Looking for a job that’s flexible, varied, exciting, has great prospects, and can offer you a great environment to work in?  

This course is for you

No two days are the same, it’s one of the fastest growing industries in Scotland and guarantees you’ll be trained for a job of the future.

You don’t always need a degree to get an opportunity in the tech sector, complete our online 12 week course to help you gain access to one of over 13,000 jobs that go unfilled every year.

Places on this course are fully grant funded via the Digital Start Fund.

Tell me more about the course

Applications Close: 26th October 2020
Start Date: 2nd November 2020
End Date: 24th January 2021

We are offering eligible individuals the chance to undertake two SCQF Level 11 modules with a  Data Science focus over a  12 week period online and you can complete them with no effect to your Universal Credit.

Successfully passing this course guarantees you an interview upon completion, arranged by ScotlandIS.

What will the course cover?

This course consists of two postgraduate 20 credit modules, Introduction to R and Data Visualisation and Data Analytics on the Web, and prepares you for employment by developing your knowledge and skills in these two areas:

Introduction to R and Data Visualisation

Analysing data often begins with visualising it, observing the relationships that appear and discovering anything unexpected. This module will teach candidates how to use the open source statistical software R to visualise data, including cleaning, preparing and summarising the data sets.

Alongside the data visualisations, reproducible reporting mechanisms will be introduced, using a document format that mixes code and text. The skills learned in the module are used in many fields and are applicable for use with many datasets, regardless of size.

R is a widely used tool throughout various industries and businesses. It has a large open source community who contribute to the development of new tools and techniques, along with providing community support. Other industry tools, including an integrated development environment and version control, will also be used throughout the module.

Data Analytics on the Web

Business intelligence can help companies uncover previously inaccessible insights hidden in large data sets of unstructured data formats, and take over tasks like image recognition, text analysis and repetitive knowledge work, and can be applied to boundless areas such as risk detection, logistics, technical support, behavioural analysis and customer support. This module aims to give candidates a theoretical and practical understanding of machine learning, one of the most exciting fields in computer science, in context to business intelligence and analytics.

Is this course for me?

This course is designed for people with an interest in Data and Analytics, with either:

• A minimum 2:2 honours degree in a STEM subject
• A minimum 2:2 honours degree in a Business Management subject with appropriate work experience (requires academic decision panel input)
• Those who do not possess an honours degree but have an ordinary degree, or degree equivalent qualification, and work experience at a suitable level within an organisation for an appropriate length of time, will be considered (requires academic decision panel input)
• Qualifications from an approved professional body will also be considered (requires academic decision panel input)

How will I study?

All elements of the course will be completed online, so it is essential that you have regular access to a laptop or desktop computer as well as reliable broadband with streaming capacity.

Delivery will be flexible to enable you to study whenever and wherever is convenient but the expected length of the course is 10 teaching weeks (12 weeks in total) of virtual lectures, activities, independent study and assessment, with a maximum of two attempts to successfully complete each module.

I’ve never studied online before, will there be help?

You’ll not be alone, with module leaders on hand to offer academic support as well as pre recorded lectures and plenty of online materials, as well as a ScotlandIS representative to help support you through your studies.

Am I eligible for a funded place?

If you are in receipt of Universal Credit or other income related benefits and live in Scotland, you almost certainly qualify. Read on below for full details.

In order to be considered you must

• be resident in Scotland
• have the right to work in the UK
• have not completed any further or higher study in the last 12 months
• receive universal credit OR be considered low income employed or low skilled employed
• face barriers (financial, social, etc) to accessing existing upskilling and retraining opportunities for a future career in digital technologies.

Primary criteria

You must be in receipt of Universal Credit and live in Scotland having not completed qualifications at SCQF Level 6 or above in the last 12 months.

OR

You must meet two of the European Employability Barriers

Please note that of  you are currently in employment you must be considered as low income employed (this means your total pay is £16,100 or less per year).

You can see some of these barriers below. The list is not exhaustive but a full list can be found here. If you’re unsure please get in touch with us on email nicola.taylor@xgcr.net and we’ll be able to tell you.

• Above 54 years
• Armed Forces Veteran
• Criminal Convictions
• Disability
• From employment deprived areas
• Remote or rural areas
• Homeless
• Living in a jobless household
• Mental health

People who have completed college or university provision at SCQF6 or above within the past calendar year will not be eligible. Being in receipt of certain types of benefits will preclude any of the employability barriers from applying. If you are unsure please contact nicola.taylor@xgcr.net

The course will start on the 19th October 2020