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CAREER ADVICE

Become a Data Scientist

As a data scientist, you’ll analyse raw data to form insights and solve problems like creating products or updating software. Get the key skills and qualifications now by taking online data science courses from top UK universities and institutions.

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  • Job score 4 / 5
  • Job satisfaction 3.6 / 5
  • Median base salary £45,000
  • UK job openings/month 578
Source: Glassdoor's Best Jobs (2018)

What skills do you need to become a data scientist?

  • Analytical skills

    Data scientists know what data is and isn’t useful, using their insights to solve wider business problems such as conversion and customer retention using the trends they find.

  • Programming languages

    Whether you’re a data scientist, analyst or working in infrastructure, you’ll need an understanding of the industry’s basic programming languages, and how to use frameworks such as Hadoop.

  • Maths & statistics

    A background in mathematics and stats is vital, especially when building or managing databases. It’ll also help with data modelling, the process of knowing which data requirements a business needs for its problems.

  • Presentation & communication

    Professional data scientists are adept at presenting their findings to the rest of their teams. You’ll need to know the best ways to visualise and communicate insights in formats that every team can use.

Develop these skills. Take an online data science course

Removed from Wishlist
The University of Sheffield

Making Sense of Data in the Media

Learn what numbers reveal, when and why they (sometimes deliberately) mislead, and how to determine what is 'fake news.'
3 weeks
3 hrs per week
A room with computer server racks with lots of small flashing lights
Removed from Wishlist
Dublin City University

High Performance Computing in the Cloud

Understand the benefits and challenges of using cloud computing for high performance computing (HPC) workloads.
6 weeks
6 hrs per week
Weka logo
Removed from Wishlist
The University of Waikato

Advanced Data Mining with Weka

Learn how to use popular packages that extend Weka's functionality and areas of application. Use them to mine your own data!
5 weeks
4 hrs per week
Learn to Code for Data Analysis course image - a graphic showing binary and numeric data
Removed from Wishlist
The Open University

Learn to Code for Data Analysis

Learn to code in Python using Jupyter Notebook. Use your new programming skills to analyse and visualise open data.
4 weeks
5 hrs per week
Removed from Wishlist
The Open University

Advanced Machine Learning

Improve your understanding of machine learning. Explore advanced techniques and how to use them in your data science projects.
4 weeks
4 hrs per week
Management of Massive Data Managing Big Data with R and Hadoop
Removed from Wishlist
Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE)

Managing Big Data with R and Hadoop

Learn how to manage and analyse big data using the R programming language and Hadoop programming framework.
5 weeks
4 hrs per week
Removed from Wishlist
The University of Waikato

Data Mining with Weka

Discover practical data mining and learn to mine your own data using the popular Weka workbench.
5 weeks
3 hrs per week
Big Data
Removed from Wishlist
Purdue University

Introduction to R for Data Science

Discover big data: work with airline data to learn the fundamentals of the R platform.
4 weeks
4 hrs per week
Removed from Wishlist
The University of Auckland

Data to Insight: An Introduction to Data Analysis

Learn key ideas of statistical data analysis & data science and how to use powerful analytic and visualization tools
8 weeks
3 hrs per week

Browse more courses in Science, Engineering & Maths and Tech & Coding

What do people say about these data science courses?

Excellent course, being a data scientist for a number of years it gave me insight into manipulating large sets of data and as I am taking other courses related to data visualization I am looking forward to new technologies. Thanks!

Goran Papic
Learner on Learn to Code for Data Analysis

A great introduction to forecasting. The training and validation periods were a bit of an eye-opener. Thank you for putting this course online.

Jonty Pearce
Learner on Business Analytics Using Forecasting

The benefits of taking data science courses online

Learn flexibly online, for free

Develop valuable skills with a short, online data science course. Start learning for free, on desktop, tablet or mobile.

Upgrade for tests and Certificates

Upgrade your course to get unlimited access, take tests and prove what you’ve learnt with a Certificate of Achievement.

Meet development experts

Learn with experts from top universities and business schools. Network with data scientists all over the world.

Contact FutureLearn for Support