Fully funded/free degrees and postgrad courses?
- Thread starter chilango
- Start date
Some health courses are funded by the NHS, ie they pay fees and (I think, not sure, have to check it out) a bursary for living costs. Ie, nursing, speech and language therapy, maybe physiotherapy, some others.
Just googled it and the bursary is pretty low. Full(ish) list of courses below.
http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explor...ofessions/financial-support-for-ahp-students/
Just googled it and the bursary is pretty low. Full(ish) list of courses below.
http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explor...ofessions/financial-support-for-ahp-students/
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
while i was doing my first degree, someone on the course was being funded by the army (although this is back in the early 1990s). so i suppose some sponsorship's out there, if you fancy killing people.
Postgrads definitely do. But as funding gets tighter, you'll need to be increasingly excellent wrt your undergraduate study and / or professional experience.
The higher you go, the (relatively) easier it is to find funding. Insofar as, erm, Cambridge is one of the better-funded universities in the country (IMU). My institute offers something like 2-3 funded MPhil places each year, and you've got to come from India for one of those, and the Commonwealth for a second. I'm not even sure there's a UK-specific one (though my college funded my fees).
Including one-offs and sporadic rolling programmes, there're probably 4-7 funded PhDs each year.
There's also a point that you'll get paid loads more for a PGCE if you come into it with a useful UG degree (let alone a doctorate!) than if you go in with a degree that's fuck all use to secondary schools.
I looked at a PGCE not so long ago, only to realise that there's pretty much fuck all that my degree(s) qualify me to teach
Sociology / psychology, tbf. But do any schools employ specialist teachers in that?! I don't want to be a 6th form sociology teacher! God. Anything but that!
I looked at a PGCE not so long ago, only to realise that there's pretty much fuck all that my degree(s) qualify me to teach
Sociology / psychology, tbf. But do any schools employ specialist teachers in that?! I don't want to be a 6th form sociology teacher! God. Anything but that!Research councils is the big magic word, then.
*But* I've got no idea what you've currently got (GCSEs, A-levels, UG degree, PG degree?) and / or your field.
Research councils are fuck all use for any non-research degree; i.e. anything undergraduate. They become progressively more useful as you move towards a doctorate, though.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
chilango
Hypothetical Wanker
I'm not actively looking for anything. Just exercising some curiosity really. I *might* look a bit more carefully if there's anything interesting about.
Fwiw I already have a degree, a PGCE and a PGDip.
chilango
Hypothetical Wanker
There's also a point that you'll get paid loads more for a PGCE if you come into it with a useful UG degree (let alone a doctorate!) than if you go in with a degree that's fuck all use to secondary schools.
I looked at a PGCE not so long ago, only to realise that there's pretty much fuck all that my degree(s) qualify me to teach
I know a psychology/sociology teacher. She's done pretty well for herself. But tbh now is not a good time to be getting teaching jobs. (Partly why I'm investigating other options I guess...)
Mapped
London town
In the social sciences most of the research council funding is being funnelled through Doctoral Training Centres. This includes masters too via 3+1 years funding
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/looking-for-funding/index.aspx
I believe the Arts and Hummanities have a similar arrangement. I don't know too much about the sciences.
Depending on where you work you can sometimes talk your employer into sponsoring a Masters. I tried this and failed, but got a little bit back this year for a work related project.
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/looking-for-funding/index.aspx
I believe the Arts and Hummanities have a similar arrangement. I don't know too much about the sciences.
Depending on where you work you can sometimes talk your employer into sponsoring a Masters. I tried this and failed, but got a little bit back this year for a work related project.
Best place to start for *pg* study would probably be deciding what you MIGHT be interested in studying!
Funding is, broadly speaking, area-specific. And often institute-specific. If you can work out what you might like to do, then looking at the relevant research council, relevant uni pages, and perhaps the page of the doctoral training centre (dtc) at that uni if there is one (if there isn't, that's a really bad sign re: funding).
