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IBM: Analyzing Data with Excel

Beginner English Course CertificateFREE
SkillsExcelData analysisData cleaningPivotTablesChartsSpreadsheets

Is this course right for you?

Our take
A free, practical first step into data analysis using nothing but Excel. No coding or installation required.

Good for: beginners who want a free, practical introduction to data analysis in Excel.

Skip if: you already use Excel for analysis, or you want advanced tools.

Sandip Saha Joy covers importing data, cleaning and wrangling, and analysing with sorting, filtering and pivot tables, entirely in Excel for the web, ending in a business-scenario assignment. With over 300,000 learners it is a well-taken entry point, and a good fit for non-technical roles that still work with data.

It stays at the fundamentals, so it does not cover advanced Excel, Power Query or any programming — if you already use Excel for analysis, or you want richer tools, start higher up. The certificate is an optional paid add-on, and the material is stable and still relevant.

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About this course

Sandip Saha Joy teaches fundamental Excel-based data analysis: importing data from multiple formats, basic data wrangling and cleaning, and analyzing data using sorting, filtering, and pivot tables — entirely within Excel for the web, with no coding or software installation required. Ends with a final assignment applying these skills to a business scenario.

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Instructor

SS
Sandip Saha Joy
edX instructor

Sandip Saha Joy is a Cognitive Data Scientist at IBM Developer Skills Network, focused on machine learning, deep learning, statistical modeling, and computer vision.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. It assumes no prior spreadsheet or coding knowledge and is pitched squarely at beginners who want to use Excel for data analysis. It starts from the basics of working with data in spreadsheets and builds up through practical, hands-on labs, so someone new to both Excel and data work can follow it comfortably rather than being thrown in at the deep end.

The core Excel skills a data analyst uses daily: cleaning and formatting messy data, sorting and filtering, using lookup functions to combine information, and building pivot tables to organise and summarise data into something readable. The focus is applied — you practise on real datasets in hands-on labs rather than just watching — so you finish able to turn a raw spreadsheet into an actual analysis.

It is one of the early, foundational courses in IBM's Data Analyst Professional Certificate, where Excel is the first analysis tool before the program moves on to SQL, Python, and visualisation. You can take it standalone for the Excel-for-analysis skills, but it is designed as a stepping stone — the spreadsheet grounding that the more technical courses later build upon.

You can earn a shareable certificate for the course with a Coursera subscription; auditing lets you watch the videos free but not claim the certificate or complete the graded labs. Since the hands-on labs are where the real skill develops here, the paid track is worth it if you actually want the practice, not just the lectures. Financial aid is available if cost is a barrier.

For a beginner who wants solid, practical Excel-for-analysis skills, yes — it is a focused, applied introduction from a respected provider. Just be clear about its scope: it covers Excel data analysis, not the full analyst toolkit. On its own it makes you more capable in spreadsheets; becoming a data analyst means adding SQL, a visualisation tool, and real projects, whether through the rest of the IBM certificate or elsewhere.
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