Training course

Excel Level 3

This course will benefit those who are already up to speed with Microsoft Excel but would now like to automate some common tasks and apply advanced analysis techniques to more complex data sets. This Excel course is aimed at anyone desiring to gain the skills necessary to create macros, audit and analyse worksheet data, create Excel PivotTables and Excel PivotCharts, use lookup tables and import and export data.

  • 1 Day
  • Online or in person
  • Private courses available
Download outline (PDF)

Course Objectives

  • Create a PivotTable to manipulate and extract data, then create a chart to display the results.
  • Create a spreadsheet that will display multiple groups of records that can be updated from a single source.
  • Create a formula that will only add up or count records that match specific criteria.
  • Record a Macro that will automate a repetitive task and then assign it to a new button on a new toolbar.

Prerequisites

  • Before attending this course, we recommend that you have attended our Microsoft Excel Level 1 and 2 courses or have equivalent knowledge.

Included

  • Lunch and refreshments when training is delivered at our training venues
  • Comprehensive course materials and exercises
  • Telephone and Email Support

Course content Back to top

  1. Using Absolute and Mixed Referencing
    Difference between Relative and Absolute References
    Absolute Reference and Dollar Signs
    Why use Absolute References
    Applying an Absolute Reference in a formula
    Mixed References
  2. Tables
    Creating Tables
    Advantages of using tables
    Adding data to tables
    Table Options
    Slicers
  3. Naming Cells (Ranges)
    Giving text to cells and ranges of cells
    Create Names from Selection
    Create Names using the Name Box
    Names in formulas
    Name Manager
  4. Complex Functions
    Using Complex Functions
    IF Function
    Nested Ifs
    SUMIF function
    COUNTIF function
    COUNTBLANK function
    Wildcards in functions
  5. Lookup Functions
    Understanding Lookup Functions
    VLOOKUP
    Approximate and Exact Matches
    Fixing Common Lookup problems
    HLOOKUP
  6. Data Validation
    Specifying Validation Criteria
    Controlling entry into a cell
    Types of Validation Criteria
    Creating a Drop-down List
  7. Security
    Protecting a worksheet and a workbook
  8. Pivot Tables
    Creating a pivot table
    Fields to create row headings
    Fields to create column headings
    Data in the summary area
    Dynamically building a pivot table
    Rearranging fields in a pivot table
    Number formatting of the data area
    Moving pivot tables from one sheet to another or around the same sheet
    Deleting a pivot table
  9. Summarising Pivot Table Data
    Managing subtotals and grand totals
    Changing the data field calculation (Sum, Count, Average etc.)
    Sort and Filter
    Drilling down to the raw data
    Building and using Report Pages
  10. Grouping Pivot Data
    Grouping Date Fields
    Including Years when Grouping by Months
    Grouping Date Fields by Week
    Multi Grouping
  11. Pivot Charts
    Building Pivot Charts
    Editing Pivot Chart Layouts
    Editing Pivot Chart Styles
    Using the built in chart filter buttons for presentation
  12. Macros
    Recording a Macro
    Absolute References and Relative References
    Run a Macro
    Delete a Macro
    Assign a Macro to a Button
    Viewing the Code behind a Macro
    Macro Security

Public dates and prices Back to top

Prices are per delegate and exclude VAT.

  • Friday 6 November 2026

    Virtual, live online 9:30–16:30

    £295+ VAT

  • Wednesday 25 November 2026

    Durham 9:30–16:30

    £345+ VAT

  • Monday 7 December 2026

    Durham 9:30–16:30

    £345+ VAT

  • Tuesday 8 December 2026

    Newcastle 9:30–16:30

    £425+ VAT

  • Friday 11 December 2026

    Virtual, live online 9:30–16:30

    £295+ VAT

  • Thursday 14 January 2027

    Virtual, live online 9:30–16:30

    £295+ VAT

  • Monday 26 April 2027

    Virtual, live online 9:30–16:30

    £295+ VAT

  • Thursday 10 June 2027

    Virtual, live online 9:30–16:30

    £295+ VAT

  • Tuesday 27 July 2027

    Virtual, live online 9:30–16:30

    £295+ VAT

  • Wednesday 11 August 2027

    Virtual, live online 9:30–16:30

    £295+ VAT

  • Thursday 2 September 2027

    Virtual, live online 9:30–16:30

    £295+ VAT

  • Friday 5 November 2027

    Virtual, live online 9:30–16:30

    £295+ VAT

  • Friday 10 December 2027

    Virtual, live online 9:30–16:30

    £295+ VAT

Can't make these dates? Ask about a private course on a date that suits you.

Training a team?

Run this course privately, on your dates

  • Public Scheduled Fixed course content, fixed date, fixed location, fixed length, multiple organisations - All you need to do is choose which course you would like to attend and contact us to book!
  • Private Flexible course content, flexible training date(s), flexible location(s), variable course length, private to your organisation - Courses can be held at one of our training venues or at another location convenient to you. Training can be set over a number of days or weeks to allow for practice time between training sessions.
  • Bespoke Bespoke private training can be based on an existing course or a number of lessons taken from several courses, we can also write bespoke courses for you based on your in-house systems or development program.
  • Virtual These courses can be attended from anywhere.

