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The route into data scientist

Assembled backwards from the job: the degrees that lead there, the subjects those degrees require, the exams and when they are sat, and what the whole thing costs in years. Print it.

1. Subjects, chosen at fifteen or sixteen

Aggregated across every degree that leads here. Anything marked required closes the door if you skip it.

Saudi curriculum track

مسار الصحة والحياة— Health and Life Sciences · مسار علوم الحاسب والهندسة— Computer Science and Engineering · مسار إدارة الأعمال— Business Administration, or a science track · مسار الصحة والحياةor المسار العام· مسار علوم الحاسب والهندسة— Computer Science and Engineering, or مسار الصحة والحياةfor a biostatistics route

A-Level

  • Mathematicsrequiredfor Biology and Biomedical Science, Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Mathematics, Physics, Psychology, Statistics
  • Physicsrequiredfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics, Physics
  • Biologyrequiredfor Biology and Biomedical Science, Psychology, Statistics
  • Further Mathematicshelpsfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics
  • Economicshelpsfor Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Statistics
  • Chemistryhelpsfor Biology and Biomedical Science, Psychology
  • Psychologyhelpsfor Biology and Biomedical Science, Psychology
  • Computer Sciencehelpsfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
  • Historyhelpsfor Economics

IB Diploma

  • Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches HLrequiredfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics
  • Physics HLrequiredfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics, Physics
  • Biology HLrequiredfor Biology and Biomedical Science, Psychology, Statistics
  • Economics HLhelpsfor Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Statistics
  • Mathematics SL or abovehelpsfor Biology and Biomedical Science, Psychology
  • Computer Sciencehelpsfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
  • Chemistry HLhelpsfor Biology and Biomedical Science
  • History HLhelpsfor Economics
  • Psychology HLhelpsfor Psychology

Advanced Placement

  • AP Statisticshelpsfor Biology and Biomedical Science, Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Mathematics, Psychology, Statistics
  • AP Calculus BChelpsfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics
  • AP Biologyhelpsfor Biology and Biomedical Science, Psychology, Statistics
  • AP Computer Science Ahelpsfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics
  • AP Physics C: Mechanicshelpsfor Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics
  • AP Psychologyhelpsfor Biology and Biomedical Science, Psychology
  • AP Chemistryhelpsfor Biology and Biomedical Science
  • AP Microeconomicshelpsfor Economics
  • AP Macroeconomicshelpsfor Economics
  • AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetismhelpsfor Physics

2. The degree

More than one route usually exists. They are not equivalent.

  • Biology and Biomedical Science

    Bioinformatics and health data, if programming and statistics are added during the degree.

    Three to four years, with a laboratory or research year common and worth taking.

  • Computer Science

    Analysis and decisions rather than systems.

    Three to four years in the UK, four to five in the Kingdom and the US, often with a placement year.

  • Data Science and Artificial Intelligence

    The named destination, though the job is more communication and data cleaning than the degree suggests.

    Three to four years in the UK, four to five in the Kingdom and the US.

  • Economics

    Econometrics is applied statistics, and the transition is short.

    Three to four years, with a placement or exchange year common.

  • Mathematics

    A very common industry route, and mathematics graduates arrive better equipped than most.

    Three years in the UK, four in the Kingdom and the US; four-year integrated master's routes are common.

  • Physics

    Modelling and inference, which is what a physics degree trains without calling it that.

    Three to four years, with four-year integrated master's routes standard in the UK for research-bound students.

  • Psychology

    The experimental design and statistics training transfers directly, particularly into product analytics.

    Three to four years for the degree. Clinical practice requires postgraduate training on top, typically three or more further years and highly competitive.

  • Statistics

    The most common industry route, and one where statistical training is a genuine advantage.

    Three to four years for the bachelor's, plus a master's that is close to an entry requirement rather than an advantage.

3. Exams, and when to sit them

Registration deadlines fall weeks or months before the exam. That is what people miss, not the exam.

  • ESATOctober

    Cambridge natural sciences; most universities require no test for biology.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • Qudurat and TahsiliGrade 11 and 12

    The Saudi admission composite for science and health colleges.

    • Several periods across the yearQudurat (General Aptitude Test), open from Grade 11. Computer-based and paper sittings both run.
    • Final months of the school yearTahsili (Scholastic Achievement Test), sat near the end of Grade 12 once the syllabus is covered.
    • Spring and summer of Grade 12University applications through the unified admission portals and each university's own portal.
  • TMUAOctober

    Required or advantageous at Cambridge, Imperial, Warwick and others — and now carries Oxford's computer science admissions since the MAT was retired from 2026 entry.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • SAT or ACTGrade 11 to early Grade 12

    For US applications, where computer science is among the most competitive majors to be admitted directly into.

    • March, May, JuneSpring sittings. The standard first attempt, in Grade 11.
    • August, October, November, DecemberAutumn sittings. The second attempt, and the last one that reaches early US deadlines is usually the October or November date.
    • Two to four weeks after each sittingScores released; sending them to universities is a separate step with its own timing.
  • TSAOctober

    Oxford PPE and Economics and Management.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • STEPJune, alongside A-Levels

    Usually an offer condition at Cambridge and Warwick rather than a shortlisting test. Genuinely hard; begin a year early.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • PATOctober

    Oxford's physics and engineering test.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • Relevant experienceDuring and after the degree

    Not a test, and the real gate for clinical training. Assistant psychologist and support work posts are what competitive applicants have, and they take years to accumulate.

  • Postgraduate admissionFinal year of the bachelor's

    The real gate for this profession. Around seven in ten statisticians hold a master's or doctorate, so plan the bachelor's with that in mind.

4. After the degree

Training, licensing and the years between graduating and practising independently.

Saudi Arabia

  1. schoolSecondary school, science track (علمي)3 yr
  2. undergraduateBSc in a quantitative subject — statistics, computer science, mathematics or engineering4–5 yrs
  3. postgraduateMaster's, common but not universally required1–2 yrs
  4. practiceData scientist0 yr

LicensingNone.

United States

  1. schoolHigh school with strong maths4 yr
  2. undergraduateBachelor's in a quantitative subject4 yr
  3. postgraduateMaster's or doctorate, common in research-heavy roles1–5 yrs
  4. practiceData scientist0 yr

LicensingNone.

5. What the route costs

Not tuition — time. The years spent training are years not spent earning, and that is the largest cost of a long route by a wide margin.

Saudi Arabia

School-leaving to independent practice: 4–7 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is air traffic controller at 4 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 3 years by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of SAR 140,000–220,000, that is roughly SAR 420,000–660,000 of earnings deferred.

United States

School-leaving to independent practice: 4–9 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is aircraft maintenance engineer at 4 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 5 years by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of $48,780–62,630, that is roughly $243,900–313,150 of earnings deferred.

How that figure was reached, and what it leaves out

It is arithmetic on the sourced figures elsewhere on this site — training years multiplied by the shortest route’s entry pay — not a measurement of anything. It ignores what trainees earn while training, which in medicine and several other routes is a real salary. It ignores the pay you reach afterwards, which for long routes is usually higher and can overtake the gap entirely. And it excludes tuition, deliberately: Saudi public universities charge nationals no tuition, and fees abroad vary so widely by country and university that any single figure would be misleading. Treat it as a sense of scale for the years, not as a calculation of whether a career is worth it.

Everything on this page is assembled from the career page, the majors that lead to it and the exams those majors require, so it cannot say something they do not. Entry requirements change every year — confirm on the course page for the year you apply.