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- Geographic Information Systems PgDip/MSc
Course options
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Qualification
MSc - Master of Science
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Location
Belfast Campus
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Study mode
Distance / Online
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Start date
01-SEP-25
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Duration
1 year
Course summary
With 25 years' experience of teaching GIS, and nearly 20 years via online distance learning, we have a long and successful track record in GIS education. This course teaches the concepts behind GIS and provides in-depth practice using both commercial and open-source software. You can study either full-time or part-time, and can aim for a Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma or Masters degree.
We look at how to obtain, analyse, problem-solve and communicate with maps and spatial data, with modules on GIS, remote sensing, spatial data management and databases, web-GIS and GIS in the commercial environment. Optional modules include GIS work experience, spatial analysis and modelling, GIS for environmental management, and Customising GIS. You will gain extensive hands-on experience: in addition to developing core skills using ArcGIS, you will use a wide range of software including ERDAS Imagine, Excel, SPSS, QGIS, OpenLayers, GeoServer, PostgreSQL and PostGIS, together with GIS extensions, plug-ins and programming languages. If you opt to complete the Masters project you can focus on a topic of your own choosing.
Our graduates have a high success rate in obtaining GIS employment (overCareer options
GIS and geospatial technologies underpin a rapidly growing, multi-billion dollar industry, and are becoming increasingly mainstream within both the public and private sectors, resulting in a need for graduates who have a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical skills.
Graduates of this course have secured employment in a variety of GIS-related roles worldwide, in GIS positions including technicians, analysts, scientists, surveyors, data specialists, mapping officers, consultants, project managers, development, sales and marketing, customer support, GIS training, lecturing and research (including funded PhD projects). The breadth of potential uses of GIS ensures a great diversity of job opportunities; for example, our graduates have found employment with mapping agencies, GIS and SatNav companies, environmental consultancies, ecological and marine resource management and environmental agencies, renewable energy companies, forestry, fisheries, town planning departments, heritage agencies, health and emergency services, housing authorities, local government, aid agencies, countryside recreation, rural development, retail analysis, utilities and infrastructure, Further and Higher Education, mining and mineral exploitation and the oil industry, among others. Knowledge and understanding of geo-spatial data are also increasingly required in a variety of jobs outside of the GI profession, making a GIS qualification a valuable asset enhancing employability in a range of fields.
95%, according to graduate surveys). People taking the course who already have GIS work experience say they benefit significantly because the course enables them to broaden, deepen and formalise their knowledge.
Modules
Tuition fees
- Hong Kong
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
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- Angola
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- Argentina
- Armenia
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- Austria
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- Canada
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Chile
- China
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- Comoros
- Congo
- Congo (Democratic Republic)
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Curacao
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- East Timor
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- England
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Estonia
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Greece
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Italy
- Ivory Coast
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Korea DPR (North Korea)
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macedonia
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mali
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Micronesia
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Northern Ireland
- Norway
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Palestinian Authority
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Puerto Rico
- Qatar
- Republic of Ireland
- Romania
- Russia
- Rwanda
- San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Saudi Arabia
- Scotland
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- St Vincent
- St. Kitts & Nevis
- St. Lucia
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Swaziland
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Togo
- Tonga
- Trinidad & Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- UAE
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uruguay
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- Vatican City
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- Wales
- Western Samoa
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
£ 17,810per year
Tuition fees shown are for indicative purposes and may vary. Please check with the institution for most up to date details.
University information

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University League Table
42nd
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Campus address
Ulster University, Cromore Road, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland
Subject rankings
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Subject ranking
42nd out of 73 4
4th out of 22 3
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Entry standards
/ Max 211140 66%27th
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Graduate prospects
/ Max 10067.0 67%60th
7 -
Student satisfaction
/ Max 43.04 76%47th
23 -
Entry standards
/ Max 151133 88%10th
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Graduate prospects
/ Max 10084.0 84%4th
1 -
Student satisfaction
/ Max 43.29 82%3rd
7