How to pay for your PhD (or Masters by Research)

Emma Stephenson, Assistant Director (Doctoral College)

7 March 2018

What we’re going to talk about today

How much does it cost to be a postgrad?

Doctoral Loans (Government Scheme)

UK Research Council funding

University of Exeter Doctoral studentships

Funding for current PGRs

Alternative and Portfolio Funding

How much does it cost?

For 2018 entry:

Tuition fees: Home/EU £4,400 pa

International £16,400 - £23,000 pa

First year fee discounts for Exeter students progressing to some MbyRes,

Mphil and PhD programmes: £750 - £1,000

Note: Fees are paid in September and January (two instalments of 50%

each)

Living expenses: National Union of Students estimate £12,056 outside

London a year, including accommodation

Doctoral Loans (Government Scheme)

• Doctoral loans open from Spring/Summer 2018 for English resident students (must have been living in

England for at least three years prior to starting your course).

No information from Student Finance Wales.

Scotland do not currently offer support fro research based programmes.

• Up to £25,000 for the whole course – paid annually in 3 instalments - interest is charged from the day

of the first payment

• Repaid at 6% of income above £21,000

Repayments combined with Masters loans (single repayment of 6% above £21,000).

You also repay any undergraduate loan at the same time.

• Cannot be combined with Research Council funding

• Be aware that the MbyRes (funded by the PGT Loan Scheme) is listed as a two year course

Postgraduate Doctoral Loans

Course

LengthLoan amount per AY

Three AYs Year 1 - £8,333; Year 2 £8,333; Year 3 - £8,334

Four AYs Year 1 - £6,250; Year 2 £6,250; Year 3 - £6,250 Year 4 - £6,250

Five AYs Year 1 - £5,000; Year 2 £5,000; Year 3 - £5,000 Year 4 - £5,000 Year 5 -

£5,000

Six AYs Year 1 - £4,166; Year 2 £4,166; Year 3 - £4,166 Year 4 - £4,166 Year 5 -

£4,166 Year 6 - £4,170

Seven AYs Year 1 - £3,571; Year 2 £3,571; Year 3 - £3,571 Year 4 - £3,571 Year 5 -

£3,571 Year 6 - £3,571 Year 7 - £3,574

Eight AYs Year 1 - £3,125; Year 2 £3,125; Year 3 - £3,125 Year 4 - £3,125 Year 5 -

£3,125 Year 6 - £3,125 Year 7 - £3,125 Year 8 - £3,125

Payments will be made in three instalments per academic year, split 33%/33%/34%

No payments will be released until SLC receive confirmation of registration from the

HEP

Loan repayments (government scheme)

Interest is at Retail Price Index (RPI) + 3% (RPI is currently

1.1%.) calculated each September

Repayments are 6% of income over £21k, and will look like this:

Annual salaryEarnings over £21,000

Monthly repayment

Annual total repayment

£21,000 or less 0 0 0

£25,000 £4,000 £20 £240

£35,000 £14,000 £70 £840

£45,000 £24,000 £120 £1,440

£65,000 £44,000 £220 £2,640

UK Research Council Funding

• Exeter is a partner in doctoral training programme with all of

the UK Research Councils

• Students would usually have supervisors in two different

universities

• Additional networking and training opportunities in the cohort

• Collaboration with external partners

• Full awards are often only available for students ‘ordinarily

resident’ in the UK

Training Centre/Partnership Application Deadline

South, West, and Wales AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership

www.exeter.ac.uk/doctoralcollege/aboutus/fundedcentres/sww/

11 January 2018

BBSRC South West Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (SWBio DTP)

www.exeter.ac.uk/doctoralcollege/aboutus/fundedcentres/swbio/

4 December 2017

ESRC South West Doctoral Training Centre

www.exeter.ac.uk/doctoralcollege/aboutus/fundedcentres/swdtp/

30 January 2018

EPSRC Doctoral Training Partnership

www.exeter.ac.uk/doctoralcollege/aboutus/fundedcentres/EPSRC

10 January 2018

EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Electromagnetic Metamaterials

www.exeter.ac.uk/doctoralcollege/aboutus/fundedcentres/metamaterials/

31 January 2018

EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing

www.exeter.ac.uk/doctoralcollege/aboutus/fundedcentres/ materialsmanufacturing/

Throughout the year

EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Water Informatics

www.exeter.ac.uk/doctoralcollege/aboutus/fundedcentres/waterinformatics/

31 January 2018

Medical Research Council Great West 4 BioMed Doctoral Training Partnership

(MRC GW4 BioMed)

www.exeter.ac.uk/doctoralcollege/aboutus/fundedcentres/mrcgw4/

24 November 2017

Natural Environment Research Council GW4+ Doctoral Training Partnership

(NERC GW4+)

www.exeter.ac.uk/doctoralcollege/aboutus/fundedcentres/gw4/

7 January 2018

Typical RCUK funding

Research Councils UK (RCUK) doctoral stipend levels and indicative fees

• National Minimum Doctoral Stipend for 2018/19 is £14,777

• Home/EU fees are covered

• Research Training Support grant and Fieldwork support

Doctoral Studentships, University of Exeter

• Fully-funded studentships: usually fees and living expenses at RCUK rates

Global Excellence Scholarships for HASS subject open – deadline 16 April

• Some fees only, fee discount and lower levels of stipend are also offered by

Colleges.

• Majority are advertised during autumn through early spring for start the

following autumn

• Science-based: often tied to specific staff research projects

• Social Sciences / Humanities: students prepare a research proposal, find

potential supervisors and discuss the proposal with them

Funding for current PGRs

• Opportunities once you have started to secure funding for future

years while you are on a programme

• Cost-effective modes of studying for PGR

• Part-time

• Distance learning

• PhD by publication

• No minimum periods of study

Alternative and Portfolio Funding

You can usually only hold one University scholarship, but you

can have as many small grants as you can get

• Wages and savings

• Charities, trusts, funds, and philanthropic bodies

• Crowdfunding

• Employer sponsorship / internship

• Government sponsorship

• Disabled Students’ Allowance

• Studying abroad

Any questions?

http://www.exeter.ac.uk/pg-research/money/phdfunding/