The courses offered by the Programme may be used as credit towards a Masters' degree (MSc) from University of Oxford. There are two Masters' awards available, the MSc in Software Engineering, and the specialised MSc in Software and Systems Security. Both awards require the successful completion of 10 courses, together with a Masters'-level project and dissertation.
Any course in the Programme can be used towards either MSc; however, candidates for the MSc in Software and Systems Security will need to choose the majority of their courses from the Security theme, and complete a project and dissertation in the same area. Candidates may ask to transfer between the two qualifications during their period of study: the initial choice of award aim is not binding!
There are two other levels of postgraduate award, which serve as staging points for the MScs, and as alternative points of departure from the Programme. A postgraduate certificate (PGCert) or a postgraduate diploma (PGDip) requires the successful completion of 4 or 8 courses, respectively.
Any course in the Programme can be used towards a PGCert or PGDip, although candidates for Software and Systems Security will need to choose the majority of their courses (3, or 5 courses, respectively) from that theme, and candidates for the PGCert in Object Technology will need to choose at least three of OOR, OOD, OOP, DPA, and SOA.
Applications are invited from anyone with sufficient experience or proven ability in the field of Software Engineering. A typical applicant might have an undergraduate degree in a related subject, and at least two years' experience of software development in an industrial context. However, relevant experience can compensate for a lack of any formal qualifications, and vice versa.
The MSc in Software Engineering is accredited by the British Computer Society: graduates from the Programme can use the MSc to gain exemption from the BCS Professional Graduate Diploma or the BCS Postgraduate Diploma Project. (Individual courses can be used as credit in the IEE, IAP and BCS continuing professional development schemes; they also have a CATS value of 15 points for credit transfer between postgraduate programmes.)