Six routes, side by side

How it works. The comparison shows six common routes into a first data job for UK graduates. When you pick what matters most to you, each route scores 2 for a clear match, 1 for a partial match and 0 otherwise, using the same rule for every route:

• Lowest cost: routes you can start for free match.
• Fastest: routes that usually take about four months or less match; up to about eight months is a partial match.
• One-to-one support, a recognised qualification, and structure and deadlines: taken straight from the “What’s included” rows (Yes is a match; Some or Varies is a partial match).
• Help with CV and interviews: taken from the “Careers support” row.

The routes that score highest are highlighted and moved to the top. It doesn’t score your graduate, and it doesn’t know their situation.

What the figures are. Every figure links to the page it came from, and we checked each one in September 2026:

• Master’s fees are the 2026/27 tuition fees for home students studying full-time on six data science and business analytics courses at different universities. Living costs are not included. The Master’s Loan figure is from GOV.UK and applies to students from England.
• Paid bootcamp prices are the published prices of three UK providers. Skills Bootcamp eligibility and funding are from the Department for Education and GOV.UK.
• Self-study costs are for free courses and one widely used certification exam. Some course platforms charge a monthly subscription, but we couldn’t check their UK prices, so we’ve left them out rather than guess.
• Deeplink Coaching’s figures are from our own pricing and Launch Tracks pages.

Limits. Ranges come from the providers we checked, not every provider, so real prices can be lower or higher. Skills Bootcamps are for England only and depend on where you live. Funding in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is different. No route can guarantee a job, and the right one depends on the person.