Microsoft Excel
The industry standard for data, analysis and financial modelling
What it does
Microsoft Excel is the definitive spreadsheet application, supporting complex formulas, pivot tables, data visualisation, macros, Power Query, Power Pivot and integration with external data sources. The Microsoft 365 version adds real-time collaboration and cloud storage through OneDrive.
Students can learn data handling, chart creation and formula-based analysis for maths, science and business subjects, building skills that are directly transferable to the workplace.
Manage household budgets, track personal goals, organise event planning and build simple financial models using Excel’s templates and formulas.
Analyse business data, build financial models, create management reports, automate repetitive tasks and connect to external data sources using Excel’s full feature set.
Why Digitize recommends it
Excel proficiency is one of the most requested skills in job adverts across the UK. Understanding data, formulas and visualisation is increasingly important even outside traditionally data-heavy roles. Digitize Futures includes Excel challenges specifically because of this demand.
Get started in 3 steps
Access Excel at office.com using your Microsoft account, or open the desktop app and click New Workbook to start fresh.
Enter your data and practise with SUM, AVERAGE, IF and VLOOKUP as your first four formulas, which cover the majority of everyday use cases.
Create a chart from your data using Insert then Chart, choose the right chart type for your data and format it clearly for presentation.
Get help
The Microsoft support site has comprehensive Excel video training covering every feature from beginner to advanced, organised by topic. The educator centre also has structured guides specifically designed for learning Excel in an educational context.
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