didn't even realise they had paid me double in the last month. That was a few years ago and I haven't heard a peep from them since.

Thanks, I'm really hoping they'll just say 'it's ok, just keep the rest of the month's stipend and we'll stop it from may' but I've had a couple of emails asking me for details of my job so I think they are on the ball unfortunately!!!

I think it depends on the university. My understanding was if I finished in advance of the funding, the funding would cease (and so since I couldn't get a job I made sure I wasn't going to submit before the funding finished as it pays more than benefits and why rush to be on the dole?). I've heard of others who submitted before the funding period but received funding for the full three years. My advice would be to ask around your university.

I think it depends on the university. My understanding was if I finished in advance of the funding, the funding would cease (and so since I couldn't get a job I made sure I wasn't going to submit before the funding finished as it pays more than benefits and why rush to be on the dole?). I've heard of others who submitted before the funding period but received funding for the full three years. My advice would be to ask around your university.

Thanks Delta. I know they would let me keep the stipend until my official end date, even if I had finished my phd entirely, as long as I wasn't working elsewhere and was either doing viva prep or working on papers from my thesis. However, now they know I have employment to go to, I am just wondering how precise they will be, ie. will they let me keep April's stipend or will they only let me keep the pro rata amount until the date in April when my job starts.

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It sounds to me like your uni is quite efficient, if that's not a contradiction in terms! A pro-rata agreement probably is the fairest. If they really insist on getting the money back try and enter into an agreement with them how to repay it. If they are pushing you for details of your new employment it does sounds like they are intent on getting their money back.

In my situ, I submitted the month of my final stipend although I know of somebody who submitted early but still was paid 'til the end, no questions asked. As far as we knew, our monies had been drawn down at the start of our three years (almost in a locked safe somewhere) so maybe that was the difference?