Data Analytics for Business
Build your business analytics skills and learn to manage, wrangle, and analyse data with Excel and SQLite.
Duration
Approx 12 weeks4 hrs per week
Build your data analytics skills and Excel knowledge to boost your career
Do you want to build in-demand analytics and decision making skills? Learn how to transform business data into robust decisions with this data analytics ExpertTrack. Discover how Excel and SQLite can become problem-solving tools and decision aids at every stage of your career, and develop some of the world’s most in-demand skills.
Businesses have access to huge volumes of data, but the skills to turn information into action are just catching up. As a result, there is a huge demand for data analytics skills, offering career opportunities across a range of industries and specialisms.
Build your confidence in business analytics
As early as 2012, IBM stated that ‘90% of the world’s data has been created in the last two years’ and the creation of data has grown exponentially. In the last five years, job postings asking for data visualisation have grown by 540% and demands for Tableau skills by 1,165%.
Growing your confidence in business analytics can unlock rewarding career opportunities and ensure that you continue to progress through to decision-making roles.
Use Excel and SQLite to improve your decision-making
In order to parse and interpret data, you need the right tools and techniques. Excel is one of the most widely-used programmes in the world, with over 750 million users worldwide, but many don’t understand its full potential.
Learn to manipulate data using Excel and SQLite and use it to confirm suspicions, prove or disprove hypotheses, and support decisions at every level of your business.
Find solutions to business problems in your existing data
Many organisations speak about creating a data-driven culture – this starts with your own approach to problem solving.
A strong understanding of data analytics can help you identify and properly outline problems, pin-point where they occur, and test solutions.
Content for this ExpertTrack has been adapted from the Data Analytics for Business with Tableau Training Microcredential - if you want to find out more, take a look at this Microcredential which offers smaller cohorts with tutor interactions and academic credit.
Industry statistics
Median base salary
£45,000UK job openings/month
1,724
Key skills you will learn
- Data analysis
- Business analytics
- Excel
- SQL
- Decision making
- Problem solving
- Communication
- Data interpretation
- Data management
- Statistics
- Maths
Learning outcomes
By the end of the ExpertTrack, you’ll be able to...
- Identify the benefits of data analysis
- Articulate data analytics fundamentals including basics of statistics
- Apply fundamental data analytics techniques, using spreadsheet and database tools, to prepare, interpret and communicate insights about datasets
Experience required
No prior experience is needed to join this ExpertTrack. Some experience working with data, statistics, and using spreadsheets would be beneficial, but is not required.
During the ExpertTrack we’ll be using DB Browser for SQLite and Excel. If you don’t have Excel, you might find this online version useful.
We recommend you use a computer to access this the courses in this ExpertTrack.
Getting started
This ExpertTrack will support professionals who require data analytics skills in the workplace and is suitable for:
- An early-stage or aspiring data or business analyst looking to boost their qualitative and quantitative data analysis skills.
- A business professional looking to step into a new role that requires data analytics skills.
- A business or arts graduate looking to start their first professional role by adding required quantitative skills such as data analysis.
ExpertTrack course overview
Course 1
Data Analysis and Fundamental Statistics
Gain an introduction to basic data analysis functions and statistical models to deliver insights for your business.
1 test
4 weeks
4 hours per week
Week 1
Introduction to data analytics
- Introduction to the course
- What is data analytics?
- Types of analytics
- Wrap-up
Week 2
Data analytics projects
- Introduction to data analytics projects
- Data-driven decision-making
- Data analytics process and tools
- Wrap-up
Week 3
Descriptive statistics for data analytics
- Introduction to descriptive statistics for data analytics
- Describing data
- Measures of spread
- Wrap-up
Week 4
The shape of your data
- Introduction to understanding the shape of your data
- Visualising data
- Interpreting data visualisation
- Wrap-up
Course 2
Excel for Data Analysis
Develop your capability to familiarise yourself with the working knowledge of Excel to wrangle, transform, and visualise the data.
