Six modules. Four weeks each. Take them in any order that suits your work.
Each module is built around a set of files rather than a syllabus of concepts. Below is what each one covers week by week, what you produce by the end, and who tends to find it useful.
Three routes through the same six modules
Paths are suggestions, not packages. You enrol in modules individually; these are simply the orders that have worked well for people with a particular difficulty.
Everyday data handling
M1M2M6
For people who maintain files other people rely on. Focus is on building sheets that survive, cleaning what arrives, and organising the shared space around them.
Around three months at one module at a time
Reporting and dashboards
M1M4M5
For people who report numbers upward. Focus is on presentation: choosing the chart, writing the finding, and building a one-page view someone will actually open.
Around three months; M1 can be skipped if you're already fluent
Full sequence
M1M2M3M4M5M6
All six, in order, with a short break between each. This is the slowest route and the one that produces the most complete portfolio of exercise files.
Around eight months including breaks
Not sure? Describe what you're struggling with and we'll suggest a starting point — or tell you that a free resource would serve you better right now.
Spreadsheet fluency
Most people learn spreadsheets by patching. This module replaces the patches with structure, so that adding a row next quarter doesn't quietly break three formulas.
Week by week
- Structure first. One fact per row, one field per column, no merged cells in data. Converting a real, badly shaped sheet into a table that formulas can address.
- References and lookups. Relative, absolute and mixed references; XLOOKUP / INDEX-MATCH; why a nested IF five levels deep should be a lookup table.
- Summarising. Pivot tables from first principles, SUMIFS and COUNTIFS, grouping by date, and checking a total two ways before you trust it.
- Maintainability. Named ranges, a documented inputs area, protecting formula cells, and a short handover note so someone else can run the file.
What you finish with
- A rebuilt staffing tracker: same data, structured so new months drop in without edits
- A one-page reference sheet of your own keyboard shortcuts
- Written feedback on two submitted files
Suits you if
You can already enter data and write a SUM, but you avoid pivot tables, or you've inherited a file you're afraid to change.
4 weeks · Excel or Google Sheets · no prerequisites
Cleaning messy data
Cleaning is where most of the time goes and where most of the errors enter. This module treats it as a documented procedure rather than an afternoon of manual fixing.
Week by week
- Diagnosis. Profiling a file before touching it: row counts, unique values, blanks, obvious impossibilities. Deciding what "clean" means for this particular question.
- Text and dates. Trimming, splitting and joining columns; standardising inconsistent dates and provinces; numbers stored as text; accents and casing in name fields.
- Duplicates and matching. Exact and near-duplicates, choosing a key, and what to do when two records for the same person disagree.
- Repeatability. A first pass with Power Query or Sheets functions so next month's file cleans itself, plus a change log a colleague can audit.
What you finish with
- A cleaned 4,000-row event registration export, with the original preserved
- A written change log listing every decision and its reason
- A validated intake template that prevents the same mess next time
Suits you if
You regularly receive exports from a system that "nearly" works, or you've ever fixed the same file by hand two months running.
4 weeks · Sheets, Excel, introduction to Power Query · M1 helps but isn't required
Reading and interpreting data
The module with the least software in it. It is about the sentence you write underneath the number, and whether that sentence is true.
Week by week
- Shape before summary. Why the average rent tells you less than the distribution; skew, outliers, and when a median is the honest choice.
- Denominators. Rates against raw counts, per-capita comparisons across provinces of very different sizes, and the difference between percentage change and percentage points.
- Comparison. Baselines, seasonality, revised figures, and what changes when you move the start of a time series by one year.
- Reading published work. Working with open data from Statistics Canada and municipal open-data portals: finding the methodology note and reading it before quoting the number.
What you finish with
- A written critique of three published charts, with what you'd change and why
- A short summary of an open dataset, correctly caveated
- A checklist you can run over any figure before forwarding it
Suits you if
You can produce numbers but hesitate to defend them, or you've been asked "is that a big difference?" and weren't sure.
4 weeks · no mathematics background required · no prerequisites
Charts that answer a question
Software will suggest a chart type. The suggestion is based on your data's shape, not on what you're trying to say. This module puts the question back in charge.
