I didn't actually get my postcard returned to me this year, so I'm starting to get paranoid that my university didn't even send my application on, and didn't tell me

Thanks for the constructive opinions, much appreciated! I have spoken to a few people who have achieved this but just wanted to gather more opinion. I think the general idea was that as my research can mostly be done away from the uni, I would only have to go maybe once a week, and with it being so easy to travel from my home to the uni the actual distance is not relevant. But I did wonder if there were wider implications beyond the research aspect that I hadn't considered

I trust my university (who has years of experience in applying for AHRC funding) to know what is likely to get a good hearing with the panels. I would hope they wouldn't just dismiss 2.1's because of the new quota system, as I would assume that just because you have a first doesn't mean you necessarily have a better research proposal. Having said that, I would guess that most unis discourage people from applying if they don't have a first, and that does seem fair given the likelyhood that anything below a first wont get funding anyway. My uni let me apply with my 2.1, but told me not to hold my breath as the competition is so fierce...doesn't stop me being delusional and hoping I may still get it though

Hi all, I just want to get a few opinions on this, espically from those who have some experience of this as well. How close do you have to live to your university whilst studying for a PhD? Specifically I'm looking into starting a History PhD, and have been advised by at least one person who has done this that it is not essential to live in the same area as your university, provided you can travel there easily. The reason I ask is that I am settled about a four hour drive away from the only university that could supervise my specific area, and am not keen on moving the family any nearer. Is such a distance possible? Has anyone here experienced this before and share their opinion?

With a combination of part time work, overdraft, credit card and/or loans you should be able to manage it. It all depends on how much you can earn whilst working part time, and how much your living costs are. I've got £4000 savings and will be workign part time and I'm still going to have to dip into my overdraft and credit cards - but then, I am studying in London (pretty expensive) and have no funding so far.

It is achievable, so Good luck!

VeryPoor, that is incorrect, a CDL can only be applied for if you are studying for "a vocational course to improve your career prospects", so it is not true that every course qualifies, in fact, the majority of arts based courses probably would not as a bank does not classify these as "vocational"