Questions and AnswersAll your education questions answered by Brian Mooney.

I have already submitted my CAO application, but I am still not sure what I want to study in college. I believe that to sustain a quality lifestyle, we need to pay far more attention to how we plan the buildings and other aspects of our environment, but am not sure if I can study planning at undergraduate degree level. Even if I could, is it a good idea to limit my career choices to planning?

In order to become a qualified planner, you must take a course that is accredited by the professional bodies and traditionally these have only been available at postgraduate level. These include the long-running Master's in regional and urban planning at UCD (accredited by both the Irish Planning Institute and Royal Town Planning Institute) and the Master's in spatial planning at DIT (which is a part-time Master's programme aimed at practitioners who are already involved in a built-environment profession), while UCC has recently launched a Master's in planning and sustainable development.

However, if you are certain at this point that you want to become an accredited professional planner, it is also possible to study planning as an undergraduate student at both DIT and at UCD.

The BSc in spatial planning at DIT is a four-year undergraduate programme, accredited by the Irish Planning Institute, and students enter this course through the Planning and Environmental Management Programme at DIT (DT106). This programme gives students the option to choose between spatial planning or environmental management on completion of their first year. The spatial planning degree brings together the natural and social sciences, and focuses on learning to interpret scientific, technical and design data and apply it to formulate policies and programmes which take into consideration issues such as resource management and environmental impact concerns.

However, an attractive alternative that provides the necessary training to begin qualification as a planner while leaving open a wider range of career opportunities is the BA in geography, planning and environmental policy at UCD. It is an interdisciplinary and relatively new programme, which will deepen and broaden your understanding of environmental, social and economic issues and set these in a practical policy context. This pathway to the BA degree (DN063) provides students with an academic and a professional qualification.

If students are thinking about this career option, a one-year specialist Master's programme at the end of the three-year degree programme is required to obtain full qualification.

Whatever route is chosen to qualify as a planner, most graduates find employment in local authorities and in private sector planning consultancies, while others work in large development and building companies, in An Bord Pleanála or in more specialised areas such as transportation or urban renewal.

Work as a planner is varied and includes dealing with planning applications, producing development plans and local area plans, and undertaking environmental impact assessments. You have until July 1st to change your existing choices to take account of any alterations you may wish to make in your current application.