Data Scientist

You can begin your career in data science by studying for a relevant degree or postgraduate qualification, such as:

• maths
• statistics
• data science
• computer science
• operational research

Subjects that include a lot of statistics, like physics, engineering or psychology may also be useful.

Graduates of other subjects can do a postgraduate master's conversion course to get into AI and data science.

Funding is also available to encourage people from under-represented groups to come into the profession.

Doing an internship or industry work placement as part of your course can give you an advantage when looking for jobs.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree

More Information

• equivalent entry requirements
• student finance for fees and living costs
• university courses and entry requirements

You may be able to get into this job through an apprenticeship, for example:

• Data Engineer Level 5 Higher Apprenticeship
• Data Scientist Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship
• Digital and Technology Solutions Specialist Level 7 Degree Apprenticeship
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Data Specialist Level 7 Professional Apprenticeship

These can take between 2 and 3 years to complete.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship

More Information

• equivalent entry requirements
• apprenticeship levels
• guide to apprenticeships

You could apply directly to companies and organisations if you have the right skills and experience from working with data. You may be able to find roles with:

• the NHS
• financial and professional services firms
• IT companies
• retail and sales organisations
• government departments

You could register for a place on the Civil Service Fast Stream scheme to work in data. You'll need a degree, postgraduate award or have completed a degree apprenticeship to apply.

Career tips

Look out for intensive training courses in computing and data science.

It could also be useful to build up your knowledge of coding, analysis and data manipulation software, like:

• R
• SQL
• Python
• Power BI
• Excel

Professional and industry bodies

You could join the Institute of Analytics (IoA) or The Royal Statistical Society for training and development opportunities, and to make contacts in the industry.

Further information

You can find out more about a career as a data scientist from The Royal Statistical Society and The Chartered Institute for IT.