I forgot to say if I study on my expense ,this will help me to get a place without competition with others applicants?

Hi Bedr, If you're interested on taking an English course, I recommend getting in touch with the British Council (as they are located in nearly every country). They can also give you advice on the British education system for universities.

Hi Bedr,
you would probably be interested in looking at the RAE results for Economics: http://www.hero.ac.uk/rae/rae_dynamic.cfm?myURL=http://195.194.167.103/Results/byuoa/uoa38.htm
This is a ranking of Economics departments in the UK. It is renewed every 6 years, but the 2007/08 results aren't out yet. They will be published in December 08. So it is a bit out of date, but still a good place to start.
I believe most unis will give offers conditional on your passing the TOEFL requirement before the start of your studies. But you can always inquire directly.

Yes, being self-funded will significantly increase your chances. However, there is still some competition. This is due to the fact that one supervisor cannot take on more PhD students than he/she actually has time for. Your chances increase if your project proposal closely matches the interests of some member of staff.
Deadlines are different depending on department and university. Some unis will take applications as late as July, for the following October. In others, in very sought after departments, applications close as early as January. In any case, your chances are higher the earlier you apply, as the staff won't have taken on new students yet.
No, I think you do not have to take additional courses. You can start directly with your PhD. However, nearly all UK universities will register you as MPhil student, not PhD student, originally.

That is not because you are from abroad, that is how it is done with everyone. Then after maybe a year or so (it varies greatly) you will go through an "upgrade" process, and from then on you will be registered as PhD student; previous registration will be changed so that it shows that you always were registered as PhD student.

Thank you Shani.Some of universities require GRE test.The test centers of GRE are offered in limited countries,what can one do with this problem?
anothe thing ,is it better for me to tell everything before applying formally on my past experience or ability or that my proposal contains a new idea not introduced before ?
In addition,Before applying,can I send my records on master level to a potential university because ,as I thimk, this way helps to no wait and get a result if I am eligibel to start Ph.D or not because some universities require the second honour,and I do not what second honour means?.Besides, my average marks is not clear since they grades I got are mixed ;some of them are letters like A,B,C..etc and others are numbers such as 9,8,7,...etc.I asked the university in Norway to provide me with average mark, but they said ''we can not calculate it''.

At the risk of appearing like the bad guy of the forum I would still like to indicate the following. From your posts, Bedr, it does not seem like you have sufficient grasp of the English language to pass any language test at this point in time, time pressure or not. Therefore I would advise you to take a private language course, study hard and re-take the language tests. You got to be honest to yourself, your English is full of mistakes.

i might be mistaken, but as far as i know, the GRE test is not a language test but more of a general abilities test. usually, you should not have to take it, given that you have a Masters from a European university.
i do not understand your second question.
you can always get in touch with potential supervisors before you apply formally. they might show interest and encourage you to apply, which would be promising, as that would mean that they are indeed interested in your topic. however, they are not the people who make admission decisions. and often they do not know the precise requirements. so they might give you incorrect advice if you ask them about admissions.

second honours: i suppose you mean a "honours degree", "second class". this refers to your undergraduate degree. 70-100% is a "first class honours" degree, 60-69% is a "upper second class honours", 50-59% is "lower second class honours" (usually you need 40% for a pass). that is, in the british system. obviously, many foreign students arrive with degrees using completely different designations; usually, the university's admissions offices know what to do with them. roughly, i would say if you have a degree that can be classified as "good" or higher, that is enough; if it is only "average" or lower, it isn't.
when i applied, i didn't have anything of the sorts required here. but my university's website listed for all countries (ironically, except mine) what grades from those countries are minimally required.

and yes, i agree with jouri: if you get a "conditional admission" and then fail your language test, you won't be admitted. that could have serious consquences, for example if you have already quit your previous job, moved countries... if your visa is dependent on your status as registered student... so i would really only go down that path if you are confident that you can pass the TOEFL satisfactorily before the course starts.
or, you can still apply, and if you get an offer for a place, you can defer it to next year and take the english course in the mean time.

Thank you Jouri ,I will take you advice in consideration.you know what everyday I watch english channels for many hours and I read newspapers such as online New York times as well as I read books on economics regularily.But ,honestly ,I feel that my skill in english is not satisfied and it does not reach even more than 60% ..My probelm with english is that when writing and speaking I do not check my last job.But ,I will try to overcome this obstacle and improve my language.
Thank you Shani,you always open a way of hope to me ,The information that you have provided makes me feel better.However,GRE test is required in some university besides toefl or IELTS test.

Furthermore,I meant if one comunicates with a professor whose a tutor of graduate studies to ask him if one are eligible to apply through showing him my previous records.
I ask you shani and jouri to help me to name a college in order to apply there.By the way I have checked those 500 top universities in the world ,especially those are from UK.

shani you said that "if you have a degree that can be classified as "good" or higher, that is enough; if it is only "average" or lower, it isn't'' do you mean that I have one of my marks is C or over ,just one of them?can you explain?

As others have said previously, at Ph.D level, the most important choice is not the university. Rather, finding the right supervisor will affect your studies and success. Therefore, I recommend that you focus less on university rankings and more on potential supervisors. Check online profiles, email them, phone them up, try to talk to them in person. You will then quickly see if a basis for future collaboration exists or not.

As you are self-funded, there is no barrier to you being accepted as a PhD student in the UK, in principle. As long as you show language skills, any second or third tier university will be happy to accept self-funded students as long as they can guarantee appropriate supervision capacities. Quite often in those places, all you have to do to get accepted is fill out an application form and show evidence of your bank account and funding. Plus, you can usually choose your own topic.

If you wish to study in places like Oxford, Cambridge or LSE, however, then you need to present a rational reason for this first. As you can see, on this forum there is a debate whether it is better to study in such places or not. Regardless of the debate, you should be aware that there will be more competition for PhD places in those institutions, even if you are self-funded. Better supervision is not always guaranteed, therefore look out for the most suitable supervisor first.