Advanced Computer Science (Data Analytics) MSc

Course overview

From science to marketing, engineering to medicine, big data has become crucial to a wide range of industries – especially in recent years. That’s why many organisations are keen to employ qualified experts in computing who have a particular focus in data to keep their businesses progressing.

Our Advanced Computer Science (Data Analytics) MSc will equip you with specialist knowledge in this exciting field and allow you to explore a range of advanced topics in computer science.

You’ll gain a foundation in topics like data science, as well as the basics of machine learning and knowledge representation. You’ll also choose from optional modules focusing on topics like image analysis or text analytics with the chance to broaden your approach with topics like cloud computing.

Studying in our School of Computer Science gives you access to a whole range of specialist facilities, whilst being taught by academics who are experts in their fields. We’re responsible for producing internationally excellent research and have long-established links in industry and with the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (LIDA) which is at the forefront of big data research.

Once you’ve graduated, you’ll be fully equipped with the most up-to-date practices and techniques, alongside the technical skill set you’ll need to pursue an exciting career in industry.

Applying

Entry requirements

A bachelor degree with a 2:1 (hons) in computer science. We require all applicants to have studied a breadth of relevant modules including significant programming, systems development, data structures and algorithms, with strong marks across all these modules.

Applicants with any of the following will be considered on a case-by-case basis:

• A bachelor degree with a 2:1 (hons) in other computing-based degrees.
• Professional qualifications and relevant work experience.

International

We accept a range of international equivalent qualifications. For more information please contact the Admissions Team.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in any component. For other English qualifications, read English language equivalent qualifications.

Improve your English

International students who do not meet the English language requirements for this programme may be able to study our postgraduate pre-sessional English course, to help improve your English language level.

This pre-sessional course is designed with a progression route to your degree programme and you’ll learn academic English in the context of your subject area. To find out more, read Language for Engineering (6 weeks) and Language for Science: Engineering (10 weeks).

We also offer online pre-sessionals alongside our on-campus pre-sessionals. Find out more about our six week online pre-sessional and our 10 week online pre-sessional.

You can also study pre-sessionals for longer periods – read about our postgraduate pre-sessional English courses.

Career opportunities

Computing is an essential component of nearly every daily activity, from the collection and processing of information in business, through to smart systems embedded in devices, image processing in medical diagnosis and the middleware that underpins distributed technologies like cloud computing and the semantic web.

This programme will give you the practical skills to enter many areas of applied computing, working as application developers, system designers and evaluators. Links between the taught modules and our research provide our students with added strengths in artificial intelligence, intelligent systems, distributed systems, and the analysis of complex data. As a result, you’ll be well-prepared for a range of careers, as well as further research at PhD level.

Plus, the University of Leeds is in the top 5 most targeted universities in the UK by graduate recruiters, according to High Fliers’ The Graduate Market in 2024 report.

Here’s an insight into some of the job positions and organisations previous advanced computer science graduates have secured:

• Engineer, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
• Senior Software Engineer, Funding Circle
• Technical Developer, Reading Room
• Head of Audience Development, Al Jazeera Media Network
• Systems Engineer, Systematic
• Software Engineer, THG
• Programmer, Alibaba
• PhD candidate, Monash University