Negotiating PhD stipend offer
I have received a PhD offer commencing February 2027, in geography/social economy. My stipend is stipulated as follows:
The studentship is worth a **minimum** of £26956.00 per year for a period of three years, subject to satisfactory progress. The studentship covers the payment of tuition fees (currently £17700.00 for international students) each year for three years. The remaining part of the studentship is given as an annual stipend of £9256.00 for international students for three years. This amounts to £771.33 a month. UK fee paying students have a lower tuition, and thus take home about £1500 per month.
I want to try to negotiate this based on the following reasons:
- I know that international fee waivers are commonly used by universities to support graduate students, waiving the cost difference between international and domestic tuition.
- It clearly states that £26k is the **minimum** stipend amount.
- This only covers my rent and utility bills, leaving me stranded for food, emergencies, etc. I will likely have to find other paid work, this will constrain my ability to focus 100% on my research and avoid financial stress. Even just topping up my stipend to 1000£ a month would be more liveable. I would consider being a TA/RA as extra work but really would rather not have this added commitment.
How should I approach this with my supervisor/admissions? Has anyone negotiated something like this before? Should I bring up all of these reasons, or which one is the strongest?
Thanks in advance.
ETA: It’s NIHR funded, the overarching project got a 1.5£ million grant to fund multiple smaller studies as a framework of work packages. This PhD is fulfilling the aim of a work package. The larger project is headed by my PI.
ETA 2: This is the original advertisement wording: This studentship is worth at least £26,956 per year for three years (subject to progress). The studentship covers payment of tuition fees (£5,151 for Home/RUK students or £17,700 for EU/International students for 26/27) plus an **annual stipend of £21,805 for Home/RUK students** or an annual scholarship of £9,256 for EU/International students from October 2026.