What our funded programmes are, and which one fits
Our funded programmes are data and AI qualifications you take alongside your job, at no cost to you. Each is an apprenticeship built on a national standard, for adults of any age from 19 who are already in work.
How every programme works
- 15 months of learning, then about 3 months for the end-point assessment (the final assessment): about 18 months in all. Data & AI Strategy's assessment timing may differ.
- About 6 hours a week in working hours, including a weekly 2-hour live session on Teams with your coach and group. "Off-the-job hours" explains the rest.
- Monthly projects apply that month's skills to your own organisation and build your portfolio.
- An independent assessment organisation assesses you (Summit Qualifications for AI Transformation and Advanced Data & AI); your coach explains how assessment works for your programme. If you pass, you get a certificate from the Department for Education.
The programmes
| Programme | National standard | Suits you if your job regularly involves | Next starts |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Transformation (Level 4) | Business analyst (ST0117) | Investigating business problems, redesigning processes, gathering requirements, weighing up costs and benefits. Often HR, operations, marketing or finance. | 16 November, 18 January |
| Advanced Data & AI (Data Analyst, Level 4) | Data analyst (ST0118) | Agreeing reporting needs, cleaning data, building dashboards and reports, presenting findings. | 18 January |
| Data & AI Strategy (Level 4) | Data protection and information governance practitioner (ST0967) | Data protection and governance: policies, records of processing, information requests, data protection impact assessments, breaches, audits. | 16 November, 18 January |
| Data & AI Essentials (Level 3) | Data technician (ST0795) | Working with data every week without a data background. | 18 January (planned; runs when enough learners sign up) |
This Data & AI Essentials is not our paid short course of the same name.
Data Engineering (Level 5) and Data & AI Governance (Level 4, same standard as Strategy) are not taking applications; register your interest on their programme pages.
Level 4 is the level of a Higher National Certificate, or the first year of a degree.
Which one fits you
Your current job decides the fit, not the programme name. You are assessed on your real work, so your job needs to give you regular chances to do what the standard describes.
Your rep talks this through on your admissions call, and your coach confirms the fit with you and your manager before you start.