BSc (Hons) Data Science and Analytics

Data is the lifeblood of our society. From medicine to government offices, and market research to the environment, the collection and analysis of data is crucial to understanding how to improve, create and guide products and services across the globe.

Harvard Business Review recently described the job of Data Scientist as “the sexiest job of the 21st century”. Data science is about doing some detective work and carrying out the investigations needed to inform important decisions and to predict new trends. Technology is growing and evolving at an incredible speed, and both the rate of growth of data we generate and the devices we use to process it can only increase.

At Essex, we help you to understand how utilising the speed and processing power of computers can assist in using data to make better decisions. You discover the new methods and the smart, unusual questions needed to make sense of both structured and unstructured data.

This course balances solid theory with practical application, exploring topics including:

• mathematical skills
• computer science and programming
• statistics and operations research
• artificial intelligence, databases and information retrieval
• ethical issues around the use and processing of data
• specialist skills in the areas of big data, data analytics and data science

A successful career in data science requires you to possess truly interdisciplinary knowledge, so we ensure that you graduate with a wide-ranging yet specialised set of skills in this area. You are taught within our School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science and our School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering.

Data scientists are required in every sector, carrying out statistical analysis or mining data on social media, so our course can open the door to almost any industry, from health, to government, to publishing.

Study abroad

Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course.

Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised.

If you spend a full year abroad you'll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won't pay any tuition fees to your host university.

Placement year

Alternatively, you can spend your third year on a placement year with an external organisation. This is usually focussed around your course, and enables you to learn about a particular sector, company or job role, apply your academic knowledge in a practical working environment, and receive inspiration for future career pathways.

Recent placements undertaken by our students have been with ARM, Microsoft, Intel, Nestlé, British Aerospace, and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, as well a range of SME software and hardware companies.

If you complete a placement year you'll only pay 20% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year.

Our expert staff

Today's statisticians and computer scientists are creative people who are focused and committed, yet restless and experimental. We are home to many of the world's top scientists, and our staff are driven by creativity and imagination as well as technical excellence. We conduct research in areas such as:

• explorative data analysis
• classification and clustering
• evolutionary computation
• data visualisation
• financial forecasting

Specialist staff working on data science and analytics include:

• Professor Luca Citi, machine learning, learning from biological signals and data (EEG, etc)
• Professor Spyridon Vrontos, actuarial mathematics and actuarial modelling
• Dr Xinan Yang, approximate dynamic programming, Markov decision process

Our School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science is genuinely innovative and student-focused. Our research groups are working on a broad range of collaborative areas tackling real-world issues.

• Our data scientists carefully consider how not to lie, and how not to get lied to with data. Interpreting data correctly is especially important because much of our data science research is applied directly or indirectly to social policies, including health, care and education.
• We do practical research with financial data (for example, assessing the risk of collapse of the UK's banking system) as well as theoretical research in financial instruments such as insurance policies or asset portfolios.
• We also research how physical processes develop in time and space. Applications of this range from modelling epilepsy to modelling electronic cables.
• Our optimisation experts work out how to do the same job with less resource, or how to do more with the same resource.

Specialist facilities

• We have six laboratories that are exclusively for computer science and electronic engineering students. Three are open 24/7, and you have free access to the labs except when there is a scheduled practical class in progress.
• All computers are dual boot Windows 10 and Linux. Apple Mac Computers are dual boot MacOS and Windows 10.
• Software includes Java, Prolog, C++, Perl, Mysql, MATLAB, DB2, Microsoft Office, Visual Studio, and Project.
• You have access to CAD tools and simulators for chip design (Xilinx) and computer networks (OMNeT++).
• We also have specialist facilities for research into areas including non-invasive brain-computer interfaces, intelligent environments, robotics, optoelectronics, video, RF and MW, printed circuit milling, and semiconductors.

Your future

Demand for skilled graduates in the areas of big data and data science is growing rapidly in both the public and private sector, and there is a predicted shortage of data scientists with the skills to understand and make commercial decisions based on the analysis of big data.

Essex is bridging the gap between academia and business, and we are at the forefront of helping the UK grasp the big data opportunities to get ahead in the global race. Our graduates in data science have been very successful in finding employment in the public sector, consulting, technology, retail, and utilities, while a number have gone on to postgraduate study or research.

Our recent graduates have gone on to work for a wide range of high-profile companies including:

• Aviva
• AXA
• BT
• Profusion
• EDS
• Mondaq
• IBM
• Royal Bank of Scotland
• Accenture
• Buck Consultants
• Google

Our Schools have a large pool of external contacts, ranging from companies providing robots for the media industry, through vehicle diagnostics, to the transforming of unstructured data to cloud-based multidimensional data cubes, who work with us and our students to provide advice, placements and eventually graduate opportunities.

