UCAS Tracker Guide
Head back to the UCAS Tracker Guide to explore further functionalities.
UCAS Tracker Frequently Asked Questions
Discover frequently asked questions about UCAS Tracker.
FAQs
Do you need help with something that isn't covered in our guide? Take a look at some of the frequently asked questions below and see if you can find your answer. Alternatively, reach out to your Customer Manager or email us at educationservices@ucas.ac.uk
What is UCAS Tracker?
UCAS Tracker is a redevelopment of Application and Decision Tracker, which enables in-cycle benchmarking for universities and colleges to understand their position against their competition on the sector.
There are two versions of UCAS Tracker:
- UCAS Tracker Basic is covered by the capitation fee.
- UCAS Tracker Enhanced is the ‘paid-for’ replacement of Application & Decision Tracker.
How can I access UCAS Tracker?
To access UCAS Tracker please ensure you have registered for an account on ucas.com/providers.
Any member of staff at your organisation can be given access to UCAS Tracker Basic by your ucas.com administrators. The process is the same if your provider subscribes to the enhanced version.
- Sign in to ucas.com, and, from the Providers homepage, click on the ‘Dashboards, Open Days, Provider Pages & Users’ button
- Select the ‘User management’ tab (only admin users can see this tab)
- If the user to be assigned UCAS Tracker access doesn’t already have a ucas.com account, in the ‘Add new user’ section enter their email address and tick the ‘UCAS Tracker (Basic access)’ or (Enhanced access) *if already subscribed to Application and Decision Tracker* box.
- If the user to be assigned UCAS Tracker access does already have a ucas.com account, search for them (by name or email address) using the search bar, then tick the ‘UCAS Tracker (Basic access)’ or (Enhanced access) box.
Accessing UCAS Tracker once assigned access
- Sign in to ucas.com, and, from the Providers homepage, click on the ‘Dashboards, Open Days, Provider Pages & Users’ button:
- Select the ‘Dashboards’ tab:
- Click on ‘UCAS Tracker (Basic access)’ or the UCAS Tracker (Enhanced access) *if already subscribed to Application and Decision Tracker* (if the button doesn’t appear, it means you don’t have the relevant access and an admin user at your organisation will need to assign you)
Who has access to UCAS Tracker Enhanced?
Providers who choose to subscribe to UCAS Tracker Enhanced will be able to manage their own user access. Permissions to any user can be assigned by your ucas.com admins. There is no limit on the number of UCAS Tracker users a provider has.
If you are unsure whether your provider has, or should have, access to the UCAS Tracker Enhanced version, please contact your Customer Manager, Customer Success Director or datainsights@ucas.ac.uk.
How often does the UCAS Tracker data refresh?
UCAS Tracker data is updated daily. This usually takes place overnight.
How are my competitor groups identified?
Your institutional level competitor group is identified as the basket of six other providers with whom you have the most applicants in common.
In the Enhanced version of UCAS Tracker, competitor groups vary for each CAH1/2/3 group that you have received applications for – so, each distinct CAH group has a different set of providers which make up your CAH1/2/3 competitor group.
This is calculated by taking the six providers with the highest number of applications you have in common for each CAH1/2/3 group that you offer. Where there is a tie between two competitor providers for a given CAH group, these are split by using, in order:
The provider with the highest number of applications in common for the next CAH level up, until CAH1 level is reached.
The provider with the highest overall number of applications in common with you in the previous application cycle.
The provider with the highest overall number of applications in common with you in the previous but one application cycle.
A random provider is selected.
If you have fewer than six competitor providers for a CAH1/2/3, then none are displayed for that CAH1/2/3 group.
When should I use the ‘days from deadline’ filters?
The ‘days from deadline’ filters enable you to compare your position for the number of days there are to deadline in this cycle, with the same time away from the deadline in previous cycles. For example, if it is 10 days away from the deadline this cycle, it will compare with 10 days away from the same deadline in previous cycles.
