Shannon-Latoyah Simon, Trinity Laban
Funding for MMus, Music
On completing my undergraduate degree in Classical Guitar performance at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire of Music I knew I wanted to do a two-year master’s degree at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. I auditioned for a place on the MMus - Classical Guitar Performance course - and was thrilled when I received an unconditional offer! Despite being extremely happy, I was instantly confronted with the reality of having to pay £5,000 (even after receiving a postgraduate loan) per year for the course, as well as additional costs for maintenance, deposits, and bills.
Trinity Laban had a full online subscription to the Alternative Guide of Postgraduate Funding and they urged me to start looking at funding possibilities. After reading some success stories I quickly completed a letter with a personal statement, a budget prediction, and two references to send to fifty trusts and charities. As I received fifteen rejections instantly, I was delighted when I received a £1,500 cheque from the Ruby & Will George Trust. They award grants to applicants that have a link to commerce – my grandfather was a carpenter so I was eligible for the award and they agreed to repeat the award each year until my degree had finished. Shortly after, I contacted the Denne Gilkes Memorial Fund and they sent me an application form. The same day I returned it, I received an email stating that I had been awarded a further £300.
I narrowed my search down, and also found that there were many charities in my hometown of Northampton. So I applied and received awards from the Sir Thomas White Charity Grant Fund (£1000) and the Dorothy Johnson Memorial Trust (£500 per year). I then went on to receive £3,000 (per year) from the Hilda Martindale Trust, and £300 (per year) from the Yorkshire Ladies Council of Education and then £700 from the Clive and Sylvia Richards Trust. I had to write a statement for each explaining how I was a British woman going into an underrepresented field so I was extremely grateful to receive such a large award from them.
A few of the charities I applied to solely funded undergraduate students but they were so impressed with my letter I ended up receiving a further sum of £1750 from other various organisations. My advice is to start applying as soon as you confirm your place on your course as some charities/trusts allocate awards for the next academic year. Also, don’t feel disheartened when you receive a rejection letter and be patient when waiting for trusts to get back to you. I received some awards up to 12 months after I sent the initial letter so patience can pay off.
I can’t thank the Alternative Guide for Postgraduate Funding enough. Without them I wouldn’t have got the chance to go to London to complete my Master’s degree at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in Classical Guitar Performance.
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Eman Zied, PhD, Northumbria University
Funding to finish a PhD in Architecture
I am an international student reaching the end of my PhD in Architecture and Built Environment at Northumbria University in Newcastle. I completed my BSc (Hons) in Architectural Engineering and Environmental Design at AASTMT in Cairo, Egypt, and I then started to apply for postgraduate study in the UK. I could not afford to be self-funded so I had to secure funding before I could start my course. After applying to over 50 different programs and funding bodies I managed to secure a Research Development Fund Studentship from Northumbria University, which covered 3 years of fees and stipend, and the Civil Society Scholar Award, which covered relocation and travel expenses.
After completing 2.5 years of my course I realised that I would need extra time to write up my thesis. I was able to get an academic extension, but I could not extend the studentship to cover it, so I had to find alternative sources of funding. I could not apply for university hardship funds as I was an international student, and there was a 6h/week limit on my working hours, so I turned to charity grants to make up my financial deficit. Luckily, I did not have to pay tuition fees for my final year, so I was only searching for maintenance grants.
I mostly used the Alternative Postgraduate Funding Guide to find charity grants, as my university had a subscription so I could access it on campus. Using the filters on the site was really useful as it allowed me to exclude any charities that were region specific or only for UK students. The keyword search also helped narrow down the charities to those who fund international students, and those who offer maintenance grants. Checking the Charity Commission website and Family Action was also helpful, and often I could phone to check my eligibility instead of waiting for an email or letter. The Charity Commission website also had other charities on there which may not exclusively be for educational grants, but would consider applications from students, so its always worth checking!
In the end I had a short list of about 25 charities which I contacted, and I applied to 15 of those. The application process for all the charities was different; some required just a cover letter, reference, and a CV, while the Humanitarian Trust required a statement from an independent person and copies of bank statements! I found it helpful to keep track of the different requirements, deadlines and contact information in a spreadsheet (or on the Alternative Postgraduate Funding Guide website) and to prepare my application well in advance of the deadline, and to make sure my referees were aware of the deadlines and requirements.
I raised £3150 over five awards to cover maintenance costs for my extension. These are the awards I gained:
-Gilchrist Educational Trust (£500)
-Humanitarian Trust Grant (£1000)
-SC Witting Trust (£100)
-The Sidney Perry Foundation (£800)
-Edinburgh association of university women president’s Fund Grant (£750)
Finding charity funding is definitely possible as an international student, and it is also worth checking if there are country specific charities for your nationality. My top tips are to have a prepared detailed financial statement and to avoid jargon in your application and include a small summary of your research and its significance in layman’s terms. If you have gained one award, include it on your CV as I have found that if funding bodies can see you have been funded before, they are more likely to consider you. Above all just be specific and honest about your circumstances, charities do want to help!
