Postgraduate
Apprenticeship

Digital and Technology Solutions Specialist: Data Analytics

MSc Level 7

Start date

Duration

Location

Overview
Requirements
Course detail & modules
Costs & fees
Study & career progression

Next steps

Start date

Next steps

Overview

Our MSc Digital and Technology Solutions Specialist (Data Analytics) Degree Apprenticeship has been designed to offer a combination of academic study with work-based experience, helping you to develop the expertise and skills needed for a specialist career in the digital and technology field.

You will have the opportunity to apply your learning in a workplace environment and reinforce your studies.

You will also be expected to draw heavily upon your workplace in your studies, applying concepts and trying out techniques and tools that you have studied.

As an apprentice with us, you will have access to all our learning and development resources as well as specialist software, including the Microsoft Imagine Software Package.

Select a start date below to see relevant course information:

Start date:

View apprenticeships standards End Point Assessment

Accreditations and partners

Accredited by TechSkills.

Requirements

Requirements for apprentices

An honours degree (2:2 or above) in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subject. Equivalent professional qualifications and/or relevant work experience may also be considered. In this case you will have to complete an interview with the application.

English and maths only

If you do not have evidence of these qualifications, then we strongly recommend you achieve these before you start the apprenticeship.

For applicants living in London*, we have free courses-please see information here:

Open the door to new career possibilities with our free courses in Maths and English (uwl.ac.uk)

*You must be able to meet the eligibility criteria.

If you have an overseas qualification, we will check this for its UK equivalency during your application and let you know what you may need to do to meet the requirement.

Eligibility

All apprenticeships starting from 1 August 2021:

Eligibility is subject to Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) Apprenticeship Funding Rules. Over the duration of the apprenticeship, you must meet the eligibility requirements in place at the time, including:

Have the right to work and study in England
Spend at least 50% of your working time in England; and
Are a UK citizen and have been ordinarily resident for the last three years in the UK or meet one of the following immigration statuses:

UK and Irish Nationals: have been ordinarily resident in the UK or EEA for the three years before the first day of the start of the apprenticeship.

EEA nationals: have either pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme; and have been ordinarily resident in the EEA, Gibraltar, or the UK for at least the previous three years before the first day of the start of the apprenticeship.

*Non-EEA nationals: you are eligible if you have permission from the UK government to live in the UK, (not for educational purposes) and have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least the previous three years before the first day of the start of the apprenticeship.

* You must meet the UK government’s eligibility criteria for apprenticeship funding:

Where an applicant for an apprenticeship does not hold a UK passport as a British citizen, these requirements state that you must have an immigration permission in the UK that allows you to study and will cover the length of the whole apprenticeship in full without you needing to extend your visa or immigration permission during the apprenticeship.

Please check the guidance for further clarification, particularly for information on:

Family members of UK and EEA nationals
Individuals with certain types of immigration status and their family members
Asylum seekers
Other immigration status.

You can also contact the Student Admissions Team admissions@uwl.ac.uk if you require further clarification.

Course detail & modules

The award of MSc requires 180 credits, which are to be completed through four semesters across two academic years (typically 24 calendar months, including End Point Assessment).

The specific course structure varies for the different specialist pathways.

Year 1 and 2

Compulsory modules

Consultancy and Tech Innovation

This module explores the skills needed to understand, and work in, the complex multi-sourced environment that supports business change. Focusing on the strategic management of leading-edge technology, you will examine the organisational structure of IT, including systems integrators and consultancy, and gain an overview of the IT consulting world, its principles and practice.
Team Dynamics and Leadership

This module will cover the structure, development, leadership and management of teams that plan and deliver projects. It will deal with relations, interactions and communications within and beyond the team. You'll also consider high performance, self-directed, dispersed and virtual teams.
Managing Innovation and Change

During this module you will explore the nature of innovation and the need for it in the management of a modern organisation. It will examine the complex process of organisational change as it occurs in specific organisational contexts. Furthermore, you will address how to introduce innovation best practice within an organisation according to its particular context.
Machine Learning

Machine learning is an application of artificial intelligence that provides systems with the ability to automatically learn and improve from experience without being explicitly programmed.
This module familiarises you with some basic machine learning algorithms and techniques and their applications, as well as general questions related to analysing and handling large data sets. Several software libraries and data sets publicly available will be used to illustrate the application of these algorithms. The emphasis will be thus on machine learning algorithms and applications, with some broad explanation of the underlying principles.
Big Data Analytics

Big data is a fast-growing field and skills in the area are some of the most in-demand today. Big data technologies cover a range of architectures, frameworks and algorithms designed to handle very large and often highly complex datasets.
The module will enable you to understand big data, its applications and associated issues for storing, managing, processing and analysing massive amounts of datasets, as well as become familiar with software tools and frameworks underpinning big data analytics.
You will also acquire the knowledge of statistical, mathematical and machine-learning techniques, and develop the ability to design and implement big data analytics modelling and applications to real-world problems.
Security Operations and Assurance
This module provides an introduction to security operations and assurance of systems, networks, data and user identities, which is an essential aspect of organisation and information systems. This module provides an introduction to security operations and assurance of systems, networks, data and user identities, which is an essential aspect of organisation and information systems. New threats are emerging as digital technologies permeate into most aspects of work and social life and in transactions between parties opening potential for fraud, deception and corruption.
You will develop an understanding of:
information assurance
incident management
audit
business continuity.
The module covers:
IISP Security Skill Groups D (Information Assurance Methodologies),
F.1 (Incident Management),
G (Audit Assurance and Review)
H (Business Continuity Planning and Management).
Apprenticeship Project

