Hi all--i'm hoping for some advice.

It's always been my plan (since i was sixteen) to pursue a PhD in English and everything i've been doing for the last six years has been leading up to this. Until now--i've had something of a setback:

I have a first-class BA in English from a top ten university in the UK and i just finished my MA at one of the highest-ranked (judging by RAE scores in English) institutions in the country. However, due to some unforeseen stresses and family shit (and having to move back home over the summer when i was writing my dissertation) i ended up falling short (by two marks!) of a distinction grade in my dissertation, meaning that although i have a comfortable distinction average in my MA (every single essay was a distinction), i will graduate with a merit. Naturally, i'm very angry with myself.

I have/had King's, UCL, Cambridge, Birkbeck, QMUL and Manchester as my picks for PhD. Have i totally tanked my chances of getting AHRC funding? Does anybody know of anyone who's received AHRC doctoral funding with only a merit at MA?