Overview

Background

A new subject coding system - the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) - has been developed to replace the Joint Academic Coding System(JACS)  currently used for the HESA statutory returns  

JACS is used by HESA and UCAS to classify subjects of study; the implementation of HECoS provides an opportunity for a far broader range of stakeholders to use a common subject coding system in the future.

Unlike JACS, the subject code identifiers are randomly generated to avoid the coding frame running out of space and HECOS codes are non-hierarchical. JACS Subject codes are held at programme and course level in EUCLID and HECOS codes will also need to be recorded at programme and course level.  Background to this project and a mapping of JACS to HECoS codes can be found at https://www.hesa.ac.uk/innovation/hecos.

There is no direct mapping between JACS and HECOS codes.  Whilst some JACS codes have a 1:1 relationship with HECOS codes it should not be assumed that this is universal.  Some element of human decision making is therefore required to decide the correct HECoS code to apply at programme and course level.  Before this project was initiated Governance and Strategic Planning (GaSP) ran an exercise in consultation with School s to recode University of Edinburgh programmes and the Student Analytics and Insights team coded University of Edinburgh courses using the new coding framework.

The new HECoS codes are also used in the UCAS Collection System.  The work on the recoding of UCAS has been completed.  GaSP are already working on the recoding to pass this to SRA and Admissions Offices.  Scholarships and Student Funding have been manually input HECoS codes into the SLC HEI Database to support student loan applications. Also impact on UKVI / T4 requirements.

Scope

The aim of this project is the conversion of JACS to HECoS codes in the student record (EUCLID) and its downstream systems to support the production of the HESA return.  It is a statutory requirement that HECOS codes be returned to HESA in the 2019/20 Student return.

Not in Scope:

• The analysis & implementation of the HECoS changes across student systems was done earlier. It informed the scope of work of this project, resources and effort.
• It does not include the implementation for other areas that have been done under SAC066 (closure report https://secure.projects.ed.ac.uk/project/sac066/closurereport)

Objectives, Deliverables, Benefits, Success Criteria

This project has 2 objectives:

Project Milestones