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EDWartens UK

Free course · Data and analytics

Power BI Data Analyst (PL-300 Prep)

The general Power BI analyst course, organised around Microsoft's PL-300 skills: getting data and choosing a storage mode, profiling and cleaning in Power Query, merge, append and unpivot, star-schema modelling and relationships, DAX measures and CALCULATE, date tables and time intelligence, visuals and report design, bookmarks, drillthrough and tooltips, the Power BI service, row-level security, performance, a review of the PL-300 skill areas and a capstone. Preparation for the exam, not the Microsoft certification itself.

See the modules

Free to learn. Verifiable certificate £19 when you pass the final exam (optional, VAT included).

Level
Beginner
Modules
15
Video
13 hours
Price
Free

Outcome

What you will be able to do

Connect Power BI to files, databases and shared semantic models and choose Import, DirectQuery or Direct Lake with a reason; profile and clean data in Power Query with steps that rerun on refresh; merge, append, unpivot and group queries; build a star schema with correct cardinality, cross-filter direction and a role-playing date table; write DAX measures with CALCULATE, time intelligence, semi-additive logic and calculation groups; design report pages with suitable visuals, themes, conditional formatting, bookmarks, drillthrough and tooltips; publish, share and refresh in the Power BI service; secure data with static and dynamic row-level security; find and fix slow visuals with Performance Analyzer; and map all of it to the PL-300 skills measured before sitting Microsoft's exam.

  • Choose Import, DirectQuery or Direct Lake for a table and give the reason
  • Profile and clean data in Power Query with recorded steps that rerun on every refresh
  • Merge, append, unpivot and group queries into long, narrow tables
  • Build a star schema with the right cardinality, filter direction and a role-playing date table
  • Write DAX measures with CALCULATE, fiscal year-to-date, prior year and semi-additive balances
  • Design report pages with bookmarks, drillthrough and tooltips that answer real questions
  • Publish, share through apps, schedule refresh and secure data with row-level security
  • Find slow visuals with Performance Analyzer and map every skill to the PL-300 outline

Software

Power BI Desktop, a free download from Microsoft that runs on Windows only (a Mac needs Windows in a virtual machine). Microsoft's free AdventureWorks Sales sample workbook. Publishing and sharing in the Power BI service need a work or school account and a Power BI licence or trial; those modules can be followed in Desktop without one. Copilot is not needed for any module.

Hardware

A Windows PC or laptop with 8 GB of memory or more.

Syllabus

15 modules

Each module has video lessons, notes and a short quiz. The final exam closes the course.

  1. 1What a Power BI data analyst does, and your first report2 lessons
  2. 2Getting data: sources, storage modes and parameters3 lessons
  3. 3Profiling and cleaning data in Power Query2 lessonsLab
  4. 4Shaping and combining: merge, append, unpivot and group2 lessonsLab
  5. 5Data modelling: star schema and relationships3 lessons
  6. 6DAX basics: measures, calculated columns and CALCULATE3 lessons
  7. 7Date tables, time intelligence and calculation groups3 lessons
  8. 8Visuals and report design3 lessons
  9. 9Interactive reports and finding patterns4 lessons
  10. 10The Power BI service: publish, share and refresh3 lessons
  11. 11Row-level security and governance3 lessons
  12. 12Model and report performance3 lessons
  13. 13PL-300 skill areas reviewed2 lessons
  14. 14Capstone: an end-to-end report1 lesson
  15. 15Final Assessment1 lesson

How it works

How this course works

  1. Watch the video lessonsOne module at a time, at your own pace.
  2. Take the module quizA short quiz at the end of each module shows what stuck.
  3. Keep your notesWrite in My notes beside each module and ask the trainer if you are stuck.
  4. Practise in the labOptionalTry a task from the module in the EDWartens Lab, in your browser.
  5. Sit the final examPass it once you have been through the modules.
  6. Certificate, if you want oneOptionalPaid, and only after you pass. Anyone can check it online.

EDWartens Lab

Practise this in the EDWartens Lab

Practise the prepare-the-data half of the course in the lab: profile and clean a messy export with applied steps, merge tables and group rows. DAX, models, visuals and the exam are not in the lab.

Works alongside Power BI Data Analyst (PL-300 Prep). The Lab is ai for industry practice in your browser: no install, no hardware, free to use. Sign in as a learner and it opens with your account.

Open the free lab See the Lab
AI for industry: Build AI models.

Levels to try with this course

Optional. Skip it whenever you like: it never blocks your progress or your certificate.

