Strategic Learning and Development

Entry requirements

For admission to the MSc in Strategic Learning and Development you must hold either:

• A 2:1 Honours degree in a Business discipline and at least 3 years’ relevant L&D work experience

or

• A 2:1 Honours degree in a non-Business discipline and at least 5 years’ relevant L&D work experience within the industry. Applicants who have achieved a 2.2 Honours degree may still obtain a place. This will depend on availability of places and on obtaining high grades in relevant modules on their undergraduate programme.

or

• Alternatively, candidates with relevant Professional qualifications and at least 3 years’ relevant work experience in the domain of training, learning and development may be considered for entry subject to interview.

If an applicant does not hold a primary degree, but has sufficient and relevant working experience (more than 5 years in the domain of training, learning and development) a case for acceptance using the following avenue.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) applicants are required to submit a cover letter along with their application under the Transcripts section of the portal, affirming their intent to apply for RPL. For more information on RPL see here.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Our MSc in Strategic Learning and Development is the only graduate programme of its kind in Ireland, an innovative partnership between DCU and the Learning & Development Institute, the professional body representing Learning & Development Professionals in Ireland.

The development of this new programme is supported by L&D Skillnet and funding is available for eligible candidates looking to upskill. Together this partnership has created this exciting new programme, informed and shaped by the needs of the L&D community of tomorrow.

The programme is designed for graduates to combine study for a NVQ Level 9 Masters award while gaining business knowledge and skills. This accredited programme is specifically customised and designed to map against industry needs to develop the current and future L&D leaders in Ireland.

This two year part-time Masters programme encourages critical thinking, teamwork and communication, analytical and managerial competence, and develops a diverse range of professional attributes which equip graduates to excel and to adopt L&D leadership positions in their professional lives.

Teaching is delivered primarily online, complemented by 2–3 in-person days per semester, enabling students based across the UK and EU to engage fully while travelling to campus only for key face-to-face sessions.

This programme is perfect for you if you are a strategic thinker with strong problem-solving abilities. This programme is very much about people: how we interact, learn and develop in the workplace.

Designed in conjunction with both leading industry and academic experts, subject matter incorporates both professional and applied L&D business material as well as an analytics component. Lectures are delivered by experienced experts from academia, industry and practice, facilitating graduates with the most up-to-date theory and practice.

Students on the programme are all eligible for Learning & Development Institute membership as part of the fees for the two-year duration of the programme.