Professional Master of Education (Business)
Department of Education and Professional Studies (EPS),
Faculty of Education and Health Sciences (EHS),
University of Limerick (UL).
November 2014
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), V.1 Nine Pages.
For admission in the AY2015/2016
1What kind of degree is required for purposes of eligibility of consideration for entry onto the ProfessionalMaster of Education (Business)?
Entry Requirements
Applicants must hold a 2.2 degree (Level 8 - National Qualifications Authority of Ireland or equivalent) in a relevant Business or Business related discipline.
In line with Teaching Council and HEA protocol, when applying for a place on the Professional Master of Education programme, the PME Applicant is required to make a formal declaration, using a Subject Declaration Form, that he/she:
a)Holds/will hold, by the date of commencement of the PME programme, a level 8 honours degree.
b)Has studied 60 ECTS credits in the relevant subject area(s) as part of their degree (see the link in point (d) below).
c)Has studied higher level degree content related to the subject area(s) in year 3 or 4 of their degree.
d)Has covered, as part of their degree, the mandatory topics/subjects as set out in the Teaching Council subject requirements which can be found at:
The Subject Declaration Form (which is availablehere)for each of the subjects you wish to teach must be fully completed and attached with your application to this programme.
Please have the following documents ready to upload with your application:
• Qualification transcripts and awards/certificates
• English language qualification if English is not your first language
• Certified English translations of your transcripts/certificates where the originals are in a language other than English
• Evidence that you have applied to the Teaching Council for recognition of your degree for the purposes of teaching business and/or accounting and/or economics at second level.
• Teaching Council recognition (if available).
• A copy of your birth certificate (long document)
See link below for access to UL website PME Business course:
A primary level 8 degree which has at least one business subject (Accounting, Business or Economics) taken throughout the duration of the degreeand which is recognised by the Teaching Council (TC) as acceptable for the teaching of any designated business subject(s)i.e. Accounting, Business, Economics to leaving certificate level and which subject study has a 60 ECTS credit or more weighting.
It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that his/her primary degree meets the requirements of the Teaching Council of Ireland for the purposes of teaching a business subject or business subjects (i.e. Accounting, Business and Economics and Business Studies).
See the relevant section on the TC website successful application to join the course is subject to the individual applicant having established and declared for himself/herself that he/she has met this requirement.
If there is uncertainty as to the eligibility of previously studied modules, you will need to make inquiries with the Teaching Council or to make a formal individual qualification assessment application for recognition, with full details of your degree programme including transcript of results and details of subject content. Once the Teaching Council has received full documentation, the assessment process takes approximately up to two months. If you are in this situation, you are advised to immediately clarify your degree standing with the Teaching Council. This must be established at the point of application. If not established, you will not be invited to interview. Details of this application process are on the above Teaching Council website. An application fee is required to be submitted with the relevant form. The amount in question was €200 per subject (Business or Accounting or Economics) at one stage. The fee is subject to revision.
2What suggestions would be helpful to an applicant candidate for the PME Business course?
Any exposure to preliminary teaching/learning experiences (this doesn’t necessarily mean teaching, it means shadowing or observation)or school exposure experiences would be helpful to any candidate who wishes to dedicate him/herself to a professional life as a teacher. There is no requirement or expectation that an unqualified applicant would have undertaken direct teaching duties of any kind. No points at application assessment or interview are awarded for undertaking direct teaching duties in any school.
This can happen formally (by observation in primary school, second level school, or in adult/community education) or informally (through pupil mentoring, helping with homework, homework club, local youth club or social/sporting organisations). The possession of it doesn’t guarantee an advantage. But it does impact on the understanding of the nature of the role one is applying for. It does provide an opportunity to ground discussion of teaching and learning issues and helps provide the applicant with an informed understanding and discussion of the issues at interview.
It is important that an applicant has the health and capacity to undertake and complete the course. If there is a serious condition on the part of an applicant which may preclude this, it is important that this is declared. The college is well used to making appropriate accommodations for individuals with a manageable condition or disability. These are not barriers to entry onto the course. Contact with the university disability office in advance would be a good option to exercise here.
Be aware that it is university policy to have a 2.2 honours result in your level 8 primary degree in order to be offered a place on the LM380 PME Business course.
3When do applications have to be submitted by? When do interviews take place? Is a successful interview a guarantee of a place on the course?
For admission application and details, contact the Postgraduate Admissions Office. FoundationBuilding. University of Limerick. Plassey, Limerick. Ireland. Tel. +353 61 234377 or 233729. Fax +353 61 233287. You might like to view information on the web at
You may wish to consult the UL website at , go to click Future Students, click Postgraduate Courses, click Education and Health Sciences, click PME (Business). You can then make an online application. There is a small fee required in making any application submission.
