Bachelor of Business Science in Analytics at Cape town university

The coursework for the BS in Business Analytics focuses on business practices, while also including instruction in data visualization, data mining, and predictive and prescriptive models. This degree program emphasizes the process of making data-driven decisions within the context of business.

The Bachelor of Business Science specialising in Analytics [CB024BUS22] is a degree relevant to our time degree to our time because it relates to Big Data which has become the subject of attention worldwide, with its sudden rise creating a demand for analysts globally. Big Data is characterised by high volume, high velocity, or high variety. Big Data comes from sensors, devices, video/audio, networks, log files, transactional applications, web, and social media – much of it generated in real-time and on a very large scale.

Statisticians are key players in the analytics/data science environment, using their quantitative skills to transform large amounts of data into information to solve real-world problems and enhance decision making. The skills learned during studies in Statistical Sciences are current and have universal application. 

Analytics/data science is a multidisciplinary field incorporating statistics and computer science that uses quantitative skills in business (optimize business processes), marketing (predict consumer purchasing patterns), government (use of mobile data to optimize public transport services), medicine (identify subsets of genes associated with a particular disease), astronomy, ecology, language processing and much more. To quote a famous statistician, Tukey, “the best thing about being a statistician is that you get to play in everyone’s backyard.” 

It has thus been our experience that our students find it easy to obtain jobs immediately after graduation and that they are promoted rapidly into management positions. If you enjoy quantitative subjects, have problem-solving skills, and consider yourself to be a logical, creative and innovative thinker, then a career in analytics and data science is for you.

This degree is offered in collaboration with and is convened by the Department of Statistical Sciences in the Faculty of Science. Students register in the Faculty of Commerce.

Admission Requirements

Guaranteed admission

FPS of 480 or above.
NBT scores of Upper
Intermediate for AL & QL
Mathematics 60%
English HL 50%
English FAL 60%

Probable admission

WPS of 470 or above.
NBT scores of Upper-Intermediate for AL & QL
Mathematics 60%
English HL 50%
English FAL 60%

Minimum required for possible admission

FPS of 425 or above.
NBT scores of Upper-Intermediate for AL & QL
Mathematics 60%
English HL 50%
English FAL 60%

Possible admission into Education Development Unit only

FPS of 425 to 429.
NBT scores of Lower Intermediate for AL & QL
Mathematics 60%
English HL 50%
English FAL 60%
In exceptional circumstances, a basic for QL may be mitigated by a
a score of Intermediate in NBT Mathematics.

Duration

All students will be required to write a set of formal class tests at mid-term of the first semester (mid-March). Using the marks achieved in these tests, together with the results of the school-leaving examinations and the National Benchmark Tests (NBTs), selected students will be counseled to convert to the four-year Extended Degree Programme (EDP).  

The EDP is structured such that students entering the program will receive additional academic and general support to improve the chances of graduating in minimum time.

The EDP offers students who are struggling the opportunity to establish a sound educational foundation, with an appropriate distribution of their academic load over a four-year period. 

The minimum time for a student on the EDP to complete the BSc degree is four years.

What jobs can I get with a Business Analytics degree?

Business Analyst. Alias: Data Architect, Data Scientist, and Data Analyst.

Quantitative Analyst. Alias: Quantitative Modeler, Financial Analyst.

Operations Research Analyst.

Market Research Analyst.