WPWorkshops
01 / Taking the next step
Postgraduate Progression
For final-year undergraduates considering a master’s degree and (optional) master’s students considering a PhD.
02 / Supporting the journey
Postgraduate Completion
For students already on their courses, particularly PGRs facing funding gaps or the costs of completing their research.
Widening Participation & Postgraduate Study: the Challenge
Widening participation agendas are now firmly established at undergraduate level in the UK universities. Yet postgraduate study remains chronically overlooked.
Postgraduate fees are amongst the steepest in higher education. With maintanence costs included, the cost of a single year of postgraduate study can easily exceed £25,000. Postgraduate Loans (for those elligable) are plainly insufficient to cover fees and living costs. Full scholarships are scarce and oversusbcribed, and dedicated widening participation support is rare. Too often, progression and completion to postgraduate level depends on personal wealth or family support. Postgraduate qualifcations are highly specialised, but access to them often depends not on academic ability, but on ability to pay.
Our workshops support both postgraduate progression and completion by introducing the overlooked world of funding from charities, trusts and foundations alongside mainstream sources. Students learn to identify suitable funders, explain their circumstances and prepare convincing applications, building a practical funding strategy for the next stage of their studies. All students gain access to the Alterantive Guide to Postgraduate Funding, with 1,200 funding opportunities.
Workshop 01
Postgraduate Progression Workshop
This workshop is for final-year undergraduates considering a master’s degree and (optionally) master’s students considering a PhD. It is particularly relervant to those from lower-income or underrepresented backgrounds who might traditionally struggle financing postgraduate courses.
This workshop gives students a clear introduction to postgraduate funding, especially from the overlooked alterantive sources which they often assume cannot help them. No prior knowledge assumed. The workshop helps students move from uncertainty about affordability to an informed assessment of their options to progress to postgraduate study.
Duration: 1–2 hours
Delivery: In person or online
Audience: Up to 30 in person or 100 online
What we’ll cover
- Understanding the options. An accessible introduction to postgraduate loans, university scholarships, research council funding and alternative sources.
- Finding support beyond the obvious. Searching charities and trusts, understanding eligibility, and identifying opportunities linked to students’ circumstances and backgrounds. Many are susprised by what options exist that thye didn't know existed.
- Building a realistic funding plan. Considering fees and living costs, spotting potential shortfalls, and exploring how different sources might fit together.
- Preparing strong applications. Explaining academic ambitions, financial need and personal circumstances clearly, and planning applications.
Your Trainers
Dr. Luke Blaxill.
Workshop 02
Postgraduate Completion Workshop
While widening participation for postgraduates often focuses on progression, completition is just as important. This workshop is for postgraduates already on their courses, particularly PGRs, including students who are self-funded, partially funded, or approaching the end of their existing funding (perhaps writing up).
This workshop focuses specifically on alternative funding for ongoing study- fee payment, maintenence, research and conference costs, and writing up. The focus here is squarely on the gap between what students presently have and what they need. Charities and trusts can help bridge that gap.
Duration: 1–2 hours
Delivery: In person or online
Audience: Up to 30 in person or 100 online
What we’ll cover
- Identifying the funding gap. Reviewing the costs ahead: fees, maintenance, fieldwork, travel, conferences and final-year PhD writing-up.
- Finding funders suited to the task. Using charities, trusts and other alternative sources to search for support for a particular cost or period of study.
- Making a compelling case. Explaining the research, progress already made, financial circumstances and how a grant would help the student move towards completion.
- Planning applications strategically. Prioritising suitable funders, preparing a clear budget, managing deadlines and considering how several smaller awards might contribute to a wider plan.
Your Trainers
Dr. Luke Blaxill, Dr. Lucy Atkinson, Dr. Shuzhi Zhou.
Practical sessions, shaped around your students
Our workshops combine trainer-led powerpoint presentations, live demonstrations of funding resources (especiall the Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding), group discussions, and case studies of personal statements. Students see how a funding search and an application work in practice.
The emphasis can be tailored to your cohort: master’s progression, doctoral entry, current PGRs, or the financial challenges of writing-up.
A practical addition to your programme
- Widening participation and postgraduate progression initiatives.
- Graduate School and doctoral college support.
- DTP training and researcher development programmes.
- Student funding, careers and retention activities.
In Numbers...
500+
Funding workshops and talks we've delivered since 2009.
100+
Universities worked with, alongside several DTPs.
£10,000,000
Over £10 million of confirmed charitable funding won by Alternative Guide users since 2013.
Between them, our trainers won over 70 charity awards during their own postgraduate studies. They bring that first-hand experience to the practical questions students face. Meet our trainers.
Plan a workshop for your students
Let’s discuss your cohort and your aims
Tell us who you would like to support, whether the focus is progression or completion, and your preferred format. We can discuss a suitable session and provide a quotation.
enquiries@gradfunding.co.uk