Hello, I was wondering if anyone can clear someone up for me? When you see a research council PhD studentship advertised as £12,000 does this include fees and maintenance grant or just maintenance grant only? Thanks.

It's usually the tax-free maintenance grant, and you get your fees paid on top of it, not from it. But it's worth double-checking with individual ads.

Well, the unversity advertise a course and hope for it to be popular. So, quite often, they will advertise the stipend in full, before paying fees, thus creating more competition for it. Some will tell you the amount with fees already taken. Pay close attention to the add, or ask about it.

12 000 £ a year sound like the average maintenance fee paid out to students (which is tax free). The fees are paid by the stipend and as a student you have nothing to to with them (I don't even know how much my fees are)so it seems unlikely that the fees would be mentioned in the ad.

In general in the UK, research council funding will be stated exclusive of fees. ie they pay the fees and the ammount stated is what you get as a tax free maintenance grant.

Thanks everyone, that seems to have cleared the matter!