Week by week
- Question to form. Comparison, composition, change over time, distribution, relationship — and the small set of chart types that serve each honestly.
- Construction. Axis ranges and when a truncated axis is legitimate; sorting; direct labelling instead of legends; removing everything that isn't carrying information.
- Annotation. Writing a title that states the finding rather than naming the variables, and marking the one point that matters.
- Accessibility and afterlife. Colour-blind-safe palettes, greyscale printing, alt text, and making a chart legible once it's been pasted into a slide by someone else.
What you finish with
- One poor chart rebuilt three ways, each answering a different question
- A finished, annotated chart ready to send without explanation
- A short personal style guide: your default colours, fonts and sizes
Suits you if
Your charts are accurate but people still ask what they show, or you default to whatever the first suggested chart was.
4 weeks · Sheets or Excel · M3 useful but not required
Your first dashboard
Built entirely in a spreadsheet. No new licence, no code, no platform to maintain. The discipline is deciding what to leave out.
Week by week
- Who and what for. Interviewing the person who'll use it: what decision they make, how often, and what they currently open instead.
- Data layer. Separating raw data, calculation and display into distinct sheets so the thing can be refreshed without rebuilding.
- Layout. One screen, reading order, filters and slicers, and the case against a fourteenth metric.
- Handover. Refresh instructions, a check that catches stale data, and a review session with your intended user.
What you finish with
- A working single-page dashboard with filters, built on your own or a supplied dataset
- Written refresh instructions someone else can follow
- Notes from a real conversation with your intended reader
Suits you if
You've been asked for "a dashboard" and want to build something small and maintainable rather than something impressive and abandoned.
4 weeks · assumes M1 and M4, or equivalent experience
Working digitally with others
Data work rarely fails on the formula. It fails on version four of a file called final_v2_REVISED sitting in someone's downloads folder.
Week by week
- Files and versions. Naming conventions that sort correctly, folder structures, shared drives against personal drives, and where a file should live so it can be found without asking.
- Collaboration. Permissions and link sharing, suggesting against editing, comment threads that resolve, and reviewing someone's work without overwriting it.
- Intake. Building a form that feeds a clean, validated table, so data arrives usable instead of arriving in email.
- Light automation and handover. Scheduled reminders, simple rules between tools, and documenting a recurring task well enough to hand it to a colleague.
What you finish with
- A naming and folder convention, tested by having someone else find a file
- A working form-to-spreadsheet intake process
- A one-page procedure document for a task you currently do from memory
Suits you if
You work in a shared drive that has grown by accident, or you're the only person who knows how a recurring report gets made.
4 weeks · Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 both covered · no prerequisites
Before you enrol
What do I need to have installed?
A current browser and either Microsoft Excel or a free Google account. Exercise files are supplied in both formats. Nothing needs to be purchased for the modules themselves.
What if I miss a live session?
The recording is posted within 24 hours and stays available for eight weeks after the module ends. Exercises and feedback do not depend on attendance; several learners take modules entirely on their own schedule.
Is there an exam?
No. You submit two exercises per module and receive written comments on each. The certificate of completion records which module you took and which exercises you submitted — nothing more, and it carries no accreditation.
Can I use my own work data?
For M5 you may, if your employer permits it. For every other module we ask you to use the supplied files. We do not want your organisation's data on our systems, and we don't accept confidential material.
Will this qualify me for a job?
We can't say, and we won't pretend otherwise. These are skills modules, not a qualification, and we offer no placement, referrals or career support. Employers make their own judgements; we have no part in them.
How do I enrol?
Write to us through the contact page with the module you're interested in. We'll reply with the next start date, the fee, and the joining details. We don't run automatic sign-ups, because the fit conversation is usually worth having first.
Educational content only
Modules are taught for educational purposes. J&D B.V. does not provide career placement, recruitment, consulting or data services, and does not offer accredited or regulated qualifications. We make no representations about employment, income or any other outcome. Examples used in teaching are illustrative and must not be treated as professional advice.