Data Engineering
Engineer the systems that power intelligence. Raw data is only as valuable as the architecture supporting it. Upskill into a data engineer capable of designing, developing, and deploying the scalable solutions that businesses demand.
Truly career-defining training
Earn a recognised qualification in 15 months + 3 months assessment.
Worth £19K. Fully funded for eligible employees.
Learn by doing, while you work – built for busy professionals.
Be coached by experts who get to know you, back you, and want you to succeed.
Learn Modern Tech Stacks
Why choose Data Engineering (Level 5)?
Analysts see the world. Engineers build it. Move beyond analysis and start building the infrastructure that makes data work. If you're ready to build the pipelines, data lakes, and architecture global organisations depend on, your next step is here.
Transforming professionals into engineers
Architect for scale
Master distributed systems and cloud architecture. Design resilient pipelines and data lakes on AWS, Azure, or GCP. Build systems the world relies on.
Add intelligent automation
Eliminate manual workflows. Build high-velocity ETL/ELT pipelines using Python and SQL to ingest, validate, and transform structured and unstructured data with precision.
Develop production-ready solutions
Apply software principles to data. Use Git and CI/CD to deploy secure, maintainable solutions.
Strategic & sustainable impact
Bridge the gap between data and decision-making. Navigate data governance and sustainability to deliver ethical, net zero ready solutions.
Start your application
Complete the form below to take the first step toward joining the programme.
Our Curriculum
Level 5 • 15 months + 3 months assessment
The Architecture of Trust
Apply governance frameworks, data modelling, and normalisation to design secure, GDPR-ready systems your organisation can rely on. Build validation controls, map metadata and lineage, and develop the confidence to translate complex systems for non-technical stakeholders. This is where your foundation begins.
Build to Scale
Your data needs will grow. Your infrastructure has to grow with them. Work across SQL, NoSQL, and cloud platforms to design storage that scales with your business. Understand the real differences between data warehouses, lakes, and distributed storage. Apply version control and CI/CD concepts to build resilient, future-ready environments.
Data in Motion
Your organisation runs on data that never stops moving. Design resilient ETL/ELT pipelines that automate ingestion across batch, streaming, and API flows. When something breaks, you will know why and fix it fast. Orchestration, error handling, validation and monitoring all come together so clean data arrives exactly when it is needed.
Command and Control
Systems go down. Stakeholders need answers. Master observability, incident response, and root cause analysis to keep mission-critical systems running. Build monitoring that anticipates outages before they happen. Optimise performance, and deliver data products that are robust, efficient, and ready for enterprise-scale demand.
Demonstrate Your Impact
Bring it all together. Showcase your impact through a professional portfolio and a synoptic project. No exams. Just applied demonstration of everything you have built, from compliant schemas to production-grade pipelines. Prove you are ready to perform as a confident, capable data engineer.
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Learn by doing with scenario-led training, and earn a recognised qualification standard. Funded through the Government's Growth & Skills Levy.
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Level 3FAQs
How long are the programmes?+
iO-Sphere's government-funded training programmes are 15 months of scenario-based training, followed by 3 months of end-point assessment. There's no exam or stress, just projects within your role, and a portfolio review. Accelerated programme options are also available a few times a year. Express your interest with our team to learn more.
What is the cost?+
iO-Sphere programmes are funded through the government's Growth & Skills Levy, meaning there's no cost to employees for the training. If your business doesn't pay into the Levy and has a wage bill under £3 million, the government covers 95% of the programme cost, with the employer contributing the remaining 5%.
Who is eligible for this Government-funded training?+
As an employee, to be eligible you must: have a contract of employment under PAYE for the duration, be aged 19 or over, have the right to work in England, and have lived in the UK or EU for the last 3 years.
How often do training cohorts start?+
We run cohorts every 2-3 months. These open cohorts let trainees start when they're ready. Are you an employer and need a custom cohort for a larger group? Talk to us and we can find a solution that works.
Ready to lead in Data & AI?
Talk to a member of our team to learn more about our professional apprenticeships. We're here to answer any questions you have about the programmes.