Having had some set backs, my main advice (if it was me) would be how would you feel if you barely pass it and receive poor grades? How would putting them down on application forms make you feel, or would you rather say 'I was unwell, full stop'... Here is my excellent work the following year. Equally, you have MS. That's a black and white issue. Nobody can accuse you of making up excuses. So it's about you and what makes you happiest. Take care

I am a lawyer by training and, whilst I haven't the time to research this, their right to do this depends on circumstances. If it is advertised as a 'job' - it would not be legal in UK in 'most circumstances'. A loan is a bit different perhaps. They would have to have good legal grounds for discriminating. It's not an automatic right to do so. Many of our discrimination laws come from the EU, so France would be similar. True they might have grounds to so ...

Even so, dubious waters. Issue is - like any one is going to pay good money to take them to court, even if their right to do this could be dubious and challenged. Too much expense for a private party to sue someone on the off chance it's not legal.

Treeoflife is probably right about certain 'funding schemes' but if it was employment such as a Graduate Teaching Assistant or something of that nature, definitely not OK (someone above 26 just as capable of paid teaching and entitled to earn income from it). If someone has put money in trust for funding for the benefit of 'those under 26' OK to discriminate. Depends on circumstances

A woman in her early 40s got funding when I was doing my masters - it can be done. Shame she abandoned PhD.

RinaL. I know a man who started his BA in criminology aged 32 and has just finished PhD aged 42. He has got a lecturership at former poly after self-funding. A colleague went off sick when he was doing a few hours work. He filled in and took over her job. He was in prison in 20s and went to university on release.

Yes I am in the social sciences (criminology). I think that my colleague must have taken 4-5 years but he was jumped up the career ladder to senior lecturer before finishing. He did his undergrad. degree at the university and was very popular - gave his heart and soul to the faculty and visited the department aged 12. Unusual story he is.. I, on the other hand, lived 5 1/2 hours away from the university (e.g. my home town) and had no connections, was delighted to land that job. Would be harder now.

Yes I have experience of this a few years ago. I was an RA on a fixed term contract at a former poly but a decent enough one. My colleague was doing a PhD. I was not. He was an RA too on a different project. I had loads of extra time waiting for survey results to come in and little to do at times. I put a lot of weight on actually waiting around - boredom sat in office completely unoccupied and the university knew I had nothing to do and did not expect me to do any thing either. Plenty of time to do a PhD on our projects. Pay was less at £18,000 a year. Depends on project. My work came in waves; you've have to stagger your commitments

Thanks for the kind responses. I do dwell on things. OK now thanks 'internet stranger'. Hope you are! Body is fit and healthy - looking back at some pictures and I looked awful a few years ago. I am applying for a PhD any way - strong marks whatever and you never know. Besides I've had this goal in mind for a while so must try.

OK some will think this pathetic. I've had serious difficulties with depression and had to abandon my masters, or leave the register for a few years whilst I sorted my life out. I got a first class undergraduate degree. When I left my degree (at a top institution) as far as I knew I was working on a low merit. I've had notification of my results and it turns out all my essays are distinctions or two marks off due to a new marking system and the university not having a uniform system before. They have been increased BUT my thesis was 2 marks off a distinction (I returned to the register to do this)- I guessed it was due to the lacking of originality. It seems I was pretty much correct. I argued this out with my adviser who said it wouldn't matter. She was obstructive and busy with her own research and short and sharp. It obviously did matter a lot. I am not falling out with her though.

I had lost all my confidence and feel I would have approached the dissertation differently had I known that I was capable of distinction level work and had the guts to really love my subject again and be original. I was jaded and had no idea what was at stake.

My institution does not award merits, so on an application it looks like a 'bare pass' even though my average is a distinction.

Difficult because nobody has a God given right to a distinction, I may well have missed any way. I feel bit annoyed by it all. Plus had I applied for a PhD a few years ago with those grades, they looked like low merits (nothing so special given the immense level of competition in the social sciences) but it seems they were actually really good. My old fashioned prestigious institution was just throwing a mark at it before - not that carefully. It seems some body criticised them for this a few years ago.