Harness data to drive confident business decisions with our online MSc Business Analytics

The University of Bath’s MSc Business Analytics equips professionals with analytical, technical expertise, and business perspective needed to transform complex data into strategic business decisions. The MSc Business Analytics online course is designed to fit around your career as you develop practical expertise through flexible online study.

Quick course facts

  • Minimum Duration: 2 years, 3 months
  • Start dates: January, May and September 
  • Study Type: 100% online
  • Entry requirements
  • Cost per 10 credits £833.1 Fees are paid per unit. The total cost of this 180 credit course is £14,9941 (£833 per 10 credit unit and then two instalments of £2,499 for your 60 credit dissertation). 10% alumni discount available. Learn more on Fees and funding.
  • Scholarship available: We are excited to be offering twenty 10% scholarships for the 2027 intakes for the Business Analytics online MSc. Learn more about the scholarship.
  • University ranked 6th in Business and Management studies by the Complete University Guide 20272
  • PG Certificate and PG Diploma routes also available
  • AMBA- and EQUIS-accredited Business School

Designed for quantitative professionals from business and STEM backgrounds, this MSc helps develop your understanding of machine learning, data mining, business intelligence, business statistics, heuristics, and forecasting. Through hands-on learning that helps you solve real-world business problems, you will gain experience demonstrating the skills and principles you have learned and build valuable career preparation.

During the course, you will complete several case study projects and practical programming assignments using real-world data to solve analytical challenges and deliver actionable insights. You can also add this experience to your CV or resume and use it to market your skills to current or prospective employers for advanced roles.

Delivered by the AMBA- and EQUIS-accredited Bath School of Management, our online MSc Business Analytics prepares you to become a confident decision-maker who can communicate insight, lead projects, and drive change in your organisation. You will also learn to utilise the latest information technology to bridge the gap between business goals and data insights and propel yourself forward in the ever-evolving world of big data.

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Transform insight into leadership

With your MSc in business analytics, you’ll have an advantage when competing for managerial or consultancy roles in business analysis. Potential career paths include sectors as diverse as government, finance, marketing, healthcare and sustainability. According to Lightcast, over 4,400 new business analyst job postings were listed in the UK in the past five months, making it the top job title for those with business analytics skills.3

Find the business analytics course for your ambitions

In addition to the full MSc, we offer postgraduate certificate and diploma courses to professionals needing varying levels of business analytics competencies. These credentials impart fundamental qualifications, with options for students with strong quantitative backgrounds to upgrade their registration to the MSc course at a later date. If you don't currently meet the entry requirements for the MSc Business Analytics, you may be considered for the PG Certificate as a progression pathway towards both the PG Diploma and MSc qualification, subject to admissions criteria.*

Business Analytics Postgraduate Diploma

Featuring 120 credits from the MSc course, the PGDip introduces advanced compulsory units such as Data Mining and Machine Learning, alongside a choice of specialist optional units. This stage develops well-rounded competencies in data and decision-analysis.

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Business Analytics Postgraduate Certificate

Get introduced to core business analytics concepts and software through six units (60 credits) focusing on business intelligence, database management, spreadsheet modelling, and beyond.

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Even before graduating, the knowledge from the course helped me move from Morgan Stanley as a software engineer to Google as a software engineer. After graduating and finishing my dissertation, I gained a broad view of where I wanted to take my career and it empowered me to pursue a PhD in the UK.

Adrian Nenu

Business Analytics online MSc graduate

Career impact

Graduates of our MS Business Analytics online course learn to interpret complex data, communicate insights effectively, and solve business challenges using evidence-based decision-making, preparing them to influence decisions and deliver analytical projects in today’s data-focused organisations.

Organisations need professionals who can do more than analyse data: they need people who can interpret complex evidence, communicate it clearly and translate insight into action. Bath's online MSc develops these capabilities alongside expertise in business intelligence, forecasting, machine learning, optimisation, and project management.

Discover more about Business Analytics careers

What could I gain from taking this course?

  • Understand analytical techniques and their application in international contexts
  • Explore the latest topics of interest in the business analytics field
  • Evaluate current research: in particular, how data are collected and analysed
  • Analyse, interpret and present multidimensional and complex data
  • Identify operational, tactical and strategic resource management issues
  • Model and problem-solve managerial problems mathematically
  • Develop lateral-thinking techniques to solve problems and derive insights
  • Recognise and address ethical dilemmas from data mining and management
  • Use state-of-the-art analytics software and business models from current literature
  • Build interactive dashboards, exploratory data pipelines, and implement text mining and data scraping techniques with real-world unstructured datasets 
  • Become self-motivated to analyse, interpret and present data in new ways
  • Build predictive models in variety data settings using supervised and unsupervised machine learning methods
  • Improve time management skills
  • Apply problem-solving skills to diverse areas
  • Sustain engagement with businesses or academics using analytical techniques

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Ross Gray

When I came across the programme being offered by none other than the University of Bath, I leaped at the opportunity and began building application right away. I really mean it when I say I have absolutely no regrets and have not looked back since.

Ross Gray

Business Analytics online MSc student

Explore the curriculum

Centred on the generation and application of data insights in distinct business contexts, the curriculum is designed to equip you with the tools to become a manager.