Tbh, the three notional qualifications for acceptance round here are:
Performance in your last / most recent degree (and, potentially, the extent / nature of prof or practice experience).
Quality / timeliness of research proposal (less relevant if applying for a funded place as part of a team, working on someone else's project).
The availability of appropriate supervision within the dept.
And then it's theoretically ranked wrt those criteria, with open funding (rather than project specific) going to the top ranked.
There're also things like Gates scholarships. Not sure if they're available to uk students tho.
chilango
Hypothetical Wanker
Yeah looked at a lot of that in the past when I was considering pursuing PG study more seriously.
I guess I'm thinking of more "vocational" stuff. A bit like the NHS and MoD links above. Career changing stuff I s'pose.
My subject is Fine Art (with a side line in Env Anthropology) so utterly futile chasing funding in those areas really.
I guess I'm thinking of more "vocational" stuff. A bit like the NHS and MoD links above. Career changing stuff I s'pose.
My subject is Fine Art (with a side line in Env Anthropology) so utterly futile chasing funding in those areas really.
This might be irrelevant more generally, but my institute has pretty much rebelled against 1+3s. Or had done. And would only give, or greatly preferred +3s (ie phd only, no masters).
Each award could be either a 1+3 OR a +3.
In my year (I think) 3 of 4 esrc studentships were 1+3s.
Two of those stopped studying after their masters, effectively choosing not to do a funded phd. That meant the institute lost 4yrs of funding (£24k in fees / grants?) compared to what they'd have got if they'd given +3s. Masters were, at least for a while, seen as too high-risk.
Each award could be either a 1+3 OR a +3.
In my year (I think) 3 of 4 esrc studentships were 1+3s.
Two of those stopped studying after their masters, effectively choosing not to do a funded phd. That meant the institute lost 4yrs of funding (£24k in fees / grants?) compared to what they'd have got if they'd given +3s. Masters were, at least for a while, seen as too high-risk.
Blagsta
Minimum cage, maximum cage
Nursing
chilango
Hypothetical Wanker
Nah. General points are good. I didn't want to just have a "find me a course" thread, more a look at the situation in general these days (though if someone finds m a course, great!)
How relevant is pg study to those careers?
Do you mostly want to study, and see that kinda job as a route in?
Or mostly want to find that kinda job, and currently see study as a way in?
chilango
Hypothetical Wanker
The latter really.
But a bit of the former too!
Mostly jobs are so scarce at the moment I'm looking through all my options. Or at least trying to see what these options might be...
spanglechick
High Empress of Dressing Up
There's also a point that you'll get paid loads more for a PGCE if you come into it with a useful UG degree (let alone a doctorate!) than if you go in with a degree that's fuck all use to secondary schools.
I looked at a PGCE not so long ago, only to realise that there's pretty much fuck all that my degree(s) qualify me to teach
You may not have been serious but just for info, my relatively small secondary has full time specialist teachers of both sociology and psychology - both subjects are taught as gcses and in sixth form. Youd also be bang on to teach citizenship gcse, or generally be a head of PSR. In teaching, If there isn't enough to fill your timetable in your specialist subject, you'd probably end up teaching history, ime. Or sport and fitness if you show any inclination.
stuff_it
Too skool for cool
OP has a degree already, they probably won't get a loan to cover the fees.
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
Where I work the DTC has stopped offering 1+3s (in theory they can, but they won't). This is part of the reason, although there are others.
Yeah... But if I was looking at a PGCE, tbh I'd be interested in it bc of the potential to teach a variety of ages in a hopefully-interesting core topic. If I was teaching 6th formers sociology, I'd feel a bit like that was a cop-out for teaching UGs! That is, of course, my stuff!
If the latter, might be worth looking at those careers, and fuck the study bit.
stuff_it
Too skool for cool
What area are your current qualifications in?
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