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Rachael Philip, MA Composing, NFTS
Raising funds for everything to fund an specialist MA
I knew I was interested in film music when I was very young, but had very little idea about this world or of how realistic the prospects of becoming a composer were.
I studied music at undergraduate level, focusing on composition and music technology and getting any extra experience I could, although I would later settle into a chain of office positions. In 2015 however, I stumbled across the course at the National Film and Television School (NFTS) and I soon realised that this would be a good step for me to advance as a composer, gravitate towards the industry and ultimately help realise a long-standing ambition. With only 8 places available, I thought I would at least try my luck, which as it turns out, is one of the best decisions I have ever made!
When I received my offer of a place, I knew I had my work cut out in terms getting through the course financially. The tuition fees alone would exceed £25,000 and the move to Beaconsfield would be a costly one. This seemed a daunting prospect, particularly after my initial research into the various funding options. This was then also compounded by a condition that had drastically affected my ability to work and save money prior to the course and for which I would also require additional support.
Fortunately I still had some remaining savings and was able to take out a loan, although this still left a significant funding gap. This is where the Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding very much saved the day. I studied the advice as well as the student stories and began to put together a spreadsheet with around 80 organisations that might accept an application from me, using internet research. I found these in the Alternative Guide database and in guides at the local library. I found the Alternative Guide’s advice on writing applications particularly useful and I realised that with the right attitude and approach, this could be achievable.
After much research, rejection, all-out perseverance, and a little help from a friend’s printer, my first success was with the Split Infinitive Trust, who offered me £250. Significantly, I was also able to get a scholarship through the school, which provided partial fees support for both years of the course from the Leverhulme Trust and the BBC. The process of making applications continued throughout the course and I would later gain support from the Altrusa Careers Trust, The Snowdon Trust, The Sidney Perry Foundation and the Women’s Careers Foundation (which involved a really nice interview!). It would also be necessary to buy a hard drive during the second year of the course which was fully funded by the S C Witting Trust. Towards the end of the course I was also awarded hardship funding to help with remaining maintenance costs. In all, I was awarded £17,650 in scholarships and grants and combined with the loan, credit, savings and part-time work/odd jobs (when possible!), I was able to get through the course and officially graduate in 2019.
I cannot express how attending the school has altered my life and The Alternative Guide has been paramount in facilitating this. Thank you!
Rachael was awarded first prize - a cheque for £500 - from our Grant Winners Prize Draw 2018.-19 We hope you find her story about raising funding to support her MA at the NFTS as inspiring as we do! If you've won a grant to support postgraduate study, you can probably enter too: see our Prize Draw page!
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Alex Fry, PhD Religion and Society, Durham University
Raising funds for everything to fund a PhD
Since my undergraduate degree in Theology and Religious Studies I was sure that I wanted to study for a PhD. However, I was initially unsuccessful at securing funding to a begin my doctorate. After working for a while in a job that I came to resent, I decided to take a risk and apply for a place at three universities, and was offered a place at two of these institutions. I applied to one of these for funding but was unsuccessful despite securing a place on the PhD programme. In the end I decided to accept the offer at Durham University because of the overall strength of the department. I actually remembered the Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding from when I was an MA student but had lacked the confidence to try out its advice. However, after accepting my place at Durham I decided to put the Guide’s advice into action, and spent time in my local library looking up various organisations in the Grants Register and similar reference books. In particular, I searched for organisations that were education-oriented, or regional or subject specific. I supplemented this research by using search tools and filters on the Alternative Guide and on charity database websites
I then either wrote to or emailed to numerous potential funders. In my correspondence, I began by introducing myself, explaining briefly what I was writing to them about and explained where I had gotten their contact details. I then expanded on my research clearly and concisely, assuming very little knowledge of its academic context so that it was understandable to an educated non-specialist reader. I contacted every organisation who I thought might conceivably be interested in my research, or whose criteria I met. It was important to tailor my letters and emails to fit their aims and objectives but in a way that was also honest. I didn’t hear back from all of those I contacted, and many of the charities that did reply did not grant me financial support for a wide variety of reasons, usually because they did not feel that my work matched their goals or because their budgets were insufficient.
However, one by one the acceptance letters came in. My first offer of funding was ₤4500 from the St. Luke’s College Foundation. I then received ₤550 from the Foundation of St. Matthias. My experience was that once you have a couple of offers of funding it becomes easier to attract more. It was also easier to attract funding having been offered a place on a PhD programme. Additionally, once I established relationships with some grant making bodies, it was sometimes possible to apply for repeat grants. Once you are at university there are also then additional opportunities to supplement alternative funding: for example, for funding to cover conference related costs, through departments, colleges, and academic organisations. I found that it was important to keep applying after commencing my studies and to date I have raised just over ₤18,000, split between over twenty awards, most of which were from grant making bodies external to my university. These included the Latimer Trust, Whitecourt Charitable Trust, the Foundation of St. Matthias, and the St. Luke’s College Foundation.