Probably the single biggest advantage of distance learning is that you can do it in your own time. It can be fitted in around work and family commitments and if your best time for study is early morning or the middle of the night it doesn't matter. As long as you get through the material when and how you do it is irrelevant.

Mention distance learning and the name Open University usually springs to mind as the OU is one of the largest and best known providers of distance learning courses. But the number of organisations providing courses by this method is on the rise and the choice of courses is broadening all the time.

A relative newcomer to the field is the Marketing Institute which launched its distance learning graduateship programme four years ago. The first group of students have just completed the course and about 10 per cent of the Institute's 1,300 students are now distance learners. Apart from its Irish cohort, the institute also has students in the US, the Middle East and the West Indies.

"We decided to offer the course by distance learning for a combination of reasons," says the institute's director of education, Catherine Kilbride. "We found that once people get beyond a certain level in their careers they are not so keen to sit in a classroom twice a week. Their jobs often involve travel so their attendance is poor and it's often difficult for people to get out of the office in time for early evening classes. There is also the geographical issue. Although our courses are taught in Dublin and at the institutes of technology around the country, the locations may not always suit."

The graduateship programme takes four years for those not entitled to any exemptions. Exemptions are normally granted to students already holding a primary degree. Those with so-called "nonrelevant" primary degrees usually go straight into second year while those with business qualifications, such as a BComm, are fast tracked to third year. The distance learning programme costs £1,025 a year and this includes all materials, text books and exam fees. It also covers tutor support and revision weekends.

"I decided to go on the course because I felt it would help me to be more effective and more professional in my job," says Tom McKiernan, sales manager with Lakeland Dairies. "There have been major changes within the food sector over the last number of years; marketing has become a key tool and I wanted to be on top of it.

"The distance learning method suited me because I'm away almost every week of the year and I thought I might as well be doing something productive while I'm waiting at airports or sitting in hotel rooms. I was all fired up to start with and that carried me through the first two years. But I think you need to be pretty determined if you're going to finish as four years is a long time."

Married with a young son, McKiernan took his studying very seriously indeed. He put a portacabin in his garden and fitted it out as workspace. When at home he studied before going to work which meant a 5.30 or 6 a.m. start. He says that not being a great television fan helped as he tended to study rather than watch the box in the evenings. "I found the course very useful and I've successfully applied some of what I learnt in my job. Overall I enjoyed the course but there were dark moments when you're trying to grapple with things that don't seem to make sense," McKiernan says.

"I never enjoyed going to classes. I found it a hassle to get there at the end of a day's work and I thought it was a waste of time sitting in lectures taking down notes for three hours," says Carmel O'Callaghan, project director with Eucon management consultants. "With the distance learning method you get stuck into the material from the beginning which is much better. It's up to you when you fit in the study and as I tend to be a last-minute crammer that aspect suited me. I also travel quite a bit for work so distance learning is ideal.

`The course notes were excellent and there was nearly enough in the notes alone to get you through. I found certain subjects difficult but the tutors were excellent and they kept in regular contact," O'Callaghan says.

Eamon Dillon is an air traffic control officer based at Shannon Airport. A former marine rescue co-ordinator, it was Dillon's close contact with the media in this role that first encouraged him back to the books when he signed up for a course in public relations. He has also completed a certificate in training and development and decided to do the marketing graduateship because the whole area of communications and marketing interests him enormously.

"It was a tough four years but it was worth the effort and I feel I got very good value for money," he says. "The distance-learning method suited me because I have a family and I work shifts but I quickly realised that I would have to learn how to manage my time effectively if I was going to succeed.

"My motivation was strong and I think that's partly because as an adult learner you are more focused and more realistic about what needs to be done. I think the modular structure of the course is ideal if you're trying to balance various aspects of your life and it had a strong practical base which I found useful. The attitude of those in the Marketing Institute was also very helpful as they recognised you had other commitments and they tried to help as much as possible.

"We got the whole spread of subjects from law and accounting to psychology and business management, but with a marketing emphasis. The first two years were easy enough but the second two really stretched the brain as you're moving from recall to analysis and interpretation. I think being a mature student has suited me. I don't think I would have been ready for the commitment of full-time study at 17 or 18 years of age."