Thanks so much for all of your replies - it's nice to hear that there are other people out there doing the same thing - I was worried I was the only insane person even considering it! I work for a university so it's good for me to be here anyway in terms of research and presenting experience although in a slightly different area to what I would like to research and I'm sure they'd be fairly supportive of me. I wanted to contact potential supervisors but the university i'm applying to says I have to apply and they find someone suitable for me which I find a little odd - I will contact some people anyway to ask their advice - just doing as much reading as I can at the moment! I think it feels like i'm out on a limb a bit at the moment as i'm not actually registered anywhere so have no contact with anyone in the same situation as me - all my friends are professionals and working so don't really understand when i'm in my room reading for hours! Thanks anyway it's good to hear that it is possible!

Does anyone here work full time while doing a PhD part time? I have a good job which I don't want to quit as obviously I have to pay bills and rent but I really want to do a PhD so I can research and teach. I know it will be really hard to do this but I just want to know if it is actually realistic or I am going to actually have to quit my job?! I'm having trouble writing a research proposal as i'm not sure how much or how little is supposed to go into this - I think I may be mad to even consider doing a PhD but it's all I've really wanted for a long time now but real life has just taken over I guess!!