I wondered whether the odds would be better but I think someone said there will be fewer given this year owing to financial cutbacks so perhaps not. MA awards have apparently always been the most difficult to get so best of luck!

In some ways it's rather reassuring to hear from people who got funding and didn't hear until August! My friends in Classics who got funding last year all seem to have heard very early, so I'll now feel less panicky if I haven't heard until rather later. I'm going to be very worried about the size of the envelope now mind you...! It's interesting in some ways to hear what high grades depts have been asking for with this year's quota system: I guess they have to rank everybody like that as there's no other obvious way of doing it. From my experience it doesn't just come down to how good your grades are with the AHRC panel: people I know with top grades have missed out whereas others with less good grades have got funding, presumably because of the appeal of their topic or perhaps something particular being said by the institution etc.

No I can't say I'm really expecting it either, but there seems to be a lot of luck involved by all accounts. I agree that the system this year has been a bit of a nightmare though, with people having to go through an internal department competition first and so on. In the end I partly chose between universities based on their quota and how high up the list they implied I'd be. Interesting that you expect the results to come so much later than I'd been told: there seems to be such big discrepencies between when different people have heard in the past. Surely it can't take that long to send out letters...!

Just wondered if anyone has heard from the AHRC yet re PhD funding? I know it's a little early but I was told that last year successful candidates started to hear at the end of July and we're getting that way now... However, when I failed to get MA funding last year that news came very late, though I was lucky that not getting funding wasn't going to prohibit me going ahead with the course. I also heard they get sent out subject by subject, so specifically I'd be interested if anyone else is waiting for Classics. It's so infuriating not knowing: my partner and I need to find a flat but it's impossible without knowing whether we're going to have just his salary or indeed what I'll be doing if I don't get funding. Trying not to make that decision until I actually have to...!