Institution: DCU

Course duration: One year full time.

Entry requirements: A minimum of a second class honours degree in any discipline except computing. The course is always oversubscribed, according to senior lecturer in computing, Dr David Gray. Applicants with PhDs get first preference followed by people with masters degrees and then 2:1 and 2:2 undergraduate degrees. Up to 10 per cent of places are reserved for mature students aged over 30 years.

Number admitted to the course: Up to 150.

How long has the course been running? Since 1997.

Why was it introduced? To supply skilled people for the Irish software industry.

What sort of jobs does it enable you to do? Programming, consultancy, training, management and sales and marketing in the computing industry. "It's not the same as doing an undergraduate computing course in terms of its depth, but it does enable you to get on the first step of the ladder. Once you get into a job, you can go and do further training," David Gray explains.

What are the job prospects?

Fantastic. "Employers are falling over themselves to get people. It's a ticket to get into the computer industry and they can do very well," he says.

Course content: First semester has basic computing including programming in Java, databases, computing in business and computer architecture. In the second semester, students take five out of seven subjects - software engineering, the Internet, legacy systems, an introduction to e-commerce, comparative programming languages, algorithms and data structures, and user interface development.

Cost : £650 (it's subsidised by the Advanced Technical Skills fund).

Contact: DCU. Tel : (01) 704 5000.