Data Analyst

Data Analysts are the problem solvers of data teams. Find out more about the skills and tools in a data analyst's toolkit, and the training needed to excel in this in-demand field. 

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Data Analyst

Role profile

What does a data analyst do?

Data analysts are specialists in problem solving. They will often encounter messy or missing data, before using data preparation techniques to transform the data so it is ready for further analysis. They will then identify key trends and exceptions. 

They will conduct statistical tests to assess the evidence of specific patterns and many perform modelling using machine learning algorithms too. They can also be responsible for managing data pipelines and automating workflows to automate repetitive data led tasks.

Data analysts play a crucial role in helping businesses to improve the quality of their data, and therefore make greater data-driven decisions. 

What are the key skills required to be a data analyst?

Here are some of the primary programming and tool-based skills that data analysts need: 

  • Comfortable analysing, visualising, transforming data sets with either Python or R.
  • Experience writing data extraction and aggregation queries with SQL or other database languages.
  • Statistical proficiency in probability, regression, hypothesis testing and A|B testing.
  • Knowledge of data handling methods in Excel or PowerBI

Which industries need data analysts?

Data analysts are a key component in teams across a variety of industries. Here are some examples of projects that data analysts could be involved in:

  • Retail: Analysing customer purchasing history to optimise product range.
  • Healthcare: Evaluating patient case data to improve approaches to care.
  • Finance: Detecting fraud patterns and using that insight to recommend fraud prevention system changes.
  • Marketing: Measuring campaign effectiveness and conducting customer segmentation to improve future targeting activities.
Why it matters

Data analyst insights

£35,410
Average UK salary
94%
Of companies modernised their data stack in 2024
£40bn
Data analytics global market size 2024
Training and courses

How to become a data analyst

Data analyst training

Explore how to become a data analyst with our range of apprenticeships, instructor-led courses and online training. 

If you're a business looking to upskill your team, or hire a data apprentice, get in touch with our team to discuss your requirements. 

Build your data analytics skillset

Explore data analytics courses on the QA Platform

Gain access to unlimited tech training, including data analytics courses and hands-on labs. Learn a new programming language, or develop your skills in key platforms, such as Power BI, Azure, AWS and more. 

Upskill with instructor-led training

Explore our range of instructor-led data analytics courses, delivered by industry experts. 

Beginners SQL course

This course will provide you with the basic knowledge and skills to create queries using Transact-SQL.
PowerBI Desktop Training

This course will provide you with the basic knowledge and skills to import / ingest data, create a model and create visualisations in Power BI Desktop.
Statistics for Data Analysis in R

All modules involve the use of R to practice the techniques taught – setting you up to succeed in analysing, interpreting, and getting value from your data.
Statistics for Data Analysis in Python

All modules involve the use of Python to practice the techniques taught – setting you up to succeed in analysing, interpreting, and getting value from your data.

Explore data analyst apprenticeships

Data Analyst Level 4

QA's Data Analyst Level 4 apprenticeship develops the skills needed to collect, organise and study data to provide valuable business insight. 
Data Essentials Level 3

QA’s Data Essentials Level 3 apprenticeship can support your business to be more productive with data and adapt to a modern-day workplace. 

Earn a data certification

Data certifications

Advance your career in data with our industry-leading data certifications.
What our experts say

Insights from the experts

"Over the past decade, there's been a 20-fold increase in the amount of data organisations have available and much of it is streamed continuously from a complex set of machines and devices. This makes the role of the data analyst increasingly important as they help organisations find meaningful insight and intelligence in the data they collect.
Good data analysts are able to understand the insight the business needs to make critical decisions and can use the right tools to deliver this insight to a wide group of stakeholders.
As organisations develop the new digital products and services that will power their future success, so the role of the data analyst will become even more important."

David Pool

Data and AI Director

Useful reads on data

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