Why practise in a lab

Technical work is judged on what you can do: wiring, commissioning, finding a fault. Doing a task yourself teaches more than watching it a second time, and a lab lets you try it safely before you meet real equipment. It does not replace working on real hardware.

  • Practise safely, so a mistake costs nothing.
  • The lab checks your work like a site test, so you know when it is right.
  • Free, in your browser, with nothing to install.

Certificate

An optional certificate when you pass

Learning is free. Pass the final exam and you can have a certificate for £19, including VAT, with a number employers can check online. It records that you completed a free online course; it is not a regulated qualification or a CPD certificate.

  • Your name, the course, its study time and your final exam score
  • A unique certificate number and a QR code to its verification page
  • Issued by Wartens Ltd; add it to your LinkedIn profile in one click
  • Pay now or after you pass: it is issued the moment you pass the final

How the certificate works

Sample certificate for Power BI Data Analyst (PL-300 Prep)

Credits

Who made the lessons

The video lessons belong to their creators. EDWartens wrote the study plan, notes, quizzes and the final exam.

  • Alex The Analyst

    installing Power BI and a first visual, Power Query in Power BI, relationships, DAX for beginners, conditional formatting, and the full guided project used as the capstone

  • Pragmatic Works

    the top five areas to study for PL-300, creating dimension tables for a star schema, the ultimate guide to date tables, visual data analysis for PL-300, and the PL-300 practice exam questions and answers

  • Guy in a Cube

    choosing Import, DirectQuery or a live connection, Direct Lake in Microsoft Fabric, why Power BI loves a star schema, report design, bookmarks, anomaly detection, org apps, setting up row-level security, row-level and object-level security together, the performance troubleshooting checklist and debugging a slow report with Phil Seamark

  • SQLBI

    Import versus DirectQuery, measures versus calculated columns, introducing CALCULATE, and introducing Performance Analyzer

  • Chandoo

    the Power Query beginner to pro masterclass, calculation groups in DAX, and learning the Power BI service in fifteen minutes

  • How to Power BI

    combining data with merge and append, and five design tricks for report pages

  • Curbal

    when to transpose, pivot or unpivot in Power Query

  • Goodly

    a year-to-date calculation in Power BI

  • Leila Gharani

    drillthrough from a chart to a detail page

  • Maven Analytics

    designing custom report-page tooltips

  • RADACAD

    dynamic row-level security, and the best ways to share reports with apps, licensing and good practice

Questions

About this course

Is this the Microsoft PL-300 certification?
No. It is preparation for Microsoft's PL-300 exam, organised around the skills measured that Microsoft publishes on Microsoft Learn (the outline dated 20 April 2026, checked on 5 October 2026). The Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst Associate certification is awarded only by Microsoft after you pass its exam. EDWartens is not affiliated with Microsoft.
What certificate do I get?
An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you finish the modules and pass the final assessment, with a number anyone can verify on our site. It is not a Microsoft certification and is never described as one.
Is the course really free?
Yes. Every module, the notes, the practice tasks, the project and the final assessment are free. The only paid item is the certificate, if you want it.
Who made the video lessons?
Alex The Analyst, Pragmatic Works, Guy in a Cube, SQLBI, Chandoo and other named educators, on their own YouTube channels, credited on each module. None is affiliated with EDWartens. EDWartens wrote the study plan, notes, worked problems, practice tasks, question bank and project.
Do I need to buy Power BI?
No. Power BI Desktop is a free download from Microsoft and every modelling, DAX and report module can be done on it. It runs on Windows only. Publishing and sharing through the Power BI service need a work or school account and a licence, which many employers already have; those modules explain each step and can be followed without one.
How is this different from the Power BI OEE course?
This is the general analyst course, on sales data, covering every PL-300 skill area including the service, security and performance. Power BI for Manufacturing: OEE and Production Dashboards is the follow-on for engineers who want the same skills applied to downtime, production and quality data.
How long does the course take?
About 13 hours of video lessons, notes and practice, at your own pace; the videos alone are about 8.5 hours. The optional project takes about 14 hours more.
What is the project?
You build a sales director's report on Microsoft's AdventureWorks Sales sample from start to finish: Power Query, an unpivoted targets sheet, a star schema with a role-playing date table, hand-checked measures, a drillthrough detail page, row-level security by territory group, and the refresh and access procedure. A complete sample pack shows the requirements, model and measure registers, traceability matrix, validation record and procedure.

The Professional Module is five live days of Siemens PLC, HMI and SCADA with an instructor, then a resume session and a CPD certificate.

See the Professional Module