We also work with our University's Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.

“I knew I wanted to do data science after discovering that it was the perfect subject for people who enjoy both computing and maths. I decided to study at Essex because it was one of the few universities who offered a degree in data science; it was also one of the highest rated universities in the UK. I’m currently enjoying programming the most, purely because I love problem solving, but I’ve enjoyed all of the modules I have studied so far. All of my professors and lecturers are helpful – they devote a lot of their time to us as students."

“I want to travel once I have finished university and therefore work long-distance – which in today’s modern world is definitely possible! Essex partners with a lot of businesses and companies, and gives students opportunities to gain highly useful work experience through a placement year. I think studying at Essex will put me in a great place when I graduate.”

Andreas Loucas, BSc Data Science and Analytics student

UK entry requirements

• A-levels: BBB - BBC or 120 - 112 UCAS tariff points from a minimum of 2 full A-levels, including B in Mathematics, Pure Maths, Statistics, or Further Mathematics. Please note we are unable to accept A-level Use of Mathematics.
• BTEC: DDM - DMM or 120 - 112 UCAS tariff points from a minimum of the equivalent of 2 full A-levels and only in conjunction with A-level Maths. The acceptability of BTECs is dependent on subject studied and optional units taken - email ugquery@essex.ac.uk for advice.
• Combined qualifications on the UCAS tariff: 120 - 112 UCAS tariff points from a minimum of 2 full A levels or equivalent including B in Mathematics or Further Mathematics. Tariff point offers may be made if you are taking a qualification, or mixture of qualifications, from the list on our undergraduate application information page.
• IB:30 - 29 points in the IB Diploma or 120 - 112 UCAS tariff points to include a minimum of 2 Higher Level subjects including higher Level Mathematics grade 5.
• IB Career-related Programme: We consider combinations of IB Diploma Programme courses with BTECs or other qualifications. Advice on acceptability can be provided, email Undergraduate Admissions.
• QAA-approved Access to HE Diploma:120 - 112 UCAS tariff points, depending on subject studied - advice on acceptability can be provided, email Undergraduate Admissions. The Access to HE Diploma is only acceptable in conjunction with A-level Mathematics
• T-levels: 120 - 112 UCAS tariff points. We consider T-levels on a case-by-case basis, depending on subject studied. Depending on the course applied for there may be additional requirements, which may include a specific grade in the Core. T-levels are only acceptable in conjunction with A-level Mathematics

Contextual Offers:

We are committed to ensuring that all students with the merit and potential to benefit from an Essex education are supported to do so. We make Contextual Offers, of up to two A-level grades (or equivalent) below our standard conditional offer, to applicants from underrepresented groups residing in the UK. Our Contextual Offers policy outlines the full eligibility criteria.

For further information about what a Contextual Offer may look like for your specific qualification profile, email ugquery@essex.ac.uk.

If you haven't got the grades you hoped for, have a non-traditional academic background, are a mature student, or have any questions about eligibility for your course, more information can be found on our undergraduate application information page or get in touch with our Undergraduate Admissions Team at ugquery@essex.ac.uk.

Course structure

We offer a flexible course structure with a mixture of core/compulsory modules, and optional modules chosen from lists.

Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field. The course content is therefore reviewed on an annual basis to ensure our courses remain up-to-date so modules listed are subject to change.

We understand that deciding where and what to study is a very important decision for you. We'll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities as described on our website and in line with your contract with us. However, if we need to make material changes, for example due to significant disruption, we'll let our applicants and students know as soon as possible.

Placement

On a placement year you gain relevant work experience within an external business or organisation, giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market and providing you with key contacts within the industry. The rest of your course remains identical to the three-year degree.

Year abroad

On your year abroad, you have the opportunity to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised. The rest of your course remains identical to the three-year degree.

Teaching

• Undergraduate students in the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science typically attend three taught hours per module per week. This varies by module, e.g. two hours of lectures and one class/lab.
• A significant amount of practical lab work will need undertaking for written assignments and as part of your learning.
• Take a mathematics careers and employability module, where you compile a portfolio of skills and experience.

Assessment

• Your final mark is a weighted combination of coursework and summer examinations.
• Your first year of study does not count towards your final degree class.
• You receive regular feedback through in-term tests.
• In your final year, you have the opportunity to complete a full-year or one-term project.