Hello everyone!
I will be doing a PhD in autumn, funded with a studentship from the British Heart Foundation. Since I will be given a stipend, will I have to pay for national insurance and also be able to claim any benefits? Do the three years of PhD count as "qualifying years"? Please tell me if anyone knows. Thanks

You can claim benefits if you want, but you'll go to jail for fraud for a short spell if they catch you:) I don't think that you pay NI, which isnt much anyway. You certainly don't pay any income tax or council tax because as a student you are exempt from taxation. Qualifying years for what?

As a student it is your grant that is exempt from tax, not you, although in most cases it's the same thing. What it means is you don't pay any tax on your grant. After this you can earn a further £4895 per year (your personal tax allowance) before you have to pay any income tax.