JACS coding

• Courses within the UCAS scheme are given a course code which is unique to the course provider.
• The UCAS course code currently consists of a four character reference which can be any combination of letters and numbers.
• Each course is also assigned up to three JACS (Joint Academic Coding System) codes in order to classify the course for *J purposes.
• Each JACS code consists of a single letter followed by three numbers. JACS is divided into subject areas, with a related initial letter for each.
• JACS is used by several UK bodies to identify the subject of courses and modules. These bodies include the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Home Office and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
• The JACS system is used by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), and is the result of a joint UCAS-HESA subject code harmonization project.
• JACS codes do not indicate the level of study, as the same codes may be used for undergraduate, postgraduate, research programmes and continuing education.
• JACS codes are different to UCAS course codes in that a JACS code can only ever be in the 'letter plus three numbers' format, but a UCAS course code can be any combination of letters and numbers.

JACS codes are formed from a letter and three digits: the letter indicates the subject area; the numbers indicate the topics within the main subject area.

For example:

Q – LINGUISTICS, CLASSICS AND RELATED SUBJECTS

• Q100 is Linguistics
• Q110 is Applied linguistics
• Q120 is Historical linguistics

Each code also has a description that explains the subject area in more detail.

For example 150 Psycholinguistics
'The study of cognition and the effects of psychology on linguistic understanding and ability'

JACS3 has recently been introduced and you can find more information on the HESA website.

For more information on course and JACS codes, please get in touch with the Data Collection Team, coursesdata@ucas.ac.uk.