Page 109 - Contributed Paper Session (CPS) - Volume 3

CPS1955 Solange Correa O. et al.
2. The UK Master’s in Data Analytics for Government Framework
Overview
The Master’s in Data Analytics for Government is a collaborative project
between the UK Office for National Statistics and UK academic partners. The
programme was launched in October 2017 and aims to build data science
capability across government by equipping civil servants with a key set of skills
required from a modern government data analyst.
Open to analysts from across the UK public sector, the MDataGov is a
unique and flexible modular part-time Master’s programme designed with
and for government, combining skills in Statistics and Data Science that are
essential for UK government data transformation.
As well analysts from ONS, students undertaking the full MDataGov
programme are drawn from over 10 government departments, including key
central departments like Her Majesty Revenue & Customs, Department of
Health and Social Care, Home Office, Ministry of Justice, Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department for Business Energy and
Industrial Strategy and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.
This number rises to over 20 departments and agencies when CPD participants
are factored in, including international partners like the National Institute of
Statistics of Rwanda and Statistics Indonesia.

Programme Structure
In its standard format, the MDataGov programme consists of four core
modules (Data Science Foundations, Statistics in Government, Survey
Fundamentals and Statistical Programming), eight optional modules to be
chosen from a range of courses in Statistics and Data Science (e.g. Time Series
Analysis, Introduction to Machine Learning, Advanced Machine Learning,
Introduction to Distributed Systems, Data Visualisation, Introduction to Survey
Research, Advanced Statistical Modelling, Spatial Analysis, among others) and
a Master’s dissertation in data analytics. To be awarded the Master’s degree
students are required to complete 120 credits in taught components and a
dissertation, yielding to 180 credits in total. The credit allocation per module
in Master’s programme varies across UK universities. Typically, a module is
worth 10 credits and the dissertation module is worth 60 credits.
The MDataGov programme offers three possible exit points: Postgraduate
Certificate (60 credits), Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits) and Master’s
degree (120 credits plus the dissertation) in Data Analytics for Government.
The four core modules are required in any of these exit points.
The MDataGov is currently provided in a classroom-based format by three
UK universities: University of Southampton, Oxford Brookes University and
University College London. The minimum entry requirement is an upper
second-class Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative discipline from a UK

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