Whilst this is a nice feature to look at early in the cycle, we recommend that you don’t pay too much heed to it until the few weeks before the deadlines. This is because those figures can be impacted by things like movement of the deadline dates, and application behaviours before and after Christmas.
What happens to the ‘days from ECD deadline’ filter after the deadline?
The filter remains but becomes a ‘days past the Equal Consideration Deadline’ filter. So, instead of comparing (for example) seven days to the deadline this year vs seven days to the deadline last year, it will report figures seven days past the deadline this year vs. seven days past the deadline last year.
How does the Change Drivers visualisation work? What does it mean?
The Change Drivers visualisation is an AI (Artificial Intelligence) based tool that conducts a root cause analysis of the changes in your own provider’s numbers.
It can provide a picture of how varied factors, relating to your applicant’s profile and subject choices, are impacting each other.
Selecting the plus sign (+) next to your numbers and selecting high or low value, means that Power BI uses artificial intelligence to analyse all the various categories available and will show you your most significant areas with gains or losses (based on whether you chose high or low value respectively).
How do I export data from UCAS Tracker?
Click on the ellipsis (…) that will appear at, or near, the top right of the white box on any table or chart.
Click on ‘export data’ from the drop-down list.
Choose Summarized data and change the export format to csv. The ‘export’ button will then turn green, and you can download the data from there.
One of my subjects is showing as having had more applications at this point last year, than we had at the end of the cycle. Why is this?
This is because UCAS Tracker doesn’t track change of course offers.
For some highly selective courses, such as Medicine and Dentistry, UCAS tends to see an amount Change of Course offers – this could be result from an applicant not reaching their conditional offer or being offered a change of course straight after applying. In the snapshot of our End of Cycle data we do not hold the course the applicant originally applied for. So sometimes the changes can mean that the number of applications earlier on in the cycle is higher than shown at the end.
The figures presented in UCAS Tracker don’t match the figures I can see in my own systems. Why is this?
We ask providers not to compare the figures in UCAS Tracker with figures from any other data source (e.g. Web-Link). This is because we take cuts of the data at separate times and may be applying different definitions (e.g. Tracker looks at the Application cycle, other sources may be looking at Entry year). Comparing numbers across data sources may lead to comparing apples with oranges, not apples with apples.
I don't understand the dashboard, or I have a specific question related to something presented in the dashboard.
Any questions about the UCAS Tracker product or dashboard should be sent to datainsights@ucas.ac.uk. Alternatively, you can contact your Customer Success Director.
I can’t access the dashboard tab.
It is likely that you don’t have permissions to see it. You’ll need to contact the admin user at your provider, who can assign you with permission.
I can access the dashboard tab but can’t see Tracker in the dashboard options available to me.
It is likely that you don’t have permissions to see it. You’ll need to contact the admin user at your provider who can assign you with permission.
I can access the dashboard but it’s not displaying any data, what should I do?
It sounds like there may be an issue with the data model – a Service Now ticket will need to be raised and tagged against ‘UCAS Tracker’ to be triaged appropriately.
I can access the dashboard and I can see the data, but it has not been updated in more than 24 hours, what should I do?
It sounds like there may be an issue with the data model – a Service Now ticket will need to be raised and tagged against ‘UCAS Tracker’ to be triaged appropriately.
I usually have access to the dashboard page on ucas.com but I can no longer access it.
It sounds like there may be an issue with the data model – a Service Now ticket will need to be raised and tagged against ‘UCAS Tracker’ to be triaged appropriately.
I can see UCAS Tracker Basic, but I cannot see UCAS Tracker Enhanced.
There is a possibility that your organisation has not purchased Enhanced and therefore you would not have access. We recommend contacting the admin user at your provider in the first instance who would be able to confirm this.
If your organisation should have access and you still cannot view the dashboard, it is likely that you do not have permissions to see it. You will need to contact the admin user at your provider who can assign you with permission.