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Studying A Masters In Ireland
PLEASE NOTE: As a result of Brexit, from Autumn 2021 postgraduate students from the European Union studying at a UK university will be charged the same tuition fees as international students. Meanwhile, UK students studying their postgraduate course at a European university are also likely to incur higher tuition fees than their EU counterparts. It is advisable to check with the individual universities in the UK and Europe for up-to-date information on tuition fees for all postgraduate programs.
International postgraduate students will find many British students studying in Ireland – or the Republic of Ireland to give it its full name – as well as the huge percentage of Irish students who go on to university-level education.
Popular subject areas include the Arts and Humanities, many branches of Health Care and Medicine and Irish Language,
Music and Culture at the masters level as well as more internationally popular subjects like Education, Finance and Computing.
Here is a table showing the number of masters programs currently available to study at the different universities in Ireland.
Course duration
Most full-time taught masters programs in Ireland are one year in length, but many professional courses are two years in length when studying full time. Some universities in Ireland offer work placements as part of their masters programs and this can make masters programs a little longer.
Entry requirements
Like most masters level courses around Europe and the UK, the vast majority of courses in the Republic of Ireland require students to have a good undergraduate degree in a relevant subject. For example, the MA in Film Studies at the University College Dublin requires students to have an undergraduate degree at least at a 2:1 level with honours or a GPA of 3.8 in a related subject. Some universities, such as the University of Limerick, use the American system of Grade Point Averages and have other similarities to American universities. There are many Health Care related masters programs, especially in Nursing and Midwifery, and the MSc in Midwifery at the University College Cork is aimed at practising Midwives who are already qualified in Midwifery. Most university-level education in Ireland is taught in English, however, Irish is spoken throughout Ireland and most universities offer courses in Irish or in Irish Culture that is taught in Irish.
Subjects available
Ireland has a strong tradition of offering postgraduate level study and offers students the chance to study almost any subject. However, Ireland is not a large country and this means that some courses are highly competitive and many Irish students find themselves heading abroad to get the education they want. This can make entry to popular and oversubscribed courses more difficult for international students too. Ireland has an excellent reputation in the Arts and Media along with a long history of excellent medical education and a growing information technology industry, with many large companies like PayPal and Apple having a base there, leading to a requirement for more masters level courses in these areas.
Costs for international & home students
Many institutions in Ireland have fees for home and EU students that are similar to those in the UK. For example, the MSc in Midwifery in University College Cork is a two-year program that costs €5,000 for the first year and €2,500 for the second year, but it is not available for non-EU students. Meanwhile the MSc in Computational Finance at the University of Limerick charges tuition fees of €8,432 for Irish and EU students and €13,814 for international students. To put it simply, the tuition fees at Irish universities are mostly comparable with those in the UK.
Study visa requirements
For British and EU students there are no special visas required to study a postgraduate program in Ireland. Students from other countries require a student visa and to provide evidence they have €7,000 to support themselves in addition to having the funding for the tuition fees and have Permission to Enter Ireland. Postgraduate students in Ireland must also have medical insurance in place for the duration of their course if they are not from the EU. Non-EU and non-UK students must apply through the Irish government’s online system for a visa.
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