Live cohort
Data Analysis with Excel and Google Sheets
A live online cohort that takes you from the basics of Excel to building dashboards, cleaning messy data and pulling live data into Google Sheets. Every session works on real, publicly available data, the kind analysts handle at work.
Dates
Next cohort to be announced
When
Evenings
Format
Live online, two evenings a week, recorded
Level
Beginner to intermediate
The next cohort has not been scheduled yet.
Leave your email and we will tell you as soon as dates are set.
What you will be able to do
Outcomes
Write formulas with IF, SUMIFS, COUNTIFS and XLOOKUP with confidence
Clean messy real-world tables so they are ready for analysis
Summarise data with PivotTables and present it as a one-page dashboard
Combine monthly files with Power Query instead of copy and paste
Use QUERY, IMPORTHTML and GOOGLEFINANCE to work with live data in Google Sheets
Know which tool to reach for: what Excel does better, and what Google Sheets does better
Schedule
What we cover
Times are shown in West Africa Time with the UK time beside them.
- 01
Excel foundations
Workbooks, tables, data entry, number formats and the shortcuts that save hours
- 02
Formulas and cleaning text
Cell references, TRIM and text functions, Flash Fill, Text to Columns
- 03
Logic and conditional totals
IF, IFS, SUMIFS, COUNTIFS, AVERAGEIFS
- 04
Lookups
XLOOKUP, INDEX and MATCH, and reading older VLOOKUP formulas
- 05
Dates and dynamic arrays
Date functions, FILTER, SORT, UNIQUE
- 06
Data quality
Data validation, conditional formatting, finding and removing duplicates
- 07
PivotTables
Summaries, grouping, filters and calculated views
- 08
Charts and dashboards
Choosing the right chart, PivotCharts, slicers, a one-page dashboard
- 09
Power Query
Importing, cleaning, appending and merging monthly files, refresh
- 10
Google Sheets: live data
Excel vs Sheets, QUERY, ARRAYFORMULA, IMPORTHTML, GOOGLEFINANCE
- 11
Google Sheets: collaboration
Sharing, slicers, Google Forms, a first look at Apps Script and Looker Studio
- 12
Capstone review
Dashboards presented and reviewed, and where to go next
Real data, not toy examples
The datasets we work on
Every practice file is built from data anyone can download, so what you learn carries straight over to work.
UK street-level crime (data.police.uk)
Excel foundations
Nigeria CPI tables (NBS)
Formulas and cleaning text
Crime data and World Bank indicators
Logic and conditional totals
World Bank indicators and country metadata
Lookups
Exchange rates and inflation
Dates and dynamic arrays
NBS CPI report tables
Data quality
UK street-level crime
PivotTables
UK street-level crime
Charts and dashboards
Monthly crime files
Power Query
Public web tables and exchange rates
Google Sheets: live data
The cohort's own anonymous poll
Google Sheets: collaboration
What's included
- 12 live sessions with Q&A
- Recordings of every session in the course Google Drive folder
- Practice workbooks built on real public datasets, with solutions after each class
- Assignments with feedback, and a capstone dashboard project
- A cohort WhatsApp group for questions between sessions
- Optional paid one-on-one sessions for cohort members
What you need
- A laptop or desktop computer (spreadsheet work is not practical on a phone)
- Microsoft Excel for Windows or Mac, ideally Microsoft 365 or Excel 2021 for XLOOKUP and dynamic arrays
- A Google account, for Google Sheets and the shared course folder
- A stable internet connection for the live sessions
Who it is for
- Professionals who use spreadsheets at work and want to analyse data properly
- Graduates and career changers moving towards data analysis
- Business owners who want to understand their own numbers
Questions
Frequently asked
Do I need any experience?
No. We start from the basics in week one. If you already use Excel daily, the later weeks on dashboards, Power Query and Google Sheets will still be new ground.
What if I miss a live session?
Every session is recorded and added to the course Google Drive folder, usually the same night. You can ask questions about it in the cohort WhatsApp group.
Where do I get the meeting links and files?
Once your payment is confirmed, sign in to your dashboard here. The meeting links, WhatsApp group, Drive folder and recordings are all listed there.
How do assignments work?
Not every week has one, and week one never does. Each assignment appears on your dashboard after the session it belongs to, with instructions and a link to submit your file.
How do I pay?
Register first, then pay securely through Flutterwave by card, bank transfer or USSD. Your place is confirmed as soon as the payment is verified.
What are the one-on-one sessions?
Optional paid 60-minute sessions with the instructor, available only to members of the cohort, for help with your own data or anything you want to go over again.