Hello and sorry to annoy anyone with my ignorance...

I am currently an undergraduate, considering applying for the MPhil/PhD course in comparative politics at Oxford. I would only be able to do this if I got ESRC funding.

Is there any hope for a student with a first from a non-prestigious university, with no relevant work placement/internship to my name, to get 1+3/2+2 ESRC funding?

Is it harder to get 1+3 funding than 3 funding?

I have read on here that your research proposal is really important. But I presume I would be considering and developing my project during my first year. Would I have to have already come up with something by the time I apply to have a chance of getting funding?

I have read a lot of posts about applying for advertised PhDs, which sems to imply a specific topic and funding. Is this more common in the sciences than in the social sciences? I haven't really come across these for Politics, but maybe I'm not looking in the right places.

Thank you for any info. I have been through the relevant websites but am still confused about these things.