What delegates say Back to top

“Excellent trainer with huge knowledge and friendly attitude. Fab course!”
E.S., Nissan
“Great practical examples, with extra focus on sections tailored to individual areas of interest”
S.K., Nissan
“Pivot Tables I’m going to have fun with this when I return to work!”
K.T., Px Group
“Superb course. Possibly the best course I have been on in 22 years in the Fire Service.”
J.W., Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue
“Thank you for an excellently presented training day”
E.C., Nissan

How would you rate the course content overall

“Amazing I feel I will be so much more efficient. Content was so relevant and useful. Looking forward to applying what I have learned”
K.B., Education Development Trust
“Great course thank you!”
H.T., Hka
“Very well presented”
A.C., Engie Fabricom
“Really useful course thank you!”
L.O., Labour Party
“This course will change the way we format and present data in the department, saving us time and giving us a much better overview of our workload, budgets, and monthly stats.”
G.B., The Labour Party
“All informative, but pivot tables extremely useful”
G.B., The Labour Party
“Really enjoyed this!”
R., Labour
“The trainer was great, he explained everything really well and was very helpful when anyone was struggling”
L.T., The Labour Party
“All of the course was great”
L.T., The Labour Party
“All aspects greatly improved my knowledge.”
P.T., Bruker Jv Uk Ltd.
“All of the course gave me new knowledge”
C.B., Cmr Uk Ltd

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“Create my own metrics. Analyse statistics”
J.C., Cmr Uk Ltd
“Brilliant once again.”
M.K., Durham County Council
“The tutor was excellent, patient and clear”
S.D., Ground Control
“Very well presented course with good information, materials and exercises provided.”
A., Demeter Ltd
“Fantastic course”
D.C., Gestamp

Which part of the course did you find particularly valuable

“Data validation plus numerous other aspects”
A.T., Hyperdrive Innovation Ltd

Which part of the course did you find particularly valuable

“Lookups and Pivot tables but I feel as though I have learned lots from each unit we covered.”
L.W., County Durham Community Foundation
“Fantastic. All great!”
A.S., University Of Leeds

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“Put the principles into practice autosum named ranges pivot tables”
B.R.H., Quorn Foods

Any other comments or recommendations

“The trainer is very informative and patient”
D.S., Home Office

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“Will be reviewing how we produce data to make more efficient process for team producing and better output for customer.”
J.I., County Durham & Darlington Nhs Ft

Which part of the course did you find particularly valuable

“All of the course for me was excellence”
L.H., Esh Group

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“It will speed up my work with spreadsheets”
A.R., S Sheard & Son Limited

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“Use shortcuts more effectively”
W.O., S Sheard & Son Limited

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“Use pivot tables and charts to display information clearly”
S.B., Gsk

Which part of the course did you find particularly valuable

“The macro and pivot functions”
S.B., Gsk

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“Not refer to internet as much for any Excel problems! For what I require in my work I feel more confident with the knowledge I've gained after today. Also feel I have more knowledge to help my seniors in other Excel based projects.”
R.Y., Gsk

Which part of the course did you find particularly valuable

“Pivots and shortcuts and security”
A.T., Sealy Uk
“I found Pivot table and splitting columns of the most use however the whole course was helpful, Adele gave me some 1 on 1 training at the end which was very good.”
M.T., Ukcg
“Well explained. Nicely paced”
M.L., Emotional Logic

Any other comments or recommendations

“Very good, useful course.”
K.G., South Tyneside Council

Any other comments or recommendations

“The trainer was excellent”
N.W., South Tyneside Council

Which part of the course did you find particularly valuable

“Slicers in pivots and table pivots. Macros, Data validation. Sum IFCount IF”
M.P., Tharsus

Which part of the course did you find particularly valuable

“Working on the pivot table slicers and recording Macros.”
E.D., Tharsus

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“I can work differently and efficiently”
I.M.
“Very useful course. Good venue.”
J.B.

Any other comments or recommendations

“Rob was an excellent teacher and I have found his course extremely helpful, more so than I originally thought it would be.”
C., Nhsbsa
“Very easy to follow and great to do from home”
C.W., South Tyneside Council
“Loads of very useful tips and explanations,”
C.W., South Tyneside Council
“I learnt a lot more than I thought I would during the course, and Adele was able to explain some functions that I have used before, but didn#39t fully understand, which will benefit me in applying to more of my work.”
S.R.

Which part of the course did you find particularly valuable

“Very easy to follow along with Adele, and very easy to understand. The Data Validation and macros will be very valuable. I thought the excel sheet that we were sent was very well set all.”
S.R.

