Students Spitting Feathers Over UKRI Stipend

With the significant recent increase in inflation, students have pushed back against UK Research and Innovation for raising the minimum stipend just 2.86% from £15,600 to less than £16,100.

In response, the government body has raised this to just shy of £17,700 to accommodate the rising cost of living, with the change coming into effect as of October 1st.

This raises the minimum threshold by over £2,000, that’s 13% more than the previous year.

Esteemed member of the UKRI, Professor Melanie Welham, announced that she is “pleased to announce this increase as a result of our review of the support we provide our postgraduate research students. UKRI is committed to further reviewing its funding offer as part of its current work on the New Deal for Postgraduate Research.”

But it’s not all good news, the increase in spend per student means that future funding capacity for UKRI may be impacted, with less students able to be accommodated.

She continued: “one theme that came through in comments made in response to my open letter was the recognition that enhancing stipends could see fewer students supported overall.”
“This, and many other scenarios and questions are being explored in the work we are prioritising to inform the stipend rates for the 2023 to 2024 academic year.”

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