The closing date for formal application is the 31st January in any given calendar year. As all applications are online, there is a direct record of application submission date and time. It is possible to maintain an online check on your application progress as it goes through processing from its uploading, shortlisting, interviewing and decision making following interview (offer of a place, placement on waiting list or unsuccessful result arising from an interview). At the time of application, applicants are advised to include a reliable postal address to which correspondence can be sent and, additionally, to advise the Post Graduate Admissions office of any change of postal address following initial application
Short-listing of applicants for interview may take place each year. Interviews are conducted somewhere in the period between late February and mid March at the latest. The interview process will be conducted by at least two experienced, EPS appointed interviewers. For later applications, applicants will be directly informed as to when an interview is proposed.
You are required to have personal attendance at the interview (unless working abroad where it might be still possible to have an interview link-in). If you apply by the deadline, you are advised to check when the interviews will take place as ability to attend for interview is your responsibility. Successful candidates at interview (i.e. successful in passing the first phase of the selection process) are points rank listed. There are five criteria under which each applicant is assessed at interview: (a) Qualifications – 50%; and (b) Motivation; Communication; Interpersonal Skills and Experiences/Talents – 50%.
Places are later offered to the top points ranked candidates at interview. A minimum of twenty places is offered, sometimes more, subject to annual review by the university. If anyone declines a place, the next points ranked candidate is offered a place. Successful completion of the Garda vetting application process is required for all prospective students and is a condition of acceptance onto the course.
There is no quota of places for mature students. All applications are assessed on an individual basis. The onus is on the individual applicant to provide full and comprehensive information as requested on the online application form. Appropriate attachments may be included with your online application. The onus is on the applicant to accurately complete the process and include all relevant information. It is on the basis of information provided on the online application that the shortlisting process, if required, is undertaken:
If you are not called for interview, you will be advised by letter and online status notification.
If you are called for interview, you will be advised by letter as to the date, time and location of interview. If you didn’t receive a letter, you can check with the online notification system what your status is.
If having attended an interview and were successful, you will be advised of that outcome and offered a place for the forthcoming academic year subject to the normal conditions attached to the offer of a place. An application for the deferral of an offer will be considered upon request. You may receive a letter indicating that you have been placed on the waiting list for entry onto the course.
If having attended an interview and were unsuccessful, you will be advised of that outcome by letter.
If having been invited to interview you fail to show up on the day in question, your non-attendance will be deemed to have been a withdrawal of your application. No letter will be sent to you in that instance.
Remember you can check your status of application anytime on the online application system and this will record receipt and status of application; whether invited to interview or not; outcome of interview (offer of a place, placement on waiting list or unsuccessful outcome of interview or withdrawal following failure to attend interview).
4What are the academic fees for the year ?
For the academic year, 2014/2015, the fees level for an EU student was €4,000 and for a non-EU student, approximately double that.. The deposit to be paid when offered a place is c.€250. The fees can be paid as one lump sum or in two instalments. Should any difficulty be foreseen or arise here about payment schedule, you are advised to consult the course director. The fees level is under annual review. Please check with the Fees Office of the university. See
5How long is the course?
Commencing in AY 2014/2015, the course is a full time two year professional masters level programme.
From AY 2014/2015 onwards, students are entering a two year full time programme. This will apply across the board in all Irish third level teacher education institutions. All such institutions will be offering the postgraduate teacher qualification award at masters level, called the Professional Master of Education. There is no longer a Higher Diploma in Education (H. Dip. Ed.) award nor a Professional Diploma in Education (PDE) award. Postgraduate teacher qualification awards in the University of Limerick prior to 2015, would have been titled as ‘Professional Diploma of Education’, PDE.
6Are there any skills tests administered prior to entry onto the course.
No such tests are required. Some years ago, there were skills tests. These were replaced on the course by a sophisticated range of ICT multi-media skills appropriate to a modern portfolio of requirements for the business teacher.
All participants on the course are required to advance their ICT and keyboard skills to a professional level.
7 How is School Placement organised ?
School Placement is a very significant component of the PME course. The School Placement Office of the University of Limerick will arrange locations of available schools for teaching practice. Every effort is made to secure a location close to one’s home (this is the norm) or sometimes closer to the university. However, some distance may be involved in travelling to school as not all schools participate in making school placements available.
The School Placement Office of the University of Limerick initiates all contact on behalf of students with a school in any given area. School Placement takes place in two phases. In year one, semester two, there will be an eight week placement period preceded by an on-campus induction lead in of three weeks and an on-campus post placement review of one week.. In year 2, semester 1, there will be a ten week period of school placement with appropriate on-campus induction and post placement review.
