"I am a consultant working with the NHS and our clients have a growing volume of analysable data as the roll-out of electronic patient records systems enables digital record keeping. After hearing about the course through the BCS, I told my employer I was interested in doing it as my role had recently been extended to lead in analytics for the UK part of my company.

Already I have been able to apply my understanding of service orientated architecture and modern NoSQL databases, and other Big Data technologies to a customer proposal. By finding out about recent technologies and having a framework on which to hang my own research, it makes it easier to structure reading and incentivises exploration.

I also like the part-time, block study structure of the course as it doesn’t impact on my work commitments, and although it’s been a bit of a challenge, I have been able to block out some weekends and evenings to do the bulk of my work, alongside some long train journeys that have helped with my reading. I also prefer to learn in a face to face/ group setting, something this course provides versus complete distance learning."