Welcome to UCD Online, where you can achieve a globally recognised qualification through flexible online learning.

University College Dublin has been providing students with the highest quality teaching and learning experience for over 150 years.

We are now offering our world-class education and qualifications through a selection of online courses.

Flexible online delivery means you can learn on-demand and in your own time with all the reassurance of UCD expertise and support.

UCD Online helps you to expand your existing knowledge, study for a professionally recognised qualification, or gain new expertise to change career.

Excellence in Education Now Online

UCD recognises the high demand in Ireland and overseas for further learning. We are committed to providing quality education and recognised qualifications using modern, flexible learning approaches. Online learning is just one of these.

UCD Online is a new University College Dublin offering based on 150 years of experience in delivering high-quality academic teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is a response to increasing student demand, as well as to rapidly evolving advances in technology. Mature course materials that are well developed and tested are now being delivered online by the same academics that provide their expertise and support to students who attend the UCD Campus.

Prospective UCD Online students can look forward to the same quality academic material and support as our campus-based students. Studying online provides a flexible option for students that aim to achieve a UCD degree but are not positioned to attend campus due to location, work, family, or other constraints. Our Module to Masters option enables students to sample subject areas they are interested in with the potential to work towards a UCD undergraduate or postgraduate qualification in a time frame that suits their particular lifestyle. There is no difference between a UCD qualification obtained on campus or online.

UCD Reputation and Academic Excellence

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN (UCD) is one of Europe’s leading research-intensive universities where undergraduate education, postgraduate masters and PhD training, research, innovation and community engagement form a dynamic continuum of activity.

The university was established in 1854 by John Henry Newman whose classic work The Idea of a University is one of the most enduring texts on the value of higher education internationally and a source of inspiration for UCD’s current educational philosophy.

Today UCD is Ireland’s largest university with almost 30,000 students. It is the most popular destination for Irish school-leavers and actively promotes university life as a journey of academic and personal discovery through its highly innovative and flexible UCD Horizons undergraduate curriculum.

UCD is Ireland’s leader in postgraduate education with approximately 7,000 postgraduate students, representing approximately 28% of the UCD student population, and almost 2,000 PhD students. Over 50% of UCD undergraduates progress to postgraduate studies.

The role of UCD within Irish higher education is underscored by the fact that UCD alone accounts for over 30% of international students, over 25% of all postgraduate students and almost 28% of all doctoral enrolments across the seven Irish universities.

UCD by numbers

UCD is the national leader in research funding, attracting quality investment that has helped the university to establish a reputation as a world-class destination for leading researchers. The university has established four major interdisciplinary research themes that match Ireland’s needs and current global challenges.

UCD keeps an external focus, seeking to lead and shape agendas through alliances and partnerships with its peers, nationally and internationally.

The international standing of UCD has increased rapidly in recent years and the university is currently ranked within the top 1% of institutions worldwide by the Times Higher Education rankings.

UCD is located on a beautiful leafy 133-hectare campus close to Dublin’s city centre, which provides a mix of academic facilities, research institutes, libraries and archival collections, enterprise space, student villages, and sports and recreational facilities.

Note: Student numbers relate to academic year 2011/12

Teaching Philosophy

You won’t find a better place to study than UCD. We are Ireland’s leading university, offering the widest range of honours degrees in the most exciting of environments; and with UCD Horizons and UCD Online, you have more choice than ever.

UCD academics work to provide answers to the most important questions of our time

This is your opportunity to become part of a community where almost 30,000 students pursue their studies under the guidance of Ireland’s best academics, many of whom are leading international experts.

UCD academics work to provide answers to the most important questions of our time, ranging from Ireland’s political future in an enlarged European community to the prevention and treatment of disease.

Our library has the resources you need to put learning, literally, at your fingertips. There are also extensive e-learning facilities and electronic resources that ensure immediate access to the resources, anytime, anywhere. Much of your learning material is now available online and you will be able to access this and other information, as well as send and receive emails, no matter where you are.