1 test
4 weeks
4 hours per week
Week 1
Statistics in Excel
- Introduction to the course
- Using formulas in Excel
- Using functions in Excel
- Wrap-up
Week 2
Data wrangling in Excel
- Introduction to data wrangling in Excel
- Importing and tidying data in Excel
- Wrangling data in Excel
- Wrap-up
Week 3
Transforming data in Excel
- Introduction to transforming data in Excel
- Transforming, sorting, and filtering data in Excel
- Creating pivot tables
- Wrap-up
Week 4
Visualising data in Excel
- Introduction to visualising data in Excel
- Data visualisation
- Exploratory data analysis
- Wrap-up
Course 3
SQL for Data Analysis
2.8 (6 reviews)Move beyond basic data analytics and apply the working knowledge of SQL to query and transform a database.
1 test
4 weeks
4 hours per week
Week 1
Introduction to SQL
- Introduction to the course
- Fundamentals of databases
- Working with SQLite
- Wrap-up
Week 2
Querying and manipulating data in SQL
- Introduction to querying and manipulating data in SQL
- Creating tables in SQLite
- Querying a database
- Wrap-up
Week 3
Table joins in SQL
- Introduction to table joins in SQL
- Joining tables in SQL
- How to implement joins in SQLite
- Wrap-up
Week 4
Diagnostic analytics
- Introduction to diagnostic analytics
- Diagnostic analysis techniques
- Causation and correlation in data analysis
- Wrap-up
Prove you're job ready
Highlight the new, job-relevant skills you’ve gained and supplement existing qualifications with a hard-earned, industry-specific digital certificate – plus one for every course within your ExpertTrack.
- Learn the latest in your chosen industry or subject.
- Complete each course and pass assessments.
- Receive certificates validated by the educating organisation.
- Impress employers with learning outcomes you can add to your CV.
- Make your career dreams a reality.
Download a PDF
How ExpertTracks work
Join an ExpertTrack to master new skills in your chosen specialist area. Work through a series of topic-focused courses at your own pace, and pass the final assessment to earn a digital certificate award which proves your expertise.
Decide if the ExpertTrack is right for you with free access to the full suite of courses and assessments for a week.
Pay a monthly subscription fee of $39 for as long as it takes you to complete the ExpertTrack. You can learn at your own pace and cancel at any time.
Receive a certificate for every completed course and pass the final assessment to earn a digital certificate.
Use your specialist training to progress further in your career or build expertise in areas you’re passionate about.
World-class learning with FutureLearn
FutureLearn is a leading social learning platform and has been providing high quality online courses for learners around the world over the last ten years.
This ExpertTrack is in collaboration with Tableau
Learn how Tableau, a leading business intelligence tool helps people see and understand their data to drive business success.
This ExpertTrack is endorsed by Coventry University
This ExpertTrack is endorsed by Coventry University and delivered by FutureLearn as a quality professional development programme.
Meet your instructor
As a certified Data Analyst and holder of a Chartered Global Management Accountant designation I provide a unique set of skills in the fields of data, analytics, finance, and accounting.
Learning on FutureLearn
Your learning, your rules
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- Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores
Join a global classroom
- Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
- Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
- Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others
Map your progress
- As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
- Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
- Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate
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FAQ
ExpertTracks are a series of online courses designed to help you master new skills in specialist areas. You pay a monthly subscription fee which includes access to all courses within the ExpertTrack, as well as assessments and the final digital certificate.
Each ExpertTrack comes with a 7-day free trial period. You may cancel your subscription at any time and your subscription will automatically cancel when you finish the courses and assessments in your chosen ExpertTrack.
Yes. All of our ExpertTracks come with a 7-day free trial. You may claim one free trial period per ExpertTrack.
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No, all of our ExpertTracks consist of fully online courses. This means you can take an ExpertTrack from anywhere in the world.
No. ExpertTracks are designed for you to master new skills in a specialist area. You will earn a digital certificate that proves your learning, but it does not carry accreditation.
If you’re looking for certified or accredited courses, many of our microcredentials offer university credit or professional certification.
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