I applied for a competition funded PhD ages ago. I first spoke to the supervisor who was really keen and said that I was the ideal candidate for it and to put in the formal application form. The project was going through the DTC funding stream but he said that the department will still have the chance to fund it if I'm not successful with that.

So I applied and didn't hear any news for a couple of months ( I applied in november and the closing date wasn't until january) and then at the end of january he emailed saying i will be invited for interview and that said they are hoping to divide the projects (because there were a few) between the top two candidates with me being the second, and as for funding i should apply through the DTC which he helped with my application for.

I then had my interview but the DTC application was not mentioned, they just said that they pick the best candidates who get funding and then the ones who missed out on ESRC funding if they still think they are good the department will fund them.

This was a few weeks ago now and i haven't heard anything, last week the department emailed to say i will hear early this week about their decision but I still haven't, I'm totally confused about both the funding and if I have actually got a place! I hate being in this limbo.

any insight/advice would be appreciated :)

From your post, it appears as though they are waiting for a response from the ESRC to see who the ESRC are willing to fund before they allocate department funding (is this correct?) If so, they need to wait for the ESRC's response first. Let me tell you, it can take ages. I was awarded ESRC funding. I recall being advised that my application was being nominated for the ESRC funding in February and I did not have the outcome until the end of April. The waiting is horrid and I completely empathise!

Thanks for the reply! I guess that is the case, although they haven't really explained that to me! The ESRC results are out next week so hopefully i will find out then. It's just a bit weird they said they would let me know this week!