Joint Academic Coding System: Difference between revisions

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The '''Joint Academic Coding System''' (JACS) system iswas used by the [[Higher Education Statistics Agency]] (HESA) and the [[Universities and Colleges Admissions Service]] (UCAS) in the [[United Kingdom]] to classify academic subjects. It is due to bewas replaced by the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) and the Common Aggregation Hierarchy (CAH) for the 2019/20 academic year.<ref name=farewell>{{cite web|url=https://www.hesa.ac.uk/blog/28-04-2017/farewell-jacs-and-hello-hecos|title=Farewell to JACS, and hello to HECoS|publisher=HESA|date=27 April 2017|accessdate=10 May 2017}}</ref>

{{update|date=October 2020}}

A JACS code for a single subject consists of a letter and three numbers. The letter represents the broad subject classification, e.g. F for physical sciences. The first number represents the principal subject area, e.g. F3 for physics, and subsequent numbers represent further details, similar to the [[Dewey Decimal Classification|Dewey Decimal System]]. The principal subject of physics, for example, is broken into 19 detailed subjects, represented by a letter plus three numbers: e.g., F300 represents physics, F330 environmental physics, and F331 atmospheric physics.

The '''Joint Academic Coding System''' (JACS) system is used by the [[Higher Education Statistics Agency]] (HESA) and the [[Universities and Colleges Admissions Service]] (UCAS) in the [[United Kingdom]] to classify academic subjects. It is due to be replaced by the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) and the Common Aggregation Hierarchy (CAH) for the 2019/20 academic year.<ref name=farewell>{{cite web|url=https://www.hesa.ac.uk/blog/28-04-2017/farewell-jacs-and-hello-hecos|title=Farewell to JACS, and hello to HECoS|publisher=HESA|date=27 April 2017|accessdate=10 May 2017}}</ref>

A JACS code for a single subject consists of a letter and three numbers. The letter represents the broad subject classification, e.g. F for physical sciences. The first number represents the principal subject area, e.g. F3 for physics, and subsequent numbers represent further details, similar to the [[Dewey Decimal Classification|Dewey Decimal System]]. The principal subject of physics, for example, is broken into 19 detailed subjects, represented by a letter plus three numbers: e.g., F300 represents physics, F330 environmental physics and F331 atmospheric physics.

==History==

HESA and UCAS used to operate two different (though similar) subject coding systems - HESAcode and Standard Classification of Academic Subjects (SCAS) respectively. In 1996 a joint project was launched to bring these two systems together to create a unified structure. A project team was established with two people from each of the two organisationsorganizations. The project team became known as JACS since this was an acronym of their names (Jonathan Waller and Andy Youell from HESA, Clive Sillence and Sara Goodwins from UCAS).<ref name=farewell/>

The first operational version (v1.7) of the Joint Academic Coding System (retaining the JACS acronym) was published in 1999 and became operational in UCAS and HESA systems for the year 2002/03.

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==JACS Codes in the UCAS system==

Course codes in the UCAS system are assigned by course providers and do not necessarily correspond to the JACS codes of the course subject.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ucas.com/file/36576/download%3Ftoken%3DwKnv0Ur_|title=Full list of the current variables|publisher=UCAS|date=November 2016|quote=Please note: the course code is assigned to each course by the host provider and does not necessarily relate to JACS subject codes.|accessdate=10 May 2017}}{{Dead link|date=March 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> UCAS course codes are four characters in length but, unlike JACS codes, may consist of any combination of letters and numbers in any order. However, historically UCAS created course codes from the JACS subject code, and many institutions continue to do this, which can lead to confusion between the two concepts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hediip.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/JACS_Report_2013-07.pdf|title=Classifying subject of study: A roadmap to a new Joint Academic Coding System| date=July 2013|publisher=Higher Education Data and Information Improvement Programme|accessdate=10 May 2017|page=29}}</ref>

Where a course involves more than one subject, UCAS historically created the course code based on an aggregation of the JACS codes. For courses whichthat are split 50:50 between two subjects, a code with two letters and two numbers is used, which combines the principal subject codes whichthat would be used for the two subjects if studied as individual degrees.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220214158/https://www.ucas.com/he_staff/courses/jacs/codingprinciples|archive-date=20 December 2010|url=https://www.ucas.com/he_staff/courses/jacs/codingprinciple|publisher=UCAS|title=Course coding principles|accessdate=10 May 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Example===

Consider the BSc course '''Mathematics and Physics''':

*The principal subject code for Mathematics iswas '''G1''', and the principal subject code for Physics is '''F3'''.

