BSc (Hons) Computing (Data Analyst)

Program Overview

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Course Details

The Harvard Business Review has called the data scientist ‘the sexiest job of the 21st century’ (1). Our BSc (Hons) Computing (Data Analyst) course offers a route into this exciting career, along with global opportunities in a huge range of sectors. Data analysts provide up-to-date, accurate and relevant data analysis for organisations, making recommendations to improve business performance. Throughout this course, we’ll guide you as you develop technical knowledge and applied skills with a range of data structures, software development procedures and analytical tools.

Our expert and dedicated team will cover managing, cleansing, abstracting and aggregating data, a wide range of standard and custom analytical studies, as well as data visualisation techniques. We’ll support you as you learn to provide insight and analysis through clear visual, written and verbal communication. The department’s strong links with business mean you’ll have the chance to work on ‘live briefs’ in your coursework assignments, so you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy real-world context and application for the skills and knowledge we’ll help you develop.

With intentionally small class sizes, we can offer you meaningful and personalised interaction with our dedicated and enthusiastic lecturers, many of whom are active researchers and come with extensive industry insights and experience. Meanwhile, guest speakers and lecturers give you access to highly relevant and up-to-date input from industry settings.

All of this is backed by our well-equipped IT suites, where you’ll get to apply and develop your learning individually and in groups, with expert guidance and support.

(1) https://hbr.org/2012/10/data-scientist-the-sexiest-job-of-the-21st-century visited on 20 September 2022

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Highlights

Our Computer Science courses are top in the UK for student satisfaction, according to The Complete University Guide 2022.

Our Computer Science courses are also placed first in the UK for teaching quality and student experience by The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021.

The department, and the wider University, provide a warm and friendly environment for your studies, with relatively small class sizes, purpose-built teaching facilities, and excellent student support and library services.

Your teaching and tutorial team brings an impressive range of professional experience and technical prowess to the course, so you’ll have the chance to explore and evaluate a range of perspectives relating to your studies.

A big part of our commitment to your progress is helping you develop your employability and industry networks. So we’ll encourage you to attend guest lectures that give your learning context, offer industry contact, and contribute to your underlying professional development.

By underpinning our content and assignments with a strong industrial focus, we foster a keen understanding of the role and value of data analysis in the business environment, and help you develop essential skills such as attention to detail, communication and time management.

We'll focus on your individual needs and provide personalised support to help find the learning strategies that best support your learning and ultimate success.

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Key Features

Our dedicated laboratories, servers and end-hosts feature high-specification hardware and the latest software, so you’ll have industry-equivalent hands-on experience.

You’ll also get to experience the latest technologies, such as cloud-based machine learning tools from AWS and Azure.

As you’d expect, many of our computing facilities are accessible online, so you can work on your assignments wherever you are and whenever inspiration kicks in.

We’ll support you to develop sought-after skills such as background research, critical reasoning and problem-solving, as well as professional communication, time management, teamwork, and lifelong learning.

We’ll also encourage you to build a portfolio of evidence representing the projects and tasks you’ve completed during your studies, ready to impress potential employers.

We continually monitor and update the course to reflect current and ever-changing computing issues and keep your learning in line with technological advances and innovations.

By choosing to study with us, you'll have the chance to enjoy Bolton's many shops, bars, restaurants and leisure facilities. Manchester, one of the UK's most multicultural and lively cities, is less than 20 minutes away by train. Not forgetting, the North West of England is renowned for its beautiful countryside, coastline and heritage. This makes Bolton an ideal base from which to explore some of the best cultural and outdoor activities the UK offers.

Program Outline

The University of Bolton's BSc (Hons) Computing (Data Analyst) offers a comprehensive overview of key data analysis principles and methods, along with a broad grounding in technology solutions, making our graduates highly competitive in the global jobs marketplace.

As a graduate, you’ll possess a deep technical understanding of data quality and data analysis processes and methods, as well as a sound knowledge of data protection and legal issues, and the fundamentals of data structures, database system design, implementation, maintenance, and data architecture.

During the course, you can also expect to develop a wide range of technical, professional and interpersonal skills, such as attention to detail, team working, problem-solving, communication and presentation skills, time management, and lifelong learning.

What can I do with this qualification?

A recent UK government report found that there is significant demand for data skills with UK companies recruiting for 178,000 to 234,000 roles requiring hard data skills (2). Additionally, the average publicly listed salary for roles that demand highly specialist data expertise in the UK is £64,376 (3).

Graduates from this programme should prove valuable to private, public and third sector organisations of all sizes and across the full spectrum of industries. Employers include financial services firms, retail companies, marketing agencies, higher education institutions, pharmaceutical companies, government and intelligence services, telecommunications and IT firms, and insurance companies.

On successful completion of the course, you’ll be well prepared for a career in data analysis and to work your way up to positions of greater responsibility and leadership. You’ll also be ready to progress to postgraduate-level study or additional IT certification to develop your expertise further. Popular areas for further study include business, marketing, statistics and finance.

Studying for a PhD or professional doctorate is another option.

(2) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/quantifying-the-uk-data-skills-gap/quantifying-the-uk-data-skills-gap-full-report accessed on 20 September 2022 (3) https://royalsociety.org
ews/2019/05/data-science-skills-shortages/ accessed on 20 September 2022

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Alternative career options

Graduates can use the qualification as a stepping-stone into a range of other careers. For some of these roles, relevant experience and/or postgraduate study may be required. Roles include:

Digital copywriting

IT sales

IT training

Teaching

Research and development

Network engineering

Product management

Technical writing

Social media management

Cyber security

Information systems management

Games development