I have just been offered a phd place by my uni where I just finished my masters with s distinction. The professor has offered to pay my full fees (international) ad I am an international student and also a studentship of 8000 pounds per annum for three years. I really think its a good one ad its difficult to find funding that covers international fees, however most PhD positions i see offer u to15k per annum in studentships. I am concerned as about 4500 will go on my accommodation and i will have to "part-fund" myself a little. I will appreciate any thing you can chip in. Thanks

My funding is 10k per annum.
I guess if you can give private lessons or teach a few hours in your department as a teaching assistant, it could help a bit ! :)
Good luck !

hi wazgee
If you can get some teaching or research support work in your department, it will help you. The good side is that the pay is good, and you get to work in a comfortable place. The down side is that sometimes there is no work--for example if there are fewer students for a certain module, there may not be a need for extra teachers--so you don't have work. No work, no pay.

If you are an international student, perhaps you can look for language translation work. A friend of mine did Chinese-English translation for the police, I don't know how she got the job, but the pay was very good--it was very easy for her to translate a few pages, next to no effort at all. This job was quite stable because they always called her.

You can also look to see if you can work in your university library. It is also stable and you get to work in a warm place. Only downside is that it is very difficult to get a job there.

Another one is to look for a part time council job. Another friend of mine (from Nigeria) did part-time cleaning, he worked 2 hours a day from monday to friday. He did not opt for pension contributions, so he received the whole pay, which was what he needed at that time. Later I saw my friend also working in the gardens (!) while waiting for his viva date. He could manage it. The good side is that the pay is not bad and it is stable. The down side is that if you have a phd to do--and if you have say, meetings which run until the time you have to rush off and do your council job, this could be difficult to balance. You could end up feeling very tired.

Another alternative is to give home tuition. I did this but only had 4 students. It is difficult looking for students when you don't know anybody. So if people can recommend you--and they have to know that their children will be safe with you. The home tuition I did was one day a week, and that helped pay for food and groceries.

hope this helps
love satchi