Which part of the course did you find particularly valuable

“All very valuable, particularly how to use Pivot Tables and LookUps effectively, as well as the introduction to Macros.”
D.S., South Tyneside Homes
“Very satisfied with the course”
V.K.

Any other comments or recommendations

“I would recommend this course to many more colleagues”
S., Carveti Partnership

Are there any aspects of the course which you feel require improvement

“Very informative and ran at a great pace. I#39d book more courses with IT Training Solutions”
S., Carveti Partnership

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“I will definitely apply all that I’ve learnt, I knew the basics of many of the functions but great to get more training on them from a pro because I am mainly self taught.”
V.K.

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“Write some macros into my spreadsheets following the course next month, always create tables for the data, name cells to use in formulas”
A.G., Yorwaste

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“Use macros more to simplify and make tasks quicker”
K.S., Betech 100Ptltd
“Informative, helpful, professional, valuable”
O.
“Thank you very much for the course. It was very useful and very practical. I refreshed my knowledge and learned new practical skills I can use at work.”
O.

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“I will work a lot more efficiently”
A.W., Egger
“Pivot Tables will help me present reports and information much better and more comfortably on a day to day basis”
J.C.
“The trainer was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and made sure the content was delivered in an engaging way.”
M.G., Tharsus
“Trainer was very enthusiastic about Excel and how it could help. I found it quite infectious!”
A.S., The Hr Dept, Durham & Newcastle South
“It has given me the confidence to start a spreadsheet from scratch again rather than copying and amending other peoples.”
J.R., Yorwaste
“The whole course was a good refresher of previous skills”
T.T., Marelli
“The trainer was fantastic, an absolute credit to the company. Very well presented and engaging throughout very knowledgeable.”
L.R.
“Everything was fantastic”
L.R.
“Would highly recommend the course. Many thanks”
B.W.

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“I am going to be turning my spreadsheets into tables and naming them. I will also now be able to use the VLOOKUP function that I was previously struggling with. I am also definitely going to use the flash field function.”
B.C.
“I found the VLOOKUP and flash field functions really useful. I also enjoyed learning all the additional uses of pivot tables. All of the training was very detailed whilst also being enjoyable!”
B.C.
“Great trainer and was very patient and worked thorough at a good pace”
K.K., Everyturn
“I felt the course was really excellent and no improvement needed”
S.D., Everyturn
“Very informative, good input and time allowed”
S.
“Thoroughly enjoyed it. Can’t wait to put it all in to use”
N.F., Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“I will be able to deliver better, more reliable, useful data for my team”
N.F., Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service
“I thought the training was delivered really well, the content was good and was set at the right level for the group”
M., Nwl

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“Everything. I will adapt my new skills and integrate them into my work as I do work with large data sets”
L.D., Nothumbrian Water Group
“It was brilliant”
S.M., British Gypsum
“This will improve my working life just like the last course”
P.P., Merton Council
“I have picked up lots of shortcuts and things I didn't know before today which I will use going forward”
K.M., Kaefer

Any other comments or recommendations

“Really enjoyed this training, the trainer was great at explaining and helping out”
D.G., Kaefer

Any other comments or recommendations

“Very worth attending”
T.

Which part of the course did you find particularly valuable

“Everything was useful and amazing”
T.

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“Everything!”
J.D., Kaefer Limited
“Course was really detailed and informative.”
N.F.

Following this training what are you going to do differently

“Going to use excel at a higher level to maximize efficiency.”
J.B., Primula
“Really enjoyed the course today, thank you. Very well presented.”
A., Primula

Other courses in this series Back to top

Please contact us to discuss your Excel Level 3 course, we have many solutions available to ensure you receive the best training possible.

Your Excel course can be delivered online or in-person. You can choose your Excel path with introduction to advanced levels. Master Excel Business Intelligence and Power Tools, VBA and more. Learn in-person or online with our virtual classrooms. Your course can be delivered online, at your office or at one of our training venues, it's your choice. Small course sizes. Course materials included. Flexible Excel Level 3 course content. Expert trainers and tried & tested training methods. Many course materials available online using your personal training account. You can master Excel, please contact us to book a place or get a quote for your Excel Level 3 course.

Microsoft and Microsoft Excel are Registered Trademarks Advanced Microsoft Excel Training in North East England, Durham, Washington and Newcastle.<a href=';/uk-training-courses/microsoft-excel-training-courses.asp';>Microsoft Excel Training Courses in the UK</a> Microsoft Excel Advanced Training . Microsoft Excel Advanced Training England. Advanced Excel Training. Advanced Excel Training Newcastle. Learn how to work with complex data sets. Learn how to create macros, audit and analyse worksheet data, create PivotTables and PivotCharts, use lookup tables and import and export data. Advanced Excel Training Courses.
IT Training Solutions Ltd
Oakville, 14 Durham Road West, Bowburn, Durham, DH6 5AU
0191 377 8377
ittrainingsolutions.co.uk
Printed: 10/20/2026 10:16:27 PM