If students hold a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, but don’t meet the entry requirements for a master’s, a Pre-Master’s can help them gain a place on a postgraduate degree. For progression to the 1st year of a postgraduate degree at the University of Essex. Course length is determined mainly by students English language level (UKVI IELTS score).

Students on all course lengths take a set of common or similar modules to gain a solid base of skills for university. If their course is longer than 2 terms, students will take additional modules designed to improve one or more of their English language level, academic skills, and basic knowledge of particular subjects.

Master of Science - Data Science and its Applications The University of Essex MSc Data Science and its Applications is a conversion course specifically designed for students wanting to be part of their fast-growing digital economy but do not have the sufficient programming and statistics skills. This course will place students at the core of data science with the application of theory and methods to real-world problems, specifically to use and exploit big data.

At Essex, the techniques they use to model and manipulate data guide the political, financial and social decisions that shape modern society and are the basis of growth of the economy and success of businesses.

The course introduces students to programming with the R language and as well as text analytics. Relational databases and SQL are developed and used for relevant applications from humanities, life sciences, linguistics, marketing and social science. The course encourages statistical thinking by data visualizations and guides students to develop their creativity within a scientific framework.

Students cover topics such as: modelling experimental data, machine learning and decision-making, applied statistics, combinatorial optimization, statistical methods, and stochastic processes.

The leading department on this course, the Department of Mathematical Sciences, is genuinely innovative and student-focused. Their research groups are working on a broad range of collaborative areas tackling real-world issues.

The University of Essex is committed to transformational education and inclusion, focused on learning opportunities for every student, responsive to their students’ needs and aspirations. The MSc Data Science and its Applications course reflects this by supporting every student, from every background, and removing the barriers to their education.

This conversion course is the perfect gateway for a career in data science and has been developed with Essex's industrial partners (who include BT, Profusion, Essex County Council, Essex Police and Suffolk County Council) with employability in mind.