The Irishman passed the course last week, following 12 months of hard graft and a minimum of 240 hours study.

Despite now having all the necessary paperwork required to be a top flight manager, Keane believes that his learning process will continue for some time yet.

"Instead of thinking it's over now, I think this is where my learning really starts," Keane told the club's official website.

"Sometimes people think 'I've done my badges, it's done now and I'm qualified', but I think all my qualifications will come over the next 20 or 30 years of experience of working with teams.

"Trust me, you've got to keep raising the bar and I'm quite comfortable with that.

"The coaches around me and the people I'm working with, it's testing them and making sure they're raising the bar."

Sunderland's squad are due to report for pre-season training on Friday and Keane is looking forward to getting back to work and attempting to build on an impressive 2007/08 campaign which saw the club establish themselves in the Premier League.

"We knew last year was all about staying in the Premiership, which we managed to do, and next year the aim is to try and build on that," he said.

"Obviously, we want to do better than last season, even though we achieved what we wanted to achieve."