Excel Level 2 - Intermediate

Course Aims & Objectives
This Intermediate Level course is designed to move learners beyond the basics of Excel and into practical, real-world functionality that enhances spreadsheet performance and business productivity.
By the end of this course, participants will:
• Understand how Excel functions are structured and applied
• Gain the skills needed to manage and troubleshoot formulas effectively
• Learn how to design structured, scalable spreadsheets for business use
• Understand how to work with structured data and future-proof spreadsheets using Tables, Dynamic Arrays, and Database principles
This course focuses on building knowledge through professional techniques, real examples, and structured best practices.
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Who Should Attend?
This course is ideal for:
• Existing Excel users with working knowledge of data entry, formatting, and basic formulas
• Professionals who regularly work on Excel spreadsheets created by others and wish to understand or manage the logic within them
• Users who are ready to move beyond manual processes and learn to apply functions, references, and data logic
Prerequisites:
Participants must:
• Be comfortable with the Excel interface
• Know how to enter and format data
• Understand and create basic arithmetic formulas
• Be familiar with chart creation and general spreadsheet layout (covered in Level 1 – Introduction)
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Delivery Format
This is a classroom-based course. Each participant will have access to a fully equipped workstation with Microsoft Excel installed. The instructor will guide the course using live demonstrations, practical exercises, and real-time feedback.
Training Environment Includes:
• Individual PCs with Microsoft Excel (Office 365 or Excel 2021 or later)
• Course materials and online notes
• Comfortable classroom setting conducive to learning
Participants are not required to bring their own laptop.
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Course Outline
This course builds directly on the skills from Level 1. The following topics may be covered, depending on learner progression:
Function Structure & Referencing:
• Understand the structure of all Excel functions (syntax, arguments, return types)
• Master Relative vs. Absolute Cell Referencing and their use in calculations
• Link cells across worksheets and workbooks
Logical & Lookup Functions:
• Use the IF function for conditional logic
• Apply the XLOOKUP function as a modern replacement for VLOOKUP
• Explore the power of SUMIF, SUMIFS, COUNTIF, COUNTIFS
Date & Error Handling Functions:
• Perform date calculations and use functions like TODAY()
• Handle errors using IFERROR, ISERROR, and logical evaluation
• Understand and resolve formula error messages
Working with Structured Data:
• Design and manage Excel Tables for dynamic, future-proof databases
• Understand the difference between spreadsheets and databases
• Use Dynamic Arrays and related functions such as UNIQUE, SORT, FILTER, etc.
Data Cleaning & Text Manipulation:
• Apply text-based functions: LEFT, RIGHT, MID, UPPER, LOWER, PROPER, TRIM, CLEAN, CONCAT, TEXTJOIN
• Use COUNT, COUNTA, COUNTBLANK, MAX, MIN, AVERAGE for statistical insight
Conditional Formatting:
• Apply rules-based formatting to highlight trends, exceptions, and performance thresholds
• Use formulas within conditional formatting for dynamic rule logic
Learning Outcomes
On completion, learners will be able to:
• Confidently use a wide range of Excel functions for calculations and decision-making
• Create efficient, reusable spreadsheet structures
• Manage dynamic datasets with Tables and Array functions
• Clean, sort, and manipulate data for analysis
• Understand how to diagnose and resolve common formula issues
• Transition from formula consumers to formula creators
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Progression Pathway
This course is the second level in the Excel development path. Participants are encouraged to advance to:
• Excel – Level 3 (Advanced): Nesting functions, PivotTables
• Specialist Excel Workshops: Focused on Dashboarding, Data Analytics, Power Query, Power Pivot or Power BI

I thoroughly enjoyed this intermediate level Excel course - it was the best course that I have undertaken and would highly recommend DTI for anyone looking to improve their understanding and general usage of Excel. Thank you Gary!