Business Analytics

Entry requirements

The equivalent of a UK first or upper second class honours degree. Check the full list of equivalent qualifications

The MSc in Business Analytics programme is designed for graduates from either a business background (with evidence of strong quantitative content) or a tech background (including numerate scientific disciplines with strong computational content). You will need a UK first or upper second class honours degree or international equivalent in one of the following:

• Business
• Computer science
• Related subject with strong quantitative component.

As there is a high demand for this programme with a finite number of places available, we operate a staged admissions process with application deadlines throughout the year for MSc Business Analytics. Due to the competition for places we give preference to applicants from high ranking institutions and with grades above our minimum entry requirements.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Our MSc in Business Analytics will enable you to play a key role in modern business by giving you the skills and knowledge to gain competitive business insights from big data.

More reliance than ever before is being placed on analytics to help businesses operating globally understand and predict customer behaviour, monitor their own processes and manage suppliers effectively. In a supportive and research-led learning environment, you will be able to explore this complex world and will develop an understanding of the role of big data analytics, apply the relevant analytical tools and techniques in order to gain insights and develop an awareness of current data issues.

You will benefit from the programme's strong international connections and will have the opportunity to experience data analytics in action on the International Field Trip, where you'll visit a series of business data and intelligence participating organisations, analysing each organisation using a structured learning approach and presenting your analysis to the participating organisations.

You will also be invited to attend Business School presentations by representatives of major global multinationals and leading scholars who will contribute fully to your learning by revealing the theories and practice within business analytics that lay behind their own experiences.

The programme is delivered full-time over one year and is a collaboration between the Business School and the Department of Computer Science, reflecting the high levels of expertise and knowledge that exists across the two areas.

The Business School itself is one of the longest established in the UK with a reputation for academic excellence and state-of-the-art learning facilities. It is also one of an elite group of institutions in the UK to be accredited by all three major business education accreditation bodies: the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS).

The Department of Computer Science is one of Durham’s newest academic departments, having rapidly grown to be a thriving home for staff, undergraduates, postgraduates, and visitors. Ranked 4th in the Complete University Guide 2024, the Department delivers high-quality teaching and research and offers a friendly and inclusive place to study and work for all.

Introduction to Business Analytics will provide you with an in-depth understanding at an advanced level of data structures appropriate to business analytics, how companies attempt different business and corporate strategies to achieve or maintain a competitive advantage. You'll also explore, strategy formulation and implementation under conditions of changing political, economic, sociocultural, and technological conditions, industry competition and firm resources. The module will also provide you with an appreciation of specialist techniques to aid analysis of the competitive and contextual environment.

Data Analytics in Action provides an appreciation and understanding of the types of techniques used in business analytics and enables you to apply analytical models and data visualisation using the appropriate software.

Learning from Data teaches the concept and provides practical tools in the area of machine learning, in which computer systems improve on the process and outcomes for exploring and interpreting data.

Managing Data Driven Innovation introduces you to data-driven Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and outlines the theories behind such technologies as well as the challenges organisations face in using them. Crucially, you will also learn about the ethical and security implications in managing such data-driven innovations.

Natural Language Analysis provides you an introduction to the cutting-edge techniques for automated analysis of text-based data and their applications, with a focus on preparation of such data for machine learning, advanced machine learning techniques for natural language analysis and the application of natural language analysis techniques within business analytics such as sentiment analysis and social media analysis.

Retail Analytics enables you to understand the role of data in the decision-making process undertaken by management in the retail and distribution industries. You will cover topics such as retail management, communication and customer relationship management and the data requirements for market segmentation.

Data Analytics for Strategic Decision-Making provides an appreciation of, and the ability to apply range of predictive and prescriptive business-analytics techniques. The module will also enable you to implement those predictive and prescriptive business-analytics models using appropriate software, whilst showing how business analytics can help companies make better decisions - storytelling with data to promote data-driven decision-making.

Data Analytics in Action - International Field Trip provides an opportunity to visit leading international knowledge-driven organisations and to understand and evaluate the complex nature of their business models and systems. You will research and produce either a single detailed case study or a comparative analysis of two organisations, based on desk research prior to the trip and primary research conducted during the tour.

The Business Analytics Project requires you to conduct an in-depth investigation into an issue which is applicable and relevant to business analytics, and which will be underpinned by business analytics approach, methods and techniques covered in the other modules. You will be able to choose a project by either working with a host organisation or by producing an issue-led investigation which is not focused on just one organisation but instead examines a specific business analytics issue.

Information for international students

If you are an international student who does not meet the requirements for direct entry to this degree, you may be eligible to take a pre-Masters pathway programme at the Durham University International Study Centre.

Fees and funding

For further information see the course listing.