Pathway
Health Data Fundamentals
Start with the data itself.
How UK health data is collected, governed, standardised and accessed - the foundation every health data career is built on.
Register freeAround 12 hours, at your own pace
About this pathway
Almost everyone who works with UK health data - analysts, researchers, engineers, trial teams - relies on the same foundations: knowing what data exists, how it is governed, how to get access to it, and how it is standardised so that work done in one place makes sense in another.
This pathway covers those foundations in order. You will start with how data access really works - the Five Safes, Trusted Research Environments and the application process - then move through standardisation and the OMOP common data model that underpins federated analytics, with short detours into privacy-enhancing technologies and the realities of working with large linked datasets.
Nothing here assumes a technical background, and nothing in it will be wasted whichever direction you take afterwards. When you finish, pick the career pathway that matches where you want to go: analytics in the NHS, clinical trials, engineering, digital health, drug discovery or AI.
What you'll be able to do
- Explain how UK health data is collected, governed and accessed
- Describe the Five Safes and how Trusted Research Environments work
- Apply for access to health datasets with a credible, complete request
- Explain why standardisation matters and what OMOP is for
- Recognise the privacy-enhancing technologies that make safe data use possible
- Choose your next pathway with confidence
What's in this pathway
6 steps
Who this pathway is for
Anyone new to health data, whatever your background - and anyone who works alongside health data teams and wants to understand what they actually do. If you already work in the field but have gaps around governance, access or standards, start here too; it is the pathway we point everyone at first.
Ready to start this pathway?
How UK health data is collected, governed, standardised and accessed - the foundation every health data career is built on.
