Excel / Foundations

Excel Foundations

Useful skills for everyday work. Eight modules take you from your first formula to SUMIF and XLOOKUP, one clear step at a time.

8modules
30lessons
82exercises, plus a 15-task test
$0to learn, test and finish
Start the course Try a task first

What you’ll learn.

Each lesson explains one idea, then gives you tasks on labelled example data. Hints step in when you’re stuck.

  1. 01

    Find your way around

    Cells, ranges, and the difference between numbers and text. 3 lessons, 9 exercises.

    • Cells and addresses
    • Ranges
    • Numbers and text
  2. 02

    First formulas

    Start with =, use cell references, control the order, and work out percentages. 4 lessons, 12 exercises.

    • Start with an equals sign
    • Use cell references
    • Brackets and order
    • Percentages
  3. 03

    Summarise a column

    SUM, AVERAGE, MIN, MAX, COUNT, COUNTA and ROUND. 5 lessons, 15 exercises.

    • SUM
    • AVERAGE
    • MIN and MAX
    • COUNT and COUNTA
    • ROUND
  4. 04

    Copy formulas safely

    Fill a formula down a column, and lock the references that must stay put. 3 lessons, 8 exercises.

    • Fill down
    • Lock a reference with $
    • Mixed references
  5. 05

    Make decisions

    IF, AND, OR, nested IF and IFERROR. 4 lessons, 9 exercises.

    • IF
    • AND and OR
    • More than two outcomes
    • IFERROR
  6. 06

    Work with text

    Join, split, measure and clean text. 4 lessons, 10 exercises.

    • Join text
    • LEFT, RIGHT and MID
    • LEN and TRIM
    • Change case
  7. 07

    Count and add with conditions

    COUNTIF, SUMIF, AVERAGEIF, COUNTIFS and SUMIFS. 4 lessons, 11 exercises.

    • COUNTIF
    • SUMIF
    • AVERAGEIF
    • COUNTIFS and SUMIFS
  8. 08

    Look things up

    XLOOKUP, what to do when there's no match, and VLOOKUP. 3 lessons, 8 exercises.

    • XLOOKUP
    • When there's no match
    • VLOOKUP
  9. Test

    Foundations test

    Fifteen tasks on one sales log. Work through them in order; hints cost XP but never block you. Pass twelve of fifteen without seeing the answer to earn the certificate of completion.

Try a task from module 3.

This is the first task in the SUM lesson. Write the formula, then check it.

Example data

In B5, add up the minutes with SUM.

AB
1TaskMinutes
2Data entry12
3Cleanup18
4Reporting24
5Total

A certificate you earn.

Pass the Foundations test and you get a certificate of completion with your name, the course and the date. It shows you finished the course. It isn’t an accreditation or a Microsoft certification.

Who it’s for.

People getting ready for an Excel test for a job, and anyone who uses spreadsheets at work and wants to be quicker and surer.

Start practising now.

Excel Foundations is free, with no sign-up. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Start Excel Foundations Practise a function