Normally a professional diploma student doesn’t take up teaching practice in their former second level school. With whatever school is assigned to the student, it is envisaged that the professional master in education student will undertake school placement in that same school over the two periods. In the event of some justifiable reason requiring it, a change may be made for the second period of teaching practice. This rarely happens.
8 Is it possible to do this course on a part-time basis?
No, it is not possible to do this on a part-time basis. The course is very intensive and requires full availability for school placement hours, lectures, tutorials, seminars, laboratory and recording work as well as the normal study and reading requirements, essay work, oral presentations, group work and other course requirements. Students are required to make themselves available between 0900hrs and 1800hrs each college day in any semester. Additionally, flexibility is required in undertaking some fluctuating teaching hours from week to week.
It is not advisable to be undertaking any parallel studies during this period nor is it sustainable to be working part-time over appreciable hours.
There is approximately up to c.26 hours class contact in university over a five day period in semester one of year one.
9 Do all graduates of the course go into second level teaching positions?
Normally yes. The range of job opportunities is expanding. Graduates are moving into a diverse portfolio of career positions including the further education sector (PLCs, Colleges of Further Education, Post Leaving Certificate Courses, and Adult Education), community education and other educational initiatives. The PME Business qualification upon acceptance by the Teaching Council confers upon the graduate the recognition to teach both in the second level education sector as well as the further education sector. But it is true to say that the sizeable majority of graduates take up positions in the second level teaching sector and have done so consistently over the last thirty years.
10 Is there any material available that I can read up on with regard to this course?
Please check the website of the University of Limerick at
11 Is Garda clearance required for participation on this programme?
Please note that Garda Clearance will be required of applicants on this professional master in educationprogramme where placements involve working with children and/or vulnerable adults. Applicants will be asked to complete an additional form that will be forwarded by the Postgraduate Admissions Office to the Garda Central Vetting Unit for vetting. The Garda clearance process can take approximately up to eight weeks to complete (and maybe more during the summer months). In cases where any issues arise around Garda vetting, they will be referred, in confidence, to the Designated Officer of the University who will make contact with the applicant.
Candidates are advised that they must successfully complete the Garda vetting application form in good time to enable all the conditions of entry onto the course be met. A request to make a Garda Vetting application is not an offer of a place on the course and is not to be so construed.
12 When does the course begin each year ?
Classes commence usually in the first week of September. You can check these dates out on
Enrolment usually happens on a day preceding commencement of the semester, usually a Friday. Additionally, induction days are held in the lead-in to enrolment on preceding days at college, faculty and course level. You will be advised of these arrangements in good time but it is advisable to set aside the preceding week to the commencement of the semester for these purposes.
For the AY2015/2016, week 1, semester 1 will commence on Monday, 7th September. You are advised to set aside the week beginning Monday, 31stAugust 2014 for induction and enrolment. This is the effective start date.
13What are the modules covered over the course ?
Year 1, Semester 1 (30 Credits)
EN6151 Becoming a Teacher: Identity and Agency (6 credits)
EN6161 Understanding Learning (6 credits)
EN6171 Planning for School Placement (6 credits)
EN6181 Business Education 1 (6 credits)
EN6191 Business Pedagogy 1 (6 credits)
Year 1, Semester 2 (30 Credits)
EN6152 Understanding Teaching and Learning (3 credits)
EN6010 Research Methods (6 credits)
EN6172 Business Pedagogy 2 (3 credits)
EN6162 School Placement 1 (18 credits)
Year 2, Semester 1 (30 Credits)
EN6153 Understanding Schools (3 credits)
EN6210 Research Methods 2 (6 credits)
EN6173 Business Pedagogy 3 (3 credits)
EN6163 School Placement 2 (18 credits)
Year 2, Semester 2 (30 Credits)
EN6054 Curriculum Policy and Reform (6 credits)
EN6064 History, Policy and Contemporary Issues in Education (6 credits)
EN6074 Research and Practice Portfolio (3 credits)
EN6084 Teacher as Professional Practitioner (6 credits)
EN6094 Reporting Educational Research (3 credits)
EN6104 Business Education 2 (6 credits)
The Professional Master in Education (PME) award is a 120 credits award.
14 What areas of competence will a student teacher attain as a result of having successfully completed the Professional Master of Education (Business) ?
The PME programme is a specialist teacher education programme for the teaching of business across the second and FE sectors. This ‘specialist’ focus offers an opportunity to tailor a unique business teacher profile where one is conversant and up to date with developments and able to contribute a wide-ranging array of contribution to the teaching of business in school life. The programme will provide the framework for enabling a student teacher to become a recognised teacher of designated subjects to leaving certificate level by the Teaching Council. The range of subjects will be dependent on the extent of study in that subject/those subjects which comprised their primary degree and comparable recognised studies, e.g. ACCA and meeting the ECTS points requirements specified.