in some ways, i've found it much easier in the UK than in Switzerland. in other ways, harder. my education was much more about learning to think for yourself, and learning how to do research (yes, at undergraduate level). so sometimes i wonder when fellow PhDers here are completely new to the research process and find it hard to think for themselves.
what people who went through the UK system have in advantage over me is the amount of reading they have done and all the details they are able to give by heart, where i know more about the general ideas but would have to look up stuff if details were wanted, and have significant holes in my reading background.

there is indeed a legal act about disabilities in the UK which covers education. i know because when i started teachung UG classes, we were told what we need to do if a student makes a disability known to us. legally, once you've told someone, "the university" officially knows and it is the universities legal requirement to make sure all appropriate steps are taken to make sure you can complete your studies. that can mean simple things like getting a little extra time in exams if you are dyslexic, access to "quiet rooms", providing a key to elevators not normally accessible to all students, or also instructing class teachers to always look at you when speaking so as that you can lip-read, instructing class teachers to hold short breaks after 30 minutes, and the likes.
i don't think any funding is covered with this - that indeed would be a question you'd need to ask the uni your interested in.

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.

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.

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.

i for one really enjoyed window-shopping when i was broke. then i never had to decide if i really wanted to buy this, or that, or anything at all... i just knew i didn't have the money. so i would walk through the shops mentally making lists of all the things i would buy the day i got some cash, i loved that.

now my financial situation is better, but have i bought all those things? obviously not - many of them would be a complete waste of money. but when broke, you don't have to worry about those kind of things

hey bedr, the quality of teaching is not really of much interest to you if you are looking to do a PhD, as the PhD is not a taught course.
the quality of your potential future supervisor seems a lot more important to me. so if i were you, i would search for individuals whose work you like, find out at which universities they are, and then find out which of these universities allow you to start with a lower TOEFL score. another option is: when you apply, you do not need the TOEFL yet. you might get a conditional offer, the condition being that you submit a TOEFL report before you start. once that happens, you could put a month's hard work into preparing for the TOEFL and you should pass it easily. if you think your english is good enough that you can take some language classes on the side while you're doing your PhD and that will be enough, you should also be capable of passing that test if you put a little time into preparation. the TOEFL is really not that hard (i did it myself).

verypoor, i agree with kirsty, i would e-mail them today, too.

from experience of being on the other side of the recruiting process (not in academia though) i know that sometimes time is a huge factor. say, i would like to employ candidate A. candidate B is a very strong alternative, who i don't want to lose. for some reason or other, candidate A is not sure to accept the offer. if i wait too long for A's answer, i risk losing B, too. so i just wait and hope that A will accept and that B won't call earlier, forcing a decision. because if B does call and shows how eager he/she is, two things happen: a) B becomes a stronger candidate, A a weaker one, as I am looking for enthusiasm and obviously B has it, A not. b) the time i can give A gets shorter. i call A and tell him/her that i need a decision now.
what i'm saying is: if you call, your chances of getting the position grow. if you don't call, they get reduced, for every day that you wait. so: call!(or e-mail)

sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread, and didn't mean to come across in such a "lecturing" tone. i just taught a sociology class on "the family" yesterday and this topic is one of those where i truly understand the necessity of sociology! it is so easy, so common that "traditions" are invented and then used to argue policy solutions. and misconceptions about "traditional families" are so widespread, it is really necessary for the historical facts to be researched and publicised!

olivia, the ideal of "stay-at-home wives and mothers" was only ever that - an ideal. with the exception of bourgeois elites (a tiny minority) 1820-1920, roughly. and for the "masses", this lifestyle was economically viable only (roughly) 1950-1980 or so. not to say that people didn't aspire to this - but wanting it is not enough! it's one of these myths of "traditional families" that were actually always the historical exception. in the west, in most places women's participation in the labour force was at its highest 1900-1920. heck, a male factory worker in the conditions that Marx was writing about couldn't afford his children not working - let alone his wife!
and if you are talking about those elites, or those few decades when this lifestyle was actually widespread: you forget that "not working" is something that MARRIED women did. before women got married, they went to work - they met their partners (often AT work) and then quit after marriage.

what happened:
- the recorder which i ordered with "guaranteed next day delivery" didn't arrive until 5 days later, when i already was in a different country.
- picking up a borrowed recorder 2 hours before my first interview, i got a really bad migraine. meaning i couldn't read the instructions (i physically can't read when i'm getting a migraine), hardly found my way to the agreed place, and couldn't concentrate on the interview.
- for the second interview, i had to get a different recorder (as the first one was being used). it was the same model, but something was wrong with the settings. as the interview was in a café with street noise and piano music starting in the middle, and the recording quality was "low", i can hardly understand a word of the recording.
- when the second interview was finished, and i turned off the recorder - THEN the interviewee started saying all the interesting stuff. sigh...

rick, well i finally started with some fieldwork. so far it has been one huge disaster. but i'm not too stressed as i consider it just normal beginning difficulties - i learn, and get better at it

Hey Argh,
well the world doesn't end at the boundaries of your department! if you are willing to move, and you should be, if you are looking at a career in academia - well then you can "simply" go to where your subject area is more prominent.
there are advantages and disadvantages to the fact that your department is changing.
+ no new graduates - less competition for you!
- in time, your dept. might get known as "weak in subject x" and thus you having graduated there/received your PhD there might be slightly devalued.
but at the end of the day, if you write a strong PhD, any place that cares about your subject will be interested in you.
for now, if you are worried about teaching experience, can't you teach anything at all? teaching experience in related subjects counts, too, you know. and can be quite valuable! and can demonstrate that you are no narrow-minded specialist who cares about your specific narrow topic and nothing else...

jouri, i don't really disagree. the only point is that in this case, the attraction is between two people who do not have any other relation except that they happen to be in the same department.

if they do get romantically engaged, and at a later stage they do get into a professional relationship, then they need to do something about it. but if they are open about the romantic relationship, the department should not let that situation arise, anyway. i.e. this lecturer should not be made responsible for any part of error404's studies.

at the end of the day, i think you really need to think about if doing the PhD part time is what you are happy with. talk to other part-timers, consider the difficulties and advantages.

oh, and, on the side - there have been any number of posts from people here on the forum complaining about supervisors who "promised" some funding, or promised to help to find funding in the future, and never did. once you've started, unfunded, you are not a priority anymore...