Towards the end of your apprenticeship, the University will agree a business-related project with you and your employer. This will be based on your job role and academic content of your course. The agreed project will present a typical business task, appropriate for demonstrating the skills and knowledge on the standard. This module is a pre-gateway to the End Point Assessment (EPA).
Professional Development

This module aims to capture and develop your portfolio, which will present relevant evidence from real-work projects (excluding Apprenticeship Project). The portfolio you develop through this module will be used to help you answer questions in the professional discussion part of the End Point Assessment.
This work-based module will require you to continuously reflect and identify areas for further development in order to demonstrate that you have applied the knowledge, skills and behaviours in the apprenticeship standard, under the guidance of work mentor and university tutor.

Teaching & learning

Two women sitting at a table looking at the graphs on the laptop

The learning and teaching approach for this course draws on the experience of our academic staff in delivering part-time and work-based provision over three years, combined with our expertise in the digital and technology field.

We promote the principles of scholarship, employability and active learning.

The approach is to combine theory with professional practice. You will be introduced to the key theories and concepts and be able to explore these in relation to examples and real-world case studies drawn from their own professional practice, as well as those provided by the academic staff team.

You will be encouraged to develop critical scholarship and independent learning, and be actively engaged as you progress through your studies. The culmination of this is the synoptic project which is a major piece of work that combines your academic studies with professional practice. This work-based, business-related project provides substantive evidence to demonstrate your ability to apply your skills and knowledge.

close-up of a student working on a computer

The End Point Assessment (EPA) integrates the project outcomes and presentation into the overall synoptic project assessment. It will take place over around six months, during the final year of the course. It is designed to assess apprentices in a consistent way, irrespective of their workplace.

A work-based learning adopted in this course provides a student-centred approach, allowing you to identify and act upon your subject knowledge and theory and how they relate to your employment. The teaching and learning strategy includes the provision of blended modes of delivery to enhance the active engagement of all students in the learning process.

Woman and man working on desktop Macs facing each other

Technology expertise is a core element of this course and to our learning and teaching strategy. You will have access to a wide variety of technologies such as Oracle, R, JAVA, HADOOP and Eclipse. To support the delivery of the course, staff will routinely draw on a range of technological resources e.g.

videos
wikis
webinars
screen capture technologies

We will ensure that the Virtual Learning Environment (Blackboard) supports you both on and off campus. We use electronic submission and feedback where appropriate, along with a range of technology solutions to support communication between staff and students.

Study mode

Day release (one day a week for 16 weeks per semester, for 3 semesters).

A male or female figure working at their laptop looking at some graphs with their glasses and phone lying next to the laptop on the table

How you will be assessed

The course has been designed to offer a strong combination of academic study with vocational application. We focus on developing your expertise and skills for a professional career in the digital and technology field. Throughout the course, you'll be able to apply your learning in the workplace and reinforce your university-based studies. You will also be expected to draw heavily upon your workplace for examples and broader opinions, and for opportunities to apply concepts and try out techniques and tools.

Modules are assessed predominantly by coursework assignments, reflecting the work-based orientation of the course. Although not all assessment can be based on work undertaken in your place of employment, this is the preferred mode where possible.

At all levels the assessment of modules includes a mix of summative and formative elements. A key goal is to ensure that assessments support your learning experience.

Costs & fees

Costs for apprentices

Although there are no tuition fees payable by you as an apprentice, additional costs may be incurred which are outside of the apprenticeship levy funding. Please discuss additional costs directly with your employer.

Costs for employers

For employers, the costs of training your apprentice will usually be covered by the apprenticeship levy. Find out more about how apprenticeship funding works.

Teaching staff

Study & career progression

A person wearing glasses looking at a screen with data reflected

This MSc Digital and Technology Solutions Specialist (Data Analytics) Degree Apprenticeship aims to prepare you as a professional who can facilitate and influence the provisioning of digital and technology solutions, with a focus on technology leadership combined with specialist skills and knowledge within the dynamics of organisations.

This course will equip you with knowledge, skills and behaviours through a blend of classroom-based and work-based learning.

Next steps

Next steps for apprentices

Apprenticeships are open to both existing and new employees.

If you would like to start an apprenticeship in your current working role, you will need to register interest with your employer.

Why not send the appropriate person at your organisation a link to our information for employers?

How to apply

To apply for this apprenticeship, you will need to find a position with an employer who is offering it. We cannot accept applications directly.

We advertise any apprenticeship vacancies from employers we are working with on our Vacancies page, and we recommend checking the National Apprenticeship Service website for vacancies across the country.

Next steps for employers

To find out more about working with the University of West London, please contact Janet Rowson, Director of Apprenticeships:

Email: janet.rowson@uwl.ac.uk

Digital and Technology Solutions Specialist: Data Analytics

Overview

Accreditations and partners