Maternity leave during PhD

[ByNoisyLemur]

I've recently found out that I am pregnant and I am a year into my three year PhD programme which is paid through a university stipend. Does anyone know if I am allowed to take maternity leave and still get paid?

As far as I know you won't receive maternity pay as you're not salaries but you have your time 'paused' for up to a year.

Check your university's regs, they'll be online. Make sure you're looking at the PGR section. But yes, you'll likely temporarily withdraw and have no income.

Yes you do get paid for parental leave (if UKRI-funded) - 6 months on full stipend, 3 months on statutory maternity pay. You can also take another 3 months unpaid after the paid period has ended, and/ or come back part time (minimum 50%) for some or all of the remainder of your PhD. https://www.ukri.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/UKRI-021122-TrainingGrantTermsAndConditionsGuidance.pdf

Childcare on the other hand is another matter - massively unfairly, PhD students are not entitled to any assistance at all. https://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Who-cares_-How-postgraduate-parents-fall-through-the-gap-for-government-childcare-grants-and-how-to-fix-it.pdf

Oh and congratulations!

UKRI do pay for maternity leave but a university-funded scholarship may not. You'll need to check with your postgraduate administrator. My university does match URKI maternity pay, but they only started doing this a few years ago.

I stand corrected! Good to know.

It does depend on your funder, so check with them directly.

Things can also be different for international students, so if you are classed as an international student best to check visa requirements etc with your university.