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JACS coding system

What is the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS)?

JACS is used by UK institutions to identify the subject matter of programmes and modules. These institutions include the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Home Office and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

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 3 numbers' format, but a UCAS course code can be any combination of letters and numbers.

How are JACS codes formed?

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

Q130 is Phonetics & phonology

Q131 is Phonetics

Q132 is Phonology

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

For example:

Q150 Psycholinguistics

The study of cognition and the effects of psychology on linguistic understanding and ability.