Providing new graduate opportunities: experiences with a UK master's levelcomputing conversion course

The forces that operate within the software industry are outlined and the c ase is made for postgraduate software engineering education that is flexibl e in terms of attendance patterns and responsive to the market in terms of curricula. The developments within a postgraduate "conversion" course at th e University of Sunderland over a 9 year period with regard to both pattern s of delivery/attendance and curricula are then described (including the or igins of the course and the development of five different delivery modes). The profile of graduates at entry to the course is illustrated, and thumbna il sketches of several graduates from the course are drawn to reflect the d iversity of their subsequent careers. The content of the original and revis ed versions of the course are outlined, and comparison is made of the appro aches adopted towards the treatment of Software Engineering (SE) in the two versions. Finally, a critical appraisal is presented with regard to the ch anges introduced in the course. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights r eserved.