MSc Software Development
Belfast, United Kingdom
MSc
DURATION
1 year
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
30 Jun 2026
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 27,600 *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* international fee
Key Summary
The MSc in Software Development is designed in collaboration with industry to provide a year of intensive education in software development and is specifically designed for graduates of non-computing disciplines. It has an extremely high graduate employability rate and is the highest-rated MSc computing course for student satisfaction in the UK.
Course content
You will learn the foundations of computing and acquire industry-relevant skills. These core skills include programming, databases, web development, software engineering and problem-solving. You need no computing background at all to do this course, but on successful completion, you will be equipped with the technical, analytical and professional skills required to take on a range of roles in the computing industry.
The curriculum was designed and is continually reviewed in collaboration with significant industrial partners, who helped ensure the most relevant module content. This helps ensure that our graduates are highly trained and much sought after by employers.
Who will be teaching you
Many of the course teaching teams have worked in the computing industry and have particular research specialisms in developing novel and effective methods for teaching computing. Several of the team have been awarded student-nominated teaching awards for their work.
Please note:
Applications for this course received after 12th August 2026 may not be accepted. In addition, a deposit will be required to secure a place.
Software Development Highlights
Student Experience
The course is the highest rated for overall student experience Computing Master course in the UK (2023).
This includes excellence in student experiences in the quality of teaching and learning, student engagement, quality of assessment and feedback, organisation and management, learning resources and careers and employability.
The course encourages a hands-on approached to learning, with an emphasis on learning by doing. We provide videos of lecture content and continually offer you with opportunities to gauge your progress in each module through self-assessments and practical activities and challenges.
Industry Links
Alongside the core course curriculum, students are also encouraged to take part in a series of Employment and Professional Skills Workshops, which run at regular intervals during the year. The workshops cover CV writing, Technical Interview Technique, Assessment Centres, etc. and later involve events to allow students to network with representatives from some of the largest employers in the Software Development sector in Belfast. Students get the opportunity to mix with a diverse industrial group, ranging from testers and developers up to senior managerial level staff. Students also have the opportunity to get involved in other industrially sponsored events such as hackathons etc.
Career Development
The School has a team of staff specifically dedicated for the development of student employability skills alongside technical capabilities. They provide a range of services to help students gain employment during the course, eg one-on-one CV advice and mock job interviews etc.
World Class Facilities
Most of the lectures and lab based activities are in our Computer Science Building opened in 2016 after a £14 million re-development. The four-storey, 3,000m2, state-of-the-art facility has large well-equipped computing labs and formal and informal student spaces which support a high level of group and project work.
- You’ll learn how to analyse problems and design robust and elegant software systems to solve the problems. This includes gaining skills in programming, web development, database design, software testing and software engineering.
- You will also have the opportunity to learn how to work as part of a development team using modern development techniques and tools.
Employment opportunities in software engineering are excellent, as evidenced by the consistent and continued growth of the software sector. A career within the profession is not only well remunerated but also rewarding, with software professionals able to select between a range of career progression paths. Given the diversity of careers, the variety of skills gained from a non-IT primary degree is strongly valued by IT employers and will help augment the employment opportunities of graduates from this programme.
Where could you be in 5 years?
You could be working for the largest companies on the planet (IBM, Citi, Allstate, Liberty to name a few). You could be doing cutting edge computer science research in topics such as Cyber security or Video Analytics, or creating a software start-up or the next killer app.
Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award for extra-curricular skills
In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.
Course Structure
The programme has two key parts:
- A set of taught modules which build from foundational to advanced topics of software engineering and programming
- A substantial project-based element or three Specialised Mini Project-based modules
The foundational modules are studied in the first semester and cover introductory programming using the Java programming language alongside computing foundations, including software engineering, software testing and databases.
The second semester concentrates coverage of more advanced algorithmic and object-oriented programming, together with Web programming (PHP and javascript) and Software Engineering (with a team-based project).
Each module generally involves 3-4 hours of lectures per week along with up to 2-3 hours per week for tutorials and lab practicals. Alongside these timetabled activities, students are expected to work on group and individual assignments and projects
Project: You can choose either a single three-month-long individual self-directed project or you can take 3 smaller Mini Projects. The Mini Projects give you a chance to study some state-of-the-art specialisms in computing such as User Experience Design, Secure Softwarized Networks, Data Analysis & Visualisation, Cloud Computing and Machine Learning
Modules
- Programming
- Databases
- Software Engineering
- Web Development
- Computing Fundamentals
How do I fund my study?
The Department for the Economy will provide a tuition fee loan of up to £6,500 per NI / EU student for postgraduate study.
A postgraduate loans system in the UK offers government-backed student loans of up to £11,836 for taught and research Masters courses in all subject areas (excluding Initial Teacher Education/PGCE, where undergraduate student finance is available). Criteria, eligibility, repayment and application information are available on the UK government website.