Data Analysis & Visualization
From Excel to a working analyst's toolkit: cleaning, pivot analysis, SQL and Power BI dashboards, and explaining what the numbers mean to a non-technical manager.
About this course
This course is for people who already live in spreadsheets - finance, operations, sales and admin staff - and for career changers aiming at an analyst role. It starts in Excel because that is where the data actually is, and ends in SQL and a published dashboard because that is what the job asks for.
You work with messy, realistic data throughout: a transaction export full of duplicates, twelve monthly files that do not agree with each other, figures stored as text. You clean them with Power Query, interrogate them with pivot tables and SQL, model them in Power BI, and build a dashboard a manager can click through without you in the room.
The final module is the one people underrate. A correct analysis nobody acts on is wasted work, so you practise writing the one-page summary, choosing the chart that carries the point, and answering the only question that matters: so what should we do?
Teaching is in person with a laptop in front of you and an exercise in every session. By the end you have two finished projects - the data, the queries, the dashboard and the written finding - that you can show to an employer.
What you will cover
6 modules, 23 sessions.
Module 1: Excel as an analyst's tool, not a typing pad
- Structuring a spreadsheet so it can be analysed1 hr 30 min
- The formulas that do real work: IF, SUMIFS, COUNTIFS and text functions1 hr 45 min
- XLOOKUP and INDEX/MATCH: joining two sheets that should be one1 hr 45 min
- Dates, currency and percentages without breaking the numbers1 hr 30 min
Module 2: Cleaning data you did not create
- Diagnosing a messy file: duplicates, blanks and mixed formats1 hr 45 min
- Cleaning messy sales data with Power Query, step by step2 hr
- Combining twelve monthly files into one table that refreshes1 hr 45 min
- Documenting your cleaning so the result can be trusted1 hr 30 min
Module 3: Finding the answer with pivot analysis
- Pivot tables: from raw transactions to revenue by product, branch and month1 hr 45 min
- Slicers, grouping and calculated fields for questions that keep changing1 hr 45 min
- Averages, medians and outliers: which number to quote2 hr
- Growth rates, ratios and a trend line that is not a forecast1 hr 30 min
Module 4: SQL for pulling your own data
- SELECT, WHERE and ORDER BY: your first questions to a database1 hr 30 min
- GROUP BY and aggregates: the SQL version of a pivot table1 hr 45 min
- JOINs: combining customers, orders and products correctly2 hr
- Subqueries, CTEs and proving your query is correct1 hr 45 min
Module 5: Dashboards in Power BI
- Loading and modelling data in Power BI: relationships and a date table1 hr 45 min
- Measures with DAX: totals, year-on-year and share of revenue2 hr
- Choosing the right chart, and the ones to avoid2 hr
- Building an interactive sales dashboard with filters and drill-through1 hr 45 min
Module 6: Telling a manager what the numbers mean
- A one-page summary for someone with five minutes1 hr 45 min
- Presenting your analysis and defending it under questioning2 hr
- Your portfolio: two projects with data, queries and a written finding1 hr 15 min
Questions people ask
How much Excel do I need before I start?
Enough to open a workbook, type in cells and save a file. Module one rebuilds the foundations - structure, formulas and lookups - so there is no prior formula knowledge assumed. No statistics background is needed either.
What laptop and software do I need?
A laptop with at least 8GB of RAM will save you a lot of waiting. We work in Excel, SQL and Power BI; Power BI Desktop is a free download and SQL is practised against a free sample database. The admissions team confirms anything you should install before your first session.
Can I take this course on a Mac?
You can, with one caveat worth raising early: Power BI Desktop is a Windows application and does not install on macOS. Mac users normally work in the Power BI service through a browser for the dashboard module. Mention it to the admissions team when you register so it is sorted before the course starts rather than during it.
Is this a Microsoft certification?
No. You receive a Toko Academy certificate of completion. The course covers much of the ground a Microsoft data analyst exam tests, but the exam is Microsoft's own and is sat separately if you want it.
Will it help me move into an analyst role?
It gives you what that move requires: the cleaning, SQL and dashboard skills the job description lists, plus two finished projects to show. We cannot promise a role, and we would not trust a school that did.
How are classes run and how do I pay?
Sessions are taught in person, hands-on, with your laptop open for every exercise. The admissions team confirms the current fee, the cohort schedule and any instalment option at registration.
Scheduled classes
Tell us you are interested and the admissions team will be in touch about dates and payment.
Ask a question- Format
- Scheduled classes
- Contact hours
- 40 hours
- Sessions
- 23 across 6 modules
- Certificate
- Yes, on completion
- Who it is for
- Youth, Professionals, Corporate & Government