Our online MSc Business Analytics course comprises 180 credits, delivered across 12 taught units and a final dissertation, structured in three phases. Exploring topics such as business intelligence and forecasting, phase one develops your understanding of the core principles of business analysis. In phase two, through compulsory units such as Data Mining, Machine Learning, Analytics in Practice and Project Management, you will apply these principles to analyse business situations, helping you optimise your own business decisions. During this phase you will also take two optional units from a choice of Heuristics, Simulation, Advanced Data Visualisation, and Advanced Forecasting, allowing you to tailor the course to your interests. 

In the third and final phase you will complete a research-based dissertation, which is an opportunity to apply the principles and knowledge acquired during your studies.

Learn more about the course curriculum

Entry requirements

Qualifications

  • If you do have a degree: Typically, you should have a first or second class bachelor’s honours degree or international equivalent. You must have an undergraduate degree in a subject with high quantitative content such as mathematics/statistics, computer science, engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, economics, or a quantitative social science. We may consider other subjects if they have enough quantitative content.
  • If you don’t have a degree: We will consider candidates who don’t hold a degree but do have relevant professional work experience or alternative qualifications. Please reach out to our team for more information.
  • For our PG Certificate route: It is desired, but not required to have an undergraduate degree in a subject with high quantitative content.
  • Previous experience of computer programming is an advantage. You should include information about your quantitative and programming experience in your personal statement

International students

  • If your first language is not English you will need IELTS with a grade of at least 7.0 overall and no less than 6.5 in any of the four parts (listening, reading, writing and speaking). If you completed your degree in the UK within the last 2 years prior to the start of the course, you may be exempt from our English language requirements.

If you don't currently meet the entry requirements for the MSc Business Analytics, you may be considered for the PG Certificate as a progression pathway towards both the PG Diploma and MSc qualification, subject to admissions criteria.*

Learn more about how to apply

Why it matters who you learn with.

As you narrow down the possibilities of where to pursue your degree, consider who you'll learn with. Your cohort can be a strong benefit to the course you select.  When your peers come from around the world and share similar professional roles, their experiences enhance your learning and worldview. By learning alongside a diverse cohort, you'll strengthen your professional skills, cultural knowledge, professional network and can contribute to more areas of business.

Why choose online?

Our active learning environment will keep you connected to the curriculum all the way through to graduation.

  • Engaging video content and real-life case studies
  • Interaction and networking with students and lecturers
  • Digital resources to support your studies and develop your career

Find out what it's like to study online

University of Bath
Online learning

Interactive.
Immersive.
Supportive.

Designed exclusively for online study,
the University of Bath’s Virtual Learning Environment…
takes the learning experience further.

1: Find everything you need quickly and easily

2: Prep your workload and set your weekly agenda
Unit calendar
Upcoming events
Calendar of deadlines

3: Study in bite-sized blocks at a time and place that suits you

4: Tap into a wealth of all-inclusive e-resources

5: Experience academic content in a variety of engaging ways

6: Connect with specialist support when you need it

7: Bring learning to life with video and real-world case studies

8: Enhance your studies with hands-on interactive assignments

9: Collaborate and network with peers and tutors

10: Build your own portfolio and share your best work

Take what you’ve learned and apply it in the real world

Time to further your career? Request information and apply now.

Dr Shuya Zhong

Director of Studies, online MSc Business Analytics

Dr Shuya Zhong is an Associate Professor in Logistics and Supply Chain Management at the University of Bath School of Management. Her research applies operations research and quantitative analytical methods, primarily mathematical modelling and optimisation, to support real-world decision-making in complex systems. A major focus of her work is renewable energy supply chains, particularly offshore wind and hydrogen, alongside wider applications in logistics, warehousing, manufacturing and transportation.

Her applied work includes HyChain, an AI-enhanced decision support platform designed to help organisations with hydrogen supply chain planning and evaluation. More broadly, her research focuses on improving the efficiency, sustainability and resilience of supply chains.

Before joining Bath, Shuya held academic and research positions spanning engineering and management at the University of Exeter, the University of Cambridge and the National University of Singapore. Her interdisciplinary background informs an applied approach to research and teaching, connecting quantitative methods with practical business and engineering challenges. She holds a PhD in Management Science and Engineering.

Explore your options with the University of Bath. If you are interested in studying the equivalent on-campus MSc, you can find out more by visiting our full-time Business Analytics MSc course page.

  1. Valid up to and including September 2027 intake. Tuition fees are liable to increase each January. You should budget for an increase of up to a maximum of 8% each year. Terms and conditions for tuition fee payments for online courses.
  2. Rankings based on undergraduate data.
  3. Lightcast. (2026). Business Analyst (General) | Lightcast Occupation Taxonomy. Retrieved 16 July 2026, from Lightcast website:https://lightcast.io/taxonomies/occupation-taxonomy/11111012/business-analyst-general

    4. * If you don’t meet the entry criteria for the MSc, our PG Certificate is an access route to both the PG Diploma and MSc courses. For the PG Certificate route, it is desired, but not required to have an undergraduate degree in a subject with a high quantitative content. You may be able to transfer onto the PG Diploma or MSc upon successful completion of the PG Certificate. If you do not already meet the entry criteria for the Diploma or MSc then this will normally be dependent on performance achieved in specific taught units of the PG Certificate in Business Analytics. If this is the case, there will likely be a break between completing the PG Certificate and starting the Diploma or MSc, while assessments are marked and unit results are ratified, to determine if the performance requirements have been met. If you choose to leave the course with a PG Certificate and return at a later date, the time elapsed since the PG Certificate study will also be a factor in consideration of eligibility to upgrade registration to the PG Diploma or MSc in Business Analytics.