With so many postgraduate programmes on offer it can be difficult to choose the right one for you.

There are three things to consider when comparing programmes that interest you:

• academic quality

• personal factors

• resources and support.

Academic quality

The Quality Assurance Agency runs audits of all legitimate education institutions and has the reports available to read on its website. Qualities are ranked from1 (the lowest) to 4 (the highest).

These reports only audit the basic requirements of a higher education institution. For rankings of their postgraduate research potential there are additional reports made every five or six years by the UK Higher Education Funding Councils. Their Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) provides a comprehensive peer review of departments' research and is graded from 1 (the lowest) to 5* (the highest). The results can be found at www.hero.ac.uk/rae.

If your course is research based, for example, then you should find out as much about your future supervisor as possible. A good supervisor must be able to help you stay on track with your research, suggesting and stimulating ideas. Find out about the sort of research they are conducting themselves. Widely different interests may limit the usefulness of your working relationship.

If your course is teaching based then you should find out the size of the classes and whether they rely on undergraduate teaching modules, which can devalue the qualification.

Some institutions have a better record than others of having their postgraduates employed. Find out what their employment record is like and you might even want to go directly to some potential employers and see whether they would employ someone who completed that course.

Personal factors

Location can play an important part in your choice of course.

• Is there a location where you have friends or family that you could stay with or find support with? Having a friendly face in a strange new city can make the move a lot easier.

• Can you afford to live in the city? Some areas, such as London and the south east of England are much more expensive than elsewhere.

• If you want to live on campus will the institution allow you, as a postgraduate, to do so? Many give preference to first and final year undergraduates and expect postgraduates to live off campus.

• Will the location help you with your studies? You may need to be able to use particular records that are only found in one place. Will you be too far away to easily do so?

Finances will also be important. Course tuition fees will vary from place to place and you may have to go somewhere other than you would prefer if only because of the price. Studying part time will allow you to work as you study and you may be able to persuade your employer to sponsor you. Distance learning can be hard and requires a lot of self-discipline but is ultimately useful if you cannot move.

Resources and support

• Is the library well stocked with appropriate titles, Internet access and computing facilities? Are they free for student use?

• Is there language support for international students?

• Is there a graduate school that provides a central administrative point for graduates, that provides working space for research students, and emotional and educational support?

• Are there courses available for transferable skills, such as computing, communications, team building and management?

• Is there any opportunity for you to work part time at the university to fund your studies?