</Coventry University-led consortium celebrates its first birthday with continued high levels of engagement>
It’s been one year since a new consortium, supported by the Institute of Coding (IoC) and led by Coventry University, started work to engage learners on PG conversion courses in AI & Data Science. The initiative, funded by the Office for Students (OfS), is helping to increase the number of learners on these programmes from underrepresented groups and encourage graduates from non-computer science-related areas to upskill and reskill so they can participate in the growing tech industry.
The following infographic provides an overview of what has been achieved in the first year of the project.
The University of Exeter is one member of this consortium and they are offering Master’s Degree programmes in Data Science, AI and Cyber Security. The following testimonials are from Exeter students who have studied related courses at Exeter. Their accounts provide an insight into studying data science courses at the University of Exeter.
Salma is a learner at the University of Exeter and is studying an MSc in Applied Data Science and Statistics. She said, “I knew I wanted to go into data science and chose this programme because it’s open to people from a non-technical background. It’s been challenging at times but no more than I expected. I feel it’s setting me up for the direction I want to head in and bringing me up to speed with the things I need to know maths-wise.”
Catherine, a Senior Data Scientist at the UK Hydrographic Office, is studying for an MSc Data Science (Professional). When asked about the programme, she said: “I was already working as a Data Scientist, but applied for the course because I recognised, I had some knowledge gaps that this would help fill – and I could gain professional accreditation at the same time. I continued to work full-time, completing all my coursework and revision in the evenings and weekends. In my experience and looking at my colleagues and peers that I admire, great data scientists are not always from a mathematics or computer science background (although they can be!) but rather from a hugely diverse range of backgrounds”.
If you’re interested in a Masters in Data Science or Artificial Intelligence, take a look at the free taster course ‘Get ready for Masters in Data Science and AI’ which has been developed by the IoC consortium hosted by FutureLearn. The course is available for learners from all backgrounds and offers the opportunity to explore this exciting area of AI and data science, ahead of starting a postgraduate course if you decide this route is right for you.
To find out more about PG conversion courses and to see the full list of courses and scholarships available visit: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-students/study-artificial-intelligence-and-data-science-as-a-postgraduate/find-courses-in-artificial-intelligence-ai-and-data-science/