sorry to repeat a question that i know has been asked on here before, however the advice here seems to conflict with what is on the EPRSC site.

basically the "can you get a funded Phd with a 3rd."

from here the answer seems to range from impossible to possible except the odds are like winning the lottery.

however the EPRSC sites, says to be eligble you need a first or a 2:1, however you move up one grade if you have a masters and another for each 2.5 years worth of work experience.

i'm obviously asking this question as it pertains to me, my situation is that i have a 3rd, but am doing a masters this coming academic year, so that will push me theoretically upto a 2:2, i have 10 years experience in the field i want to do, so thats up another grade at least, so that puts me on a 2:1.

so would i be eligble for funding ?

cheers dan, quick and helpful response as usual.

have just managed to speak to the course manager (after trying for 3 days, which is i why i ended up here!), he says a good masters perfomance would put me in a position where what i want to do would be possibility.

i guess the key thing would be that i'm wanting to do a Phd at the same institution, so they will know me and know if i merit a place and funding when the appropiate time comes.

dan theres only one place that specialises in the subject i want to do (the uni i'm doing the masters at)and hope to study there,if not then i'm not interested in anywhere else, i dont intend to be a Phd for the sake of it merchant.

another question for you dan, if you dont mind me bothering you again. after having a good read on the masters forum, it seems that funded places are quite hard to get for masters, obviously for my situation i'm not expecting nor have i applied for funding, but for the course i'm am doing it seems that if you have the 1st or 2:1 then getting funding for my course is pretty easy, does that mean my course/subject is not very competitive ?

I can't answer you on your last question (Dan's the man for that). All I would say is that you should grasp your Masters opportunity as a chance to show the world that you're a very capable Phd prospect. This is effectively a second chance so give it everything and think of what things/skills you can pick up in your Masters to make you stand out from other students when it comes to competing for Phd funding.

As I'm sure you're aware, PhD funding is extremely competitive and the more skills, experience, academic achievement you can bring to the table, the better.

dan its in operational research and applied statistics