I was very very lucky, when I was at University it was mostly all funded by the government or government bodies. During my undergraduate they had just introduc

I was very very lucky, when I was at University it was mostly all funded by the government or government bodies. During my undergraduate they had just introduced student loans, but there were no university fees and most people got some kind means tested grants for living costs. The student loans were intended to top up these grants. I went straight from undergrad to PhD - the University had funding from SERC (or maybe it was the successor to this EPSRC) for a number of PhD places and they offered one to me. From what I remember it was quite usual to go straight from undergrad to a PhD - at least the majority of PhD students I was around were straight from undergrad. A few of my friends did masters - again the fees were paid (I think some of them got grants as well).