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PythonBeginner
Python Core
Foundations for Data Careers
21 hours114 lessons Self-study
EE
Emmanuel Edegbo
Lead Data Engineer & Architect
About this course
Build Python fundamentals from variables and loops through to functions, file I/O, and working with structured data.
Python has become the dominant language in data analytics, engineering and science — approachable enough to learn quickly, powerful enough to use in production. SQL handles structured queries; Python handles everything around them.
Course at a glance
15
Chapters
114
Lessons
21h
Estimated time
Self-study
Format
Datasets used
| SalesPY | Retail dataset for sales analysis, revenue computation, and customer segmentation work. |
| FinancePY | Banking dataset for transaction monitoring, risk classification, and compliance reconciliation work. |
Tools you'll need
- •Python 3.12+
- •VS Code with Python + Pylance extensions
- •Virtual environments (venv)
- •Git
What you get when you enrol
- ✓Lifetime access to every lesson, exercise, and update — including future revisions to this course.
- ✓12-month Azure SQL practice access against the same datasets used in the course (read-only). Renews on request for active learners.
- ✓Auto-graded labs in your browser — write SQL, hit Run, get instant feedback against the expected result.
- ✓AI-graded Professional Challenges — open-ended scenarios reviewed against a published rubric, not just a single right answer.
- ✓Course discussion + community — talk to other learners and ask the instructor questions inside the course.
- ✓Basic Certificate on demonstrated capability — awarded when you complete every Hands-On Lab and Module Readiness Check, plus the Professional Challenges. Confirms you can write, run, and defend course-level SQL against real datasets.
- ✓Optional Advanced Certificate on completion of SQL Core multi-project— a separate credential awarded when you complete all three capstone projects, each independently assessed and approved by an instructor. Each project is end-to-end query engineering against a real brief with defined acceptance criteria — proves competence at a level an employer can actually evaluate. The Basic Certificate alone confirms course mastery; the Advanced Certificate confirms you can deliver.
- ✓Optional live training upgrade — instructor-led cohort sessions with capped capacity, sold separately.
What you'll learn
- ✓Write Python scripts with variables, data types, and operators
- ✓Control flow with if/elif/else, for loops, and while loops
- ✓Define and use functions with parameters and return values
- ✓Work with lists, dictionaries, tuples, and sets
- ✓Read and write files (CSV, JSON, text)
- ✓Complete a data processing project with real datasets
Who this is for
Software testersBusiness analystsAspiring data analystsData engineersRecruitersCyber security professionalsData scientists
Curriculum
114 lessons · 20h 50m1. Python & the Data Ecosystem5 lessons
2. Installing Python & Setting Up Your IDE9 lessons
3. Variables & Data Types8 lessons
4. Operators & Expressions9 lessons
5. Conditional Logic8 lessons
6. Collections: Lists & Tuples9 lessons
7. Collections: Dictionaries & Sets9 lessons
8. Loops & Iteration11 lessons
9. Functions10 lessons
10. String Manipulation9 lessons
11. Working with Files & CSV Data12 lessons
12. Error Handling & Code Quality3 lessons
13. Python Libraries: The Ecosystem Map9 lessons
14. Capstone Project — EnergyPY Daily Consumption Report2 lessons
15. Python Core Cheat Sheet1 lessons
Prerequisites
- •No prior Python experience required
- •Basic computer literacy
Better Together · Python Core
Pair this course with the Python Core portfolio
The Python Coreportfolio mirrors this course level — once you've worked through the lessons, the projects give you a graded, instructor-reviewed deliverable on the same stack and a LinkedIn-ready summary on completion.
Python Core Portfolio TrilogyTrilogy SKU
From £249.00 — paired with this course saves an additional 15% on standalone add-ons.
3 sector standalones available — pick one or the full trilogy.
What learners say
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