Hello
Im just coming into the final year of a 3-year studentship, and my department is advertising for a new PhD studentship - with the maintenance grant over £1000 per annum more than i receive. Its not fixed, as mine goes up incrementally each year with inflation so I'm guessing the new studentship will as well. This strikes me as really unfair - does anyone have any experience of this, or whether i have grounds to whinge/complain?

There are differences in pay throughout my department depending on your source of funding i.e. I know people in my group who are on BBSRC grants get more than me (EPSRC). Also you're quite lucky if you're on a case award, dependent again on the sponsor. Don't think it really matters especially when you consider a few years ago PhD students were being paid £6000 a year.

They're both internal studentships with the same department, so there shouldnt be any disparity on that score, Im thinking....

the new ones last year got 1000 more than what we do now even with the yearly increase but i was told it was because it was getting harder to recruit and didnt mean we would get any more,

I got a pay rise during my PhD, and they do go up for new students over time. Older people I talk to got paid peanuts compared with now, e.g. 8K but that was reasonable for the time.