Joint Academic Coding System: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:51, 11 May 2017

Revision as of 03:00, 11 May 2017

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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}}</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 to 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 which are split 50:50 between two subjects, a code with two letters and two numbers is used, which combines the principal subject codes which would be used for the two subjects if studied as individual degrees.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=http://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}}</ref>

===Example===

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*The codes '''GFD3''', '''GF1H''' and '''GFH1''' are 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}}</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}}</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}}</ref>

Another example is '''Music and Philosophy'''. The principal subject codes are '''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}}</ref> is also used.

The same letter can be used twice (if the two subjects are 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 2027}}</ref>