Covid-19 funding support for doctoral students

Whether you're in receipt of a funded studentship, are self-funded or are working part-time to fund your research, this is the support available to you.

University funding

Before starting your course it is important that you have your funding in place, to cover both your tuition fees and living costs. Living costs in Bath tend to be higher than in other parts of the country, and in addition to tuition fees, you are recommended that you will need approximately £1,300 per month to cover your living costs. If you fall into financial hardship once you have commenced your studies it can be very difficult to secure additional funding, especially if you have not made adequate financial provision before starting your course.

Our funding pages for taught postgraduate courses and for postgraduate research have information on bursaries, scholarships, studentships and other funding to help pay for your studies or research.

Our Faculty and Doctoral College webpages also have useful links on funding sources for courses ranging from Masters to PhDs, and there is also information available if you are a current doctoral student.

Cost of living and budgeting advice

Working out a budget is crucial for managing your money successfully as a student, and we have prepared a sample budget based on estimated costs of living in Bath. Budgeting will let you know if you are likely to encounter financial difficulties and will allow time to prepare a plan to deal with them.

Questions to ask yourself are: Am I getting everything I'm entitled to? How long must my money last? What are my essential costs? Are there ways to reduce my spending? Do I need to see Student Money Advice for some advice and guidance?

Take a look at our sample postgraduate budget to give you an idea of the costs. Please note our budgets do not include tuition fees.

Have a look at our Managing Money page for lots of information on managing your finances at University, including sample budgets, advice about working as a student and saving money tips.

Other sources of funding

Information on postgraduate funding is available on gov.uk.

Postgraduate Loans

If you have Home or UK fee status applying for a postgraduate taught course you may be eligible for a loan from the Government. More information is available on our postgraduate loan page.

The Alternative Guide

The Alternative Guide Online contains a huge database of funding opportunities - especially charities, comprehensive guidance, and numerous tools to help you prepare a winning grant application. University of Bath has purchased a licence to the Guide, and so it’s free for all students and staff to use.

If you are a prospective student and would like to access the site to source funding, please contact us for a PIN.

The Grants Register

The Grants Register is a comprehensive guide of postgraduate funding with information of over 6,000 awards. You can access the Grants Register through the online Library Catalogue or you can access two copies in the Library - Level 5 Reference collection 378.33 GRA.

Postgraduate Studentships

The Postgraduate Studentships website allows you to search by degree type and subject to find possible sources of funding.

Blackbullion

The Blackbullion platform houses the UK's largest hub of scholarships, grants and additional funding for students. Once registered, you can also access a variety of information to help build your money skills.

Other financial support

Disabled Student Allowance

Please visit our Disability Service pages for more information.

GW4 travel bursaries

Doctoral students at Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter are part of the GW4 Alliance The benefits to researchers include access to a collaborative research network, expert training opportunities and shared resources such as special collections, archives, and shared equipment.

To help you take advantage GW4 has just launched travel bursaries to reimburse travel and, where appropriate, accommodation.

Hardship fund

If you are a current student in financial difficulty you can apply to the University Hardship Fund. This discretionary fund awards non-repayable grants which can be used for living and other costs (but not tuition fees). For more information see our Hardship Fund page.

Many banks offer Graduate Accounts with 0% overdrafts and other perks.