thank you so much everyone - I didn't have to formally enrol I don't think - or if I did I wasn't told of it. The MA they have advised, and that I want to do, is not offered at the university that I started the PhD at.

I have an appt with the student union on Thursday. Thanks again as I've had some really horrible responses on another forum.

Long story short... I'm dropping out of my PhD course, partially on the advice of my supervisors who feel that I should do an MA first. I think I should be refunded most (if not all) of my tuition because:

a) the course was not as advertised - they do modules/assignments which is not typical of a PhD but this is not made clear when you sign up.

b) I wasn't told when the modules took place so I ended up missing out on them as by the time I found out, some had passed and others I was at work.

c) It took them a year to tell me that I should do an MA - if I didn't meet the requirements of the course I feel they should have identified this sooner.

However I don't want to burn my bridges in case I want to apply for jobs there in the future or for courses. Even though I have been very unhappy on/with the course I don't want to upset anybody.

What are other people's experiences?

thank you everyone - have had a look and there are no local research assistant jobs but I will keep an eye out as that does sound appealing. I do worry that it would be just as bad at a different university.

Someone on TSR told me I can't just leave things off my academic CV because they don't look good.... I wouldn't include it though. I leave things off my CV, such as jobs that just aren't relevant anymore - I worked in retail for years but now I have work experience in libraries etc I don't need it.

Don't I need a PhD to be a research assistant?

Thank you everyone. I really don't know what to do - maybe I should just stick it out.

It's just making me miserable..... they don't tell me when the lectures are, I missed all the modules at the beginning of the semester. They don't tell me anything really, I feel like I'm constantly playing catch-up. I've tried telling them that I'm not happy, tried talking to student rep, student union etc but no one has been very helpful.

I am really unhappy with the way my PhD course is being run..... it's just not the right fit for me I don't think.

I would like to quit, do an MA and then apply for a funded PhD, do self-funded if I can't get funding.

But I am being told be some people that no university would consider giving me a PhD if I have an "abandoned" PhD on my CV. Now a) I have had a couple of interviews for funding in MA and PhD and they haven't seemed bothered, and b) surely I could just leave it off my CV as I don't want to be badmouthing the university, seeming like I blame them etc.

Is it true though that I will struggle to be accepted for a PhD if I quit my PhD, go back and do an MA and then reapply in a year?

(Reason for doing MA: I've lost all confidence in my academic abilities due to the PhD and I think I need to work on my research methods. I do have an MA but it's in Library Studies and my PhD is in English Literature - I would like to do an MA in English)

I was advised not to leave my job to do a PhD as there is no guarantee of a job at the end of it - or even any guarantee of getting project approval, just because you have a place. I was told the first year is very provisional. However, as my job was at risk and I wasn't happy there I decided to leave anyway.

I don't regret it, but things are tight financially. Perhaps if you can hang onto your job for your first year as a safety net until you are approved?

Hi everyone

I started a PhD September 2016. I have anxiety/panic attacks and they got pretty severe, I ended up having to take an interruption and I have just come back to study.

There was a mix up when I started and I never got the module info so I ended up missing the seminars, so I've had no research methods training, no induction or anything. Been told I can do this next year with the first years but my supervisor keeps saying "oh what a shame you missed x, y, z so you're struggling" as if it's my fault.

I sent off for Project Approval last week and not sure I will get it. My supervisor says I'm struggling to sum up my argument and find my academic voice. I have a First class degree and MA, but I worked for a few years before coming back to study so I'm a bit out of practice really.

My supervisor is quite positive/encouraging in meetings, she said I'm getting there and that it's like this for everyone, but then in emails she's critical and she put a snippy comment on one of our meetings, that I need to be more independent and that it's taken me much longer than she expected to improve. I was a little upset that she'd done it this way rather than telling me as if I put a comment up there I need to send it to her for approval first.

Anyway... does anyone have any tips? I just feel isolated and wish there were other students I could discuss my feedback etc with, there's no local research group in my topic so I think I'm going to try and start one but it all feels a bit of an uphill battle right now!