Yes quota awards are guarenteed - the unis select who they want for their quota of places.

Just to update things, I won the quota award at Essex. Well pleased!

swantje, it is guaranteed - but not if you don't submit that stuff on time! and not if you do not fulfill the criteria which the ESRC demands. so, get on with it and make sure you submit in time!

and enjoy your PhD experience

OH MY GOD, I'm REALLY going to live in London!!!
*swoons*

criteria? what could they ask me? I submitted in time by the way...

swantje, as yours is a 1+3 award, i'm not sure about the criteria - but they will be along the lines of: your MSc course (the 1+ bit) being accredited by the ESRC; your supervisor fulfilling all necessary criteria, like, if he/she is new to supervising, the school would have to provide a second supervisor with more experience to you... things like that.

are you going to live in students' residences?

My 1+ bit is going to be a MRes course. Hopefully I'm going to be living in students' residences (cheaper!), I've just applied for a place this week. I'm still waiting for the uni to confirm my registration as a student though, checking my post every day!

It's going to be very new for me in England, I'm English but I've only studied abroad till now and I don't know much about the English uni system. I never expected to do a PhD in England, I applied for four PhD-positions in the Netherlands and England and got lucky with the first interview and had to go find out what this ESRC 1+3 thingy was. I applied for an open studentship and then they offered me the quota studentship. I don't really want to ask my supervisor in England too many questions or he'll think I'm a total moron for not knowing all the obvious stuff all the "proper" English students know.

swantje, i'm english too but never lived in britain before coming here for my PhD. so, like you, i didn't know much about the system. all i can say is - be prepared for some surprises! but if you go about it with an open mind, overall you should be fine

i left england when i was 5, so it'll be exciting coming back to live in england after all this time!