Data Leader Track Application

The Experience Accelerator is for anyone looking to kickstart or accelerate their career in analytics and data. There are only a limited available places on each cohort so it will be selective but it really doesn’t matter who you are and what your background is.

Applicants must be based in the UK, have the appropriate Right to Work, have completed their education and be available to accept a full time job.

The first part of the Experience Accelerator (ACQUIRE) is online and the second part (APPLY) is a combination of online and face-to-face. During APPLY, you will need to be able to attend our training location in London for a minimum of 3 days every week.

The first 6 weeks of the Experience Accelerator (ACQUIRE) is part time (14 hours/week) while the last 4 weeks (APPLY) is full time, 5 days a week (Monday-Friday, 9-6pm).

Hours may change and/or addition of a Saturday depending on the course schedule and bank holidays. We will always provide advance notice of scheduled changes.

You will be using your own laptop through the duration of the course and we will provide the relevant licenses as we move through the course. However, please note that we cannot provide technical support for Macs, and we require the PC Desktop version of both Excel and Power BI.

This means that Mac users will need to purchase a Parallels subscription (about £90) and troubleshoot issues that arise on their own. We have found that some students find it easier to borrow a PC from a friend or family member for the duration of the course.

We love for international applicants to participate in our Experience Accelerator!

For those without the permanent right to work in the United Kingdom, you are still able to participate in our Data Experience Accelerator by paying the full course fees in advance – £6,000 (£5,000 + VAT).

Unfortunately we are not able to follow our standard model of funding the up-front training costs as we are unable to guarantee your future right to work in the UK. In order to participate, you must still meet the entry requirements and pass the interview process.

The course fees are only payable if you application is successful, and you will receive the same training and career support as all of our trainees. This model applies to:

• – Student visas or Post Study Work Visas (PSWs)
• – Other temporary visas lasting less than 3 years*
• – Visas without work authorisation

*If you are on a Spousal Visa, you may be eligible for the standard fee model unless there is less than 1 year to your visa expiry date, in which case the temporary visa fees will apply.

Please note that as a full fee paying student, you will not be eligible for the Fellowship programme.

You are welcome to apply, but please note attendance to the in-person portion of the programme is mandatory. We are a UK business focussed on serving UK based trainees and UK employers. In order to qualify for our job guarantee, you need to be physically present in the UK 75% of the time and be intending to relocate to the UK following the completion of the programme. If you do not intent to relocate to the UK or satisfy the job guarantee, you will be liable for the full course fees as described on our website.

For those with the permanent right to work in the UK:

Here’s how:
1) If you land a job with one of our hiring partners they will cover your training fee
2) If you fail to land any job paying over £40k within 6 months of the programme, then it’s also free
3) You only pay £4,200 (£3,500 + VAT) if you land a job with an employer outside of our network. After you takeaway the £600 deposit required to secure your place on the course, this equates to only £300 per month (and, crucially, you’ll be in a job that makes this affordable)

Most other training programmes will cost you between £6,000 and £12,000.

For those with a student or temporary visa, please refer to ‘Can international applicants apply?’

We are committed to providing an amazing and transparent student experience. There are no hidden fees or exit fees, and you’re not locked into a long-term contract with us or an employer you don’t get to choose. We have spent a lot of time constructing the funding model to be as accessible, affordable and transparent as possible!

We are currently working with more than 20 employers and they range from big brands names you’ll be very familiar with, fast growth businesses, specialist data consultancies and SME’s.

We use the 10-weeks of the Experience Accelerator to identify the top performers on behalf of our partner employers regardless of previous experience and background. We are able to do this because the programme allows us to assess individuals across multiple dimensions over time including communication, collaboration, prioritisation, professionalism, working under pressure, technical skills, critical thinking and problem solving, etc. When introductions are then requested by our partner employers, we provide them with the CVs of our top performers for them to interview, but ultimately it is still up to the hiring company to offer a position and the individual’s decision to accept it. We aim for the top 40-50% of our Trainees profiles to be shared with our partner employers and the top 20% to receive an offer from a partner, however this depends on the hiring requirements of our partners and the career aspirations of our Trainees. We have a full-time team of four experienced data professionals that are continuously growing the employer network, you can see them here.

The majority of our graduates receive offers from employers that are outside the iO-Sphere network. We support all of our Trainees for 6 months after graduation as part of the Accelerate section of our Experience Accelerator, which includes weekly career coaching, interview prep, practice interviews, continuous technical upskilling, CV reviews, and LinkedIn reviews. This gives all of our Trainees the flexibility to pursue their career in data, however they would like to and not just be limited to the iO-Sphere network of employers. If you do get a job outside of the iO-Sphere network, that is when you pay back a portion of the cost of your training. The best thing about Accelerate is that it begins as soon as you start the Experience Accelerator and ends when you get a job or 6 months after the programme finishes. 82% of our first cohort had an offer within 4 months of graduating, and we expect 90%+ within 6 months. We won’t stop until you get a job!

It is a full time offer of employment for a gross salary which is at least £45,000 in London per annum or the equivalent in the region (-10%). If you accept a job below this threshold and stop your job search, you will still be liable to pay the full fees. We invest upfront in your training and offer the programme below the cost of delivery so that we can keep lowering the financial barriers to accessing great careers and training.

Some of our students do choose to end their job search early and to accept a role below a qualifying offer, and in those cases they still owe the course fees. Our programme represents the best value for money that is out there and that’s because we are laser focused on getting you a job!