Hi, I am waiting to hear if I have got funding for a part-time PhD. I have two children and am wondering where I could get help with childcare costs. Do some funding bodies award extra money for help with such costs? Are there charities that may help?? Thanks

Your university may have childcare bursuries. (At mine, these are means tested and I didn't qualify as my husband works.) As far as I could see, government childcare benefit is only for undergraduates. Consequently, almost my entire grant is eaten up by part-time nursery fees.

Not sure about funding bodies. I had my daughter during my PhD so there were no dependents on my funding application.

I'm in the same boat. I might be able to give you some advice if you can answer the following.
Are you in a couple and does your partner work/
How old are your children?
When/how many days a week are you expected to be at your uni?

Just to let you know, this thread is from 5 years ago so you could start a new one if anyone needs any advice!

ha ha, oh dear just seen. :-)

One of the biggest expenses that a father or mother has to face is for child care. Child care costs are rampantly growing and in some areas, eclipse expenses like rent or a mortgage payment.

I tried to get my university to deal with this issue about 5 years ago. They told me back that there was no way that they could afford to help with childcare. If I asked them now - during our recession - I doubt that they would be able to offer anything more than they could before. Pretty hard to balance having a proper life and doing a PhD :(