I got your name and contact details from Paul Honeywill at University of Plymouth. I had contacted Paul looking for some feedback about the Masters course as I'm thinking of applying. He tells me you're now employed, which makes me optimistic!!

Costs OK definitely look to budget course costs and living fees, and don't forget to build in a period after graduating when you'll be looking for a job (average is 6 months). First of all at Plymouth you may want to only do the vocational/taught part of the course the Postgraduate Diploma - and either leave or return to the Masters part (Basically a giant dissertation or project at the end of the diploma). Nevertheless I took out a postgraduate loan of approx £7500 to cover the course, costs, living fees and after course living costs when I did the Publishing course with the University of Plymouth. I felt, and I still feel I needed to do this to do the course and get a job in Publishing, but I am also not due to finish paying off the loan at a rate of £100 a month until 2007. If you look at similar loans, do some research on all of those available (HSBC, Barclays, Halifax, Lloyds, Nationwide and so on), their rates and clauses and any early payback clauses, then discuss them with a friend and or your parents. Your parents may have to be the guarantors or agree to provide the security against the loan. However, I would definitely recommend looking into any grants you may be entitled to from:

a) Your local education authority/provider (e.g. county council/local gov.)

b) the Irish government

c) The European union - a Scottish friend of mine who did a postgraduate Publishing course (I think it was Stirling), was entitled to a European grant of some kind

d) The University of Plymouth or whichever college you choose to study at - they may well offer bursaries to overseas students and/or students with financial difficulties - these are often available on a first come first share basis - contact the college support/finance offices for more info. Websites for all of the above should give you most if not all the info, or some contact details of someone who should be able to answer anything else

Options Well, I'm not sure what publishing courses are available in Ireland, but certainly there are some publishers, particularly in Dublin, who I'd recommend approaching and asking if you could do some work experience with them. This would be helpful for several reasons:

a) Obviously it'll give you an introduction to publishing before you have to spend any large sums of money

b) It'll give you a start on your C.V. and

c) It may also help you to choose (or eliminate) the type of publishing (e.g. Education, Trade, etc), or area (e.g. Production, Editorial, Marketing), that you may be interested in pursuing either directly via applications, or at college

Here's the URL for the Irish Publishing Association which might be helpful:
http://www.publishingireland.com

London and applying directly, vs college first: In my experience of publishing so far and I can only speak for Academic/Educational publishing (I've attached a copy of my CV and application letter which I used to get my current job at Oxford University Press as a Custom Publishing Print Co-ordinator). I've found that people's qualifications tend to vary depending on what area of publishing they enter. New starters in Editorial (Editorial Assistants generally) tend to have degrees in humanity subjects, predominantly English but no formal publishing qualification. Marketing Assistants are similar, Marketing degree or similar qualification, but rarely a publishing qualification though usually they have a fair bit of sales and marketing experience at other firms. Rights I couldn't say. But in Production, its almost the norm for applicants to have done a publishing course, usually a post grad. because of the need for technical knowledge/understanding of processes.

Though I would also say that the publishing postgraduate course definitely helps with applications and getting interviews, makes people much better at their jobs and I think makes them more likely to progress in publishing because they understand more about the process and industry as a whole. Often new starters without a publishing qualification come in for a year or two, don't see any career progression and leave for other jobs and industries. Having said that its often down to the individual and their drive on how well they do, irrespective of their training and background.

Though I would also say that the publishing post grad definitely helps with applications and getting interviews, makes people much better at their jobs and I think makes them more likely to progress in publishing because they understand more about the process and industry as a whole. Often new starters without a publishing qualification come in for a year or two, don't see any career progression and leave for other jobs and industries. Having said that its often down to the individual and their drive on how well they do, irrespective of their training and background.

Finally, although I would heartily recommend the University of Plymouth publishing course (good all round approach with a chance to focus on your preferred area as you go, especially with the University of Plymouth Press Paul has started up) and excellent tutors (pick Paul's brain at all possible opportunities)and while we were there we had a ratio of 9 students to 4 tutors - well worth the money I thought, don't forget there are other colleges and Universities that offer publishing courses such as Oxford Brookes University (Editorially focused I believe and potentially you could do part time work experience at OUP at the same time) and the London College of Printing (very Production focused and once upon a time the only course available, but again you could do part time work experience with any number of London based publishing companies). Check them all out until you're happy with the one that's right for you (just don't forget the cost of living in London and to some extent Oxford).