During and After College
Postgraduate Study
There are over 30,000 students in postgraduate study every year in Ireland (HEA-designated institutions).
Postgraduate qualifications include diplomas and masters degrees at Level 9 on the National Qualifications Framework, and doctoral degrees at Level 10. The length of a postgraduate qualification varies, but it is generally between one and two years at Level 9. Three years or more are usually required to achieve a Level 10 PhD.
Some students progress directly from an undergraduate qualification to postgraduate study, but there are also many postgraduate students, both full-time and part-time, who have returned to higher education after a period of work, travel or other activity.
Finding out More
To find out more about postgraduate study opportunities, visit Qualifax.ie, the National Learners' Database. On this site you can search for postgraduate courses in all the colleges in Ireland and draw on a range of other useful information that will help you find a course that best suits you.
4thlevelireland is a site providing information on postgraduate education in the Irish universities.
The institutes of technology have a website, Bluebrick, which helps you to search for part-time or flexible learning opportunities, including at postgraduate level, in the 14 institutes.
Each college also provides information on postgraduate courses on their website as well as in a postgraduate prospectus. For each course in the prospectus, there is usually a programme description, details of typical career opportunities, a section on course content, and contact details for further information. Most colleges offer their prospectus to download from their website, or you can phone the college Admissions Office to request a copy in the post.
Every year many colleges host information days/evenings specifically on postgraduate opportunities, where college staff are on-hand to talk with potential students about courses on offer and related career opportunities. Postgraduate information events are normally advertised on the college's website well in advance, and in national and local newspapers.