*The combined codes used arewere '''GF13'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://digital.ucas.com/courses/details?coursePrimaryId=971ecf84-8baf-0c4e-9e6c-86af084bca98&courseOptionId=42a85295-0a17-343c-680a-6eda9fe5f58a|title=Mathematics and Physics – University of Edinburgh|publisher=UCAS|accessdate=9 May 2017}}{{Dead link|date=March 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and '''FG31'''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://digital.ucas.com/courses/details?coursePrimaryId=fc9d5b6d-0a2d-9475-b3b8-7fd46cb95966&courseOptionId=d643d300-cacf-39b7-7655-f0698b0fc757|title=Mathematics and Physics – University of Manchester|publisher=UCAS|accessdate=10 May 2017}}{{Dead link|date=March 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

*The codes '''GFD3''', '''GF1H''' and '''GFH1''' arewere also used.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://digital.ucas.com/courses/details?coursePrimaryId=2717f1c0-6716-2247-6427-bd91cce346d3&courseOptionId=2715730a-7cc2-8b9c-7ec1-a93e89e9dd7b|title=Mathematics and Physics – University of Bristol|publisher=UCAS|accessdate=10 May 2017}}{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://digital.ucas.com/courses/details?coursePrimaryId=7de40e6d-6e82-ee6c-b270-89d7f4a91016&courseOptionId=549a2e3e-b1ab-f49d-780a-7928b0c2b5c2|title=Mathematics and Physics – University of Surrey|publisher=UCAS|accessdate=10 May 2017}}{{Dead link|date=March 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://digital.ucas.com/courses/details?coursePrimaryId=7c8421b9-c8f2-c7fc-f16e-332f11b96dae&courseOptionId=7902fe7d-93b7-80b4-46bf-96385ab31d3b|title=Mathematics and Physics – University of Surrey (sandwich)|publisher=UCAS|accessdate=10 May 2017}}{{Dead link|date=March 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Another example iswas '''Music and Philosophy'''. The principal subject codes arewere '''W3''' (Music) and '''V5''' (Philosophy). The combined codes used are '''WV35'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://digital.ucas.com/courses/details?coursePrimaryId=4cda0d62-c344-54ff-4366-6923d47a1c16&courseOptionId=d1355c12-0f5c-0226-bccb-960dd320e0ec|title=Music and Philosophy – University of Nottingham|publisher=UCAS|accessdate=10 May 2017}}</ref> or '''VW35''',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://digital.ucas.com/courses/details?coursePrimaryId=e36cff50-021c-36d0-e37a-4131d3ce26ad&courseOptionId=4f560230-1ba8-9164-05e7-b642636809a2|title=Music and Philosophy – University of Sheffield |publisher=UCAS|accessdate=10 May 2017}}</ref> while '''WV53''',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://digital.ucas.com/courses/details?coursePrimaryId=ba5c79da-fe87-a452-7220-8a1d5dd10b07&courseOptionId=446cc56a-7a90-ee90-ffd2-7069e1f4d695|title=Music and Philosophy – Durham University|publisher=UCAS|accessdate=9 May 2017}}{{Dead link|date=March 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> iswas also used.

The same letter cancould be used twice (if the two subjects arewere within the same general subject area), such as '''FF53''' for '''Astronomy and Physics'''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://digital.ucas.com/courses/details?coursePrimaryId=da6c889b-6c5d-7cb8-734e-ccd169d6f63a&courseOptionId=e71c28df-bce5-5dd0-5703-0b3850ef8c1c|title=Astronomy and Physics – University of Glasgow|publisher=UCAS|accessdate=9 May 2017}}</ref>

===Courses with major/minor subjects===

Coding iswas done differently for courses such as "Mathematics '''with''' Physics", which is not the same as "Mathematics '''and''' Physics".

The format for such courses iswas Y1Z9 where:

*Y1 is the "major" subject which represents most of the degree course

*Z9 is the "minor" subject which represents less of the course.

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*[https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/jacs/jacs3-detailed JACS 3.0 Classification (since 2012/13) from HESA]

[[Category:Higher education in the United Kingdom]]

[[Category:UCAS]]

[[Category:University and college admissions in the United Kingdom]]