The MPhil and PhD are two different qualifications. However, many universities do not register research students for PhDs at first. Initially students are registered for MPhils and then, if progress is considered to be satisfactory, are upgraded to PhD status at a later date, usually one to two years in. In this way it is not necessary to complete an MPhil before starting a PhD, but you may have to initially register as an MPhil student and pass an upgrade to progress to a PhD.

Gary, if you are having problems putting your ideas together then the book 'Developing Effective Research Proposals' by Keith F. Punch, (2000, Sage Publications) is definately worth a look. It is very useful when devising proposals in any area of social science.

Msc and Mres are both master's degrees and will both allow you to progress onto a PhD. A masters in pretty much essential if you are planning on doing a social science, arts or humanities PhD, but less necessary in science.

If you provide a bit more information about what qualifications you already have and which area you are hoping to do a PhD in etc then people will be able to give you more relevant advice!

Getting funding for a masters is very difficult so many people complete a master’s self-funded and then try to get funding for a PhD (where funding is more common) after that.

Trying to come up with a research proposal is very difficult. For 1 + 3 funding emphasis is placed on the potential of the candidate to progress to PhD and the research proposal is expected to be more general. For + 3 PhD funding the research proposal is expected to be much more focused.

Completing the application process before the end of February? If starting a research proposal from scratch then I would say that it is not, as to be in with a chance a research proposal has to be very well thought out and in my opinion 7 weeks is nowhere near enough time to do this. However, if your research proposal is well under way it will just be a case of contacting the unis concerned and submitting the research proposal plus application form, references, transcripts etc and hoping for the best!

You will probably have to complete an MA first to be able to progress onto PhD in order to get the ESRC research training. However, as you already have a master’s there is a chance that you can go direct to PhD if you say you will do the necessary taught MA research modules in the first year of your PhD.

Contact the universities you are interested in and discuss this. If you have to complete a full MA then PhD you will have to apply for ESRC 1 + 3 funding (i.e. the one year of a MA and the three years of a PhD will be funded). If you can go direct to the PhD then you will apply for just +3 funding. As far as I know the 2 + 2 is just the way in which Oxford University modifies ESRC 1 + 3 to be different from everyone else.

Apologies for the length of these posts but there is a lot to cover!

The AHRC expects applicants for PhD funding to have a master’s degree. However, the AHRC website states that people without masters qualifications can apply for PhD funding if they can display:

“Evidence of sustained experience beyond first degree level that is specifically relevant to your proposed research topic, and could be considered equivalent to Master’s study.”

I guess that it is up the AHRC to decide whether or not your research experience is equivalent to a master’s degree. There is more information on this in the Guide for Applicants on the AHRC website.

If you do apply this year then it would definitely help if you mentioned that you were willing to take additional taught MA modules in the first year of your PhD to officially bring your research knowledge up to master’s level.

Hope this helps!

I wouldn’t worry about having studied in different disciplines. Most social science departments are keen to recruit postgraduate students with differing academic backgrounds. It may work to your advantage as it shows that you can work in different subjects and pick up new skills.

Your grades are very good but the key thing to remember is that they are only part of the criteria for being awarded funding. Proposing PhD research that is original, feasible and can be supervised is extremely important, so are references and performance at interview.

In order to apply for ESRC funding you must have completed the ESRC recognised research-training component of a masters degree. If you have not completed this you may have to agree to complete it in the first year of a PhD, or even apply for 1+3 funding (i.e. complete another masters then progress onto the PhD).

Bobby, if your 1+3 is a taught masters then a research PhD there is no way that you should be doing the masters part in your "spare time." Your supervisors are being really unprofessional in even suggesting this - the masters component in any subject is very difficult and demanding if you give it your full attention, let alone do it in your spare time! I think you should explain this to your supervisors, say you feel you need to devote your full attention to your masters and save the PhD work for the +3 part. At the end of the day failing the masters will mean you can't progress to the PhD!

In further education there is a massive drive to get all staff qualified teacher status, this goes from vocational stuff like welding to academic subjects like A-level history and maths. Even experienced further education lecturers who have been doing the job for years have to get qualified by taking courses part time. Soon the law will be changed so that there is no chance of teaching in further education without a teaching qualification.

I think its only a matter of time before the same thing happens in higher education and everyone who is involved in lecturing/teaching/running seminars will have to get a PGCE/Cert Ed (or at least be working towards one) before they can teach.

If you are self funding then I think that you will have a very good chance getting into the universities you list as long as you get a 2:1

You might have to attend an interview but as long as you demonstrate that you are enthusiastic and keen to do the course you should be ok.

It's only when you are applying for funding as well that things get really competitive.

jcgrant31 that is not correct. Full time students are exempt from paying council tax, but not income tax. Students pay income tax at exactly the same rate a non-students in the way that mc2006 says, so if you earn 20 grand a year you will be taxed on roughly £15,000 at 22%.

Hi YM

You sound very well qualified for postgraduate study. However, it will be very difficult to gain admission to an institution as highly regarded as LSE.

By all means apply for the Masters at LSE, but it might be a good idea to have a look at similar courses at other slightly less prestigious universities so you can fall back on these if your application to LSE is unsuccessful.

I did my undergraduate degree at a university which is towards the bottom of the university league tables and did my Masters at a top 20 university so it is possible to do postgraduate study at a more presigious institution. You'll never know if you don't apply!

======= Date Modified 23 Dec 2008 23:46:50 =======

Leb 0505: I think you need to work out why you want to do a teaching qualification. As Ann says a PGCE is a qualification for teaching children and if you want to be a school teacher there is little point in doing a PhD.

Remember you don’t need a teaching qualification to lecture in higher education. However, if you want a teaching qualification to improve your teaching ability once you have completed your PhD then there are a number of options. As Zelda says there is a PGCE (FE) which is a qualification aimed at people teaching in post-16 education. However, this is a full time course that requires a large amount of coursework and a placement carrying out teaching practice/observation of teaching. I think this would be far too much to take on at the same time as your PhD and your supervisor/university would almost certainly stop you from taking much work on in addition to your PhD.