JACS 2007

In 2002 UCAS and HESA introduced the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS), replacing the similar but distinct systems for subject coding previously used by the two agencies. JACS (Version 1.7) was first used for the 2002 entry (UCAS) and for the 2002/03 reporting year (HESA).

In order to match the evolving pattern of subjects studied in higher education, UCAS and HESA embarked on a review from 2004 to 2005. Changes following from the review have been now been incorporated in a new version of JACS (2.0) and are being implemented for 2007 entry (UCAS) and the 2007/08 reporting year (HESA).

The review has been deliberately limited in scope and changes made only in those few areas where it was anticipated that they would significantly improve the fitness for purpose of the scheme to an extent which was judged to justify the cost of change. A group consisting of staff from HESA and UCAS managed the review process, consulting subject experts as appropriate.

UCAS uses JACS for two purposes:

(1) To provide a unique key for a UCAS course within a particular UCAS institution.

(2) To transmit information about the subject matter of all courses to universities and colleges, and ultimately to HESA.

Because of the widespread use of JACS version 1.7 to provide course codes within institutions and their MIS systems, it has been decided not to change the basis of existing unique course keys within an institution from JACS 1.7 to JACS 2.0. However new main course key codes will be allocated to UCAS courses according to JACS 2.0. In addition, the specific data fields used to transmit information about the subject matter of a course (up to three component subjects) will be coded, for all courses, according to JACS 2.0.

As a result of JACS changes, and the incorporation of ex-NMAS courses into the UCAS scheme, main course keys can no longer conform to a single coding framework. Information on the subject matter of a course should always be derived, therefore, from the specific data fields dedicated to that purpose and coded according to JACS 2.0.

Links are provided to the following documents:

Joint Academic Coding System Version 1.7 (used for main course key, UCAS scheme courses only).

Joint Academic Coding System Version 2.0 (used for identifying subject(s) to institutions and HESA).

Summary of changes between JACS 1.7 and 2.0

If you have any queries, please contact:

Lin Goodwin

01242 544865
l.goodwin@ucas.ac.uk