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Data Science with Foundation Year

Entry requirements


UCAS Tariff

32-56

A typical offer will require a UCAS Tariff score between 32 - 56. Every application is considered on an individual basis. For further details of our international English entry requirements, please visit our General Entry Requirements pages.

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Data management

Do you want to learn how to work with data and use it to make decisions? Looking for a degree with opportunities to work on real-life scenarios, business challenges and career-relevant problems?

BSc (Hons) Data Science teaches you the skills and knowledge to collect, store, analyse, and present data for different purposes and industries. It gives you the opportunity to learn from knowledgeable academics and industry experts.

This is a four-year degree, including an initial Foundation Year. The Foundation Year will allow you to develop your academic study skills and build confidence in your abilities, identifying your own strengths and development needs for progression onto an undergraduate degree.

**Why study this subject?**
With the modern world increasingly reliant on data-driven decision-making a degree in data science open doors to diverse career opportunities. BSc (Hons) Data Science provides you with in-depth knowledge of statistics, programming languages, and data handling. Equipping you with skills that are in high demand makes you well-positioned to enter the competitive job market.

Data Science is at the forefront of current technological advancements, offering a dynamic and intellectually stimulating career, where you can contribute your skills and make an impact. With great emphasis on developing your employability skills, Data Science provides you with the competence and confidence to pursue and succeed in these roles

**Why study at Buckinghamshire New University?**
At BNU, we always provide our students with opportunities to work on real-life scenarios, business challenges and work-relevant problems whenever we can which is why your experience as a student with us will be so unique.

**What facilities can I use?**
Our computing facilities are regularly upgraded so that you have access to the right hardware, software and technology, to succeed in your studies and to prepare you for employment.

**What will I study?**
The BSc(Hons) Data Science course teaches you how to work with data in a variety of different ways. You will learn how to collect, store, analyse, and present data for different purposes and industries. You will also learn how to use different tools and software to handle data.
This degree will help you acquire a range of transferable skills that are essential for academic and professional success, such as curiosity, critical thinking, adaptability, and research skills. You will also learn how to solve problems and find insights from data. You will learn elements of data visualisation, storytelling and its ethical use, as well as data automation with AI. This will help you understand the role that data-based computing can have in a range of business and industry contexts.
The course gives a balance of theory and practice, with opportunities to apply your knowledge to real or simulated projects and scenarios. You will focus on technical data analysis applications and services for industries that require expertise in data-focused computing sectors, using database development technologies.

**What are my career prospects?**
Employability is at the heart of this degree, with the curriculum strongly influenced by, and based upon, industry expectations of the skills, attributes and competencies needed for university graduates to pursue rewarding careers in different roles and sectors.
With a data science degree, you could work across a broad range of areas, such as:
- Ecommerce

- Finance

- Government

- Healthcare

- Information technology

- Scientific research.

Typical job roles include:
- Applications Architect

- Data Architect

- Data Engineer

- Data Scientist

- Enterprise Architect

- Infrastructure Architect Machine

- Learning Engineer

- Machine Learning Scientist.

For more information, visit our website.

Modules

**Year one**
Preparing for Success: Knowledge and Creativity
Preparing for Success: Self Development and Responsibility
Inquiry Based Learning
Digital Media
Computing Essentials

**Year two**
Computer Architectures
Programming Concepts
Database Design
Web Development
Networking
Application Programming
Data Warehousing
Digital Technologies and Professional Practice

**Year three**
Web Applications
Big Data
Information Security
Business Intelligence
Data Presentation and Visualisation
Statistical Methods
Software Engineering
Intro to Intelligent Systems (Team Project)

**Year four**
Project
Data Science (optional)
Database Development
Knowledge-Based Systems in A.I.
Cloud Computing (optional)
Legal Aspects of IT
Database Technologies (optional)
Learning Machines and Intelligent Agents (optional)
Network Security (optional)

Assessment methods

A variety of approaches, and good use of the latest technology, will be blended together to engage students in learning in class and beyond, and to encourage full student participation.

Lectures, tutorials, seminars and practical sessions will all be appropriately utilised, with a gradual progression from formal teaching towards more student-centred and independent learning, through the levels of the programme. Your course will be fully supported by the University’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), a digitally based platform that offers many features and resources to support and enhance your learning experience.

Different strategies will be adopted to provide real-world contextualisation and engagement, for example, guest lecturers, live briefs, work-related projects and external visits.

Work and activities within the modules, including the formal assessments, will have a strong focus on real world scenarios.

There'll be a variety of assessments across your course, in part to give you exposure to the variety of situations you'll face in your professional life, but also to direct and focus your learning of many interesting, and career-relevant, topics.

Assessments are then designed to help you learn and apply relevant knowledge, concepts and skills whilst developing those competencies and characteristics needed to be successful in education and employment.

You'll complete different types of coursework like written assignments, practical exercises, presentations and other individual or group tasks alongside some tests or exams.

The Project in your final year represents a major piece of independent research focused on some significant problem, which can be linked to some current business challenge or an idea that will support your own career aspirations. Formal and informal feedback on your work will be regularly provided to support and direct your learning and development..

Course assignments reflect real-life problems because we believe that’s the best way to learn – and it’s more fun!

We also encourage you to gain work experience whilst studying and actively look for clients for your project work, which provide you with the opportunity to develop your skills in a work-base setting.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£15,000
per year
International
£15,000
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

Extra funding

Buckinghamshire New University offers a range of bursaries and scholarships. For more information, please visit https://www.bucks.ac.uk/study/fees-and-funding/financial-support-bursaries-and-scholarships

The Uni


Course location:

Buckinghamshire New University

Department:

School of Creative And Digital Industries

Read full university profile

What students say


How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Information systems

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.


Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

72%
UK students
28%
International students
82%
Male students
18%
Female students
60%
2:1 or above
29%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

D
A
D

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Information systems

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£20,000
low
Average annual salary
83%
low
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

22%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals
11%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
11%
Design occupations

Information systems courses cover a range of areas, including information design, modelling and the finance industry. How well graduates did made a particular difference in 2015 — computing graduates with good grades were much less likely to be out of work after six months. Most students do get jobs, though, and starting salaries are good — particularly in London, and that’s where over a quarter of graduates started work last year. This is also a good degree to take if you want to follow a technical role in the finance or advertising industry. Many jobs for this degree were found in the larger cities last year and opportunities may be more limited outside those areas.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Information systems

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£22k

£22k

£21k

£21k

£26k

£26k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

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