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Maynooth University Department of Education

Qualification : MASTER OF EDUCATION DEGREE

Award Type and NFQ level : TAUGHT MASTERS (9)

CAO/MU Apply code : MH57G

CAO Points :

Closing Date : 30 June 2025

This taught modular-based Master of Education programme is designed for those interested in exploring and furthering their knowledge in the field of educational studies. Its modular design offers students the opportunity to tailor their education and prioritise deepening their knowledge and skills in particular educational issues while also ensuring that students are immersed in broader contemporary educational conversations. The modular design also provides the flexibility to balance programme engagement with life.  

As part of a global community of students, the experiences in the programme are designed to focus on self-inquiry, mastery of research literacy and developing a global perspective on local issues in a critical, future-oriented and collaborative way. 

This is a 90-credit part-time degree that can be completed over a number of years. The programme allows students to apply for exemptions under the Recognition of Prior Learning policy of the university. There is a maximum limit of 20 credits that any one student can claim. It is possible to study modules of particular interest without completing a Master of Education degree or to exit with a Postgraduate Diploma in Educational Studies after completing 60 credits. 

Modules are generally taught on weekday evenings with some slight variation.

The Master of Education (Full Time) MH52G is not an initial teacher education programme. It does not confer qualified teaching status or professional accreditation in Ireland. If your goal is to pursue an accredited teaching qualification, consider our Professional Masters of Education, Froebel Department’s Professional Masters of Education in Primary Education, or Adult and Community Education’s professional programmes.

Applicants will hold the equivalent of an honours degree and/or honours postgraduate diploma.

Applicants must have a recognised primary degree which is considered equivalent to Irish university primary degree level.

Minimum English language requirements:

Applicants for whom English is not their first language are required to demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to benefit fully from their course of study. For information about English language tests accepted and required scores, please see here. The requirements specified are applicable for both EU and International applicants.

Maynooth University's TOEFL code is 8850

Education Department - Joe Oyler

Head of Department

Department of Education

Maija Salokangas

Head of Department

Department of Education

Academic

Department of Education


Department of ALL Institute

Why embark on a Masters Degree?

  • A Masters Degree develops knowledge, skills and capabilities in a chosen field. 
  • It develops a systematic understanding of knowledge and a critical awareness of current issues in one’s field of expertise.
  • It advances capabilities to research those issues and to select appropriate ways to do so.
  • It increases the capacity to act in considered ways in the unpredictable variety of professional levels and to continue to professionally and academically develop over the course of a career.

Why embark on a Master of Education journey?

  • Upskilling capacities of self-inquiry by fostering one’s passion and curiosity for education and life.
  • To engage in a safe space to question and elaborate our relationship with education.
  • Seeing the importance of community in learning, as a way to collaboratively explore global educational challenges. 
  • Continue to develop and hone one’s practices and contributions to educational conversations. 

What values will underpin my journey through this programme in Maynooth University?

  • This programme seeks to: 
  • Positions the self as a central component in reflecting on educational conversations and challenges.
  • Seeks to deepen knowledge and understanding of educational systems and critically (re)questioning and (re)elaborating the systems we find ourselves immersed in.
  • Brings a global perspective on contemporary educational issues and how they are experienced and realised at local levels.
  • Engages with the global in a community-oriented collaborative manner.
  • Ensures opportunities to reflect on a range of educational practices and contributions by imagining future alternatives.
  • Places an emphasis on critically worthwhile research that challenges common-sense ways of being while offering future-oriented solutions to educational issues.

Programme Structure

Students register for 90 credits: six modules (10 credits each) and a 30-credit culiminating project. Modules are typically delivered on Monday/ Tuesday/Wednesday and Thursday evenings 5:00-8:00pm. 

For more details on the modules on offer in the programe, please click here

For more details on the course structure click here

Course Duration: 2 years or more part-time

Course Duration: 2 years part-time

The Master of Education programme provides an infrastructure where students can invest in their professional and personal futures. By honing research-informed critical understandings of the field of education, our students graduate with a range of academic and transferable skills that give them an edge when considering career opportunities. The particular career pathways of our graduates are as varied as the field of education; we have graduates working as teachers, educational leaders, community leaders, training and professional development officers, policy advisors, educational consultants, whereas others have used their experiences to enter new disciplines or used this programme as their initial engagement with research that may lead towards doctoral studies, and beyond.

The Master of Education (Part Time) MH57G  is not an initial teacher education programme.  It does not confer qualified teaching status. 

Online application only. To make an application please click here

To apply for your chosen postgraduate study at Maynooth University, please ensure you have the following documents to make an application: 

  • Evidence of your primary degree 
  • Academic transcripts 
  • A copy of your passport 
  • A personal statement   
  • An academic letter of recommendation 
  • A professional letter of recommendation 

Applicants for whom English is not their first language are required to demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to benefit fully from their course of study. For information about English language tests accepted and required scores, please see here. The requirements specified are applicable for both EU and International applicants. 

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