Free Training & Career Tips... Subscribe to Get Weekly Career Tips
By Subscribing You are Agreeing to Terms and Conditions
SQL training teaches you to retrieve, combine and summarise data stored in databases, a core skill for analysts, report writers and anyone who works with business data. BOTI’s two-day SQL Server querying course runs in-house, at its venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or live online – see all BOTI Microsoft Office and computer skills courses.
This course at BOTI todayGetting Started with Microsoft SQL Server: SQL Querying (2 days)
The current course runs at your offices anywhere in South Africa, live online or at a BOTI venue. The course page has the up-to-date outline and group prices.
See the current courseGet a quote for your teamSee all Microsoft Office and Computer Skills courses
Learning on your own? Self-paced e-learning from R595 (excl. VAT) · Ask your employer to pay
What SQL is
SQL (Structured Query Language) is the standard language for working with relational databases: the systems that store customer records, sales, stock and transactions in tables. With SQL you can retrieve exactly the data you need, combine tables, summarise results and update records. It is not a general programming language for building applications; it is the language that applications, reports and analysts use to talk to a database.
Why learn SQL
- Pull your own reports and answers from business data instead of waiting for IT.
- Work with much larger data sets than a spreadsheet handles comfortably.
- Feed clean data into Excel and Power BI for analysis and dashboards.
- Build a foundation for data analysis, database administration or development roles.
What an SQL course covers
- How relational databases and tables are structured.
- Writing SELECT queries to retrieve data, with filtering and sorting.
- Joining tables to combine related data.
- Grouping and summarising data with aggregate functions.
- Inserting, updating and deleting data safely.
Learning SQL step by step
SQL has strict rules: commands, keywords and punctuation must be written exactly as the database expects, even when they look odd in plain English. Beginners learn fastest by practising simple queries on a sample database and building up to joins and summaries.
SQL training at BOTI
BOTI’s Getting Started with Microsoft SQL Server: SQL Querying (2 days) teaches querying on Microsoft SQL Server. For smaller databases, see Microsoft Access Beginners (1 day), and for analysing query results, Microsoft Power BI Basics (3 days).
Request a quote
Frequently asked questions
What is SQL used for?
SQL is used to retrieve, combine, summarise and update data stored in relational databases, for reports, analysis and the applications that use those databases.
Is SQL hard to learn?
The basics are quick to learn: simple queries can be written on the first day. Joins and summaries take more practice.
Do I need programming experience to learn SQL?
No. SQL suits beginners, although comfort with spreadsheets and data helps.
How long is BOTI’s SQL course?
Getting Started with Microsoft SQL Server: SQL Querying runs over two days.
Book BOTI’s Getting Started with Microsoft SQL Server: SQL Querying (2 days) course. Training runs in-house at your premises, at BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or live online. Call BOTI on 011 882 8853 or email [email protected], or request a quote. This course is not accredited. It is delivered as a professional skills programme, and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance.