UCAS MEDIA - Application Tracker FAQs

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UCAS Application Tracker Report

Frequently asked questions

The UCAS Application Tracker Report is a secure web-based service for HEIs allowing tracking of institutions' applications, trends down to course code level, faculty data and applicants' demographic data over a three year period. Figures are updated on a weekly basis allowing you timely access to invaluable information to support your finance, marketing, planning and resources departments.

2012 Application Tracker Report provides 2012 entry cycle application figures, benchmarked against data for 2011 and 2010 entry cycles to produce comparative year-on-year data.

How do I access The Application Tracker Report?

Application Tracker is part of web-link, which can be found in the HE Staff section of UCAS.com. To log in to the service you will need a username and password - this is created by your institution's web-link administrator. Further instruction on how to log in to web-link can be found in your user manual. Subscribers will receive instructions on how to log in.

What if I forget my password or username?

If you forget your password or username, please contact the web-link administrator at your institution. The Data Insight Team does not have access to individual log in details.

How much does the Application Tracker Report cost?

There are three subscription levels for institutions to choose from; so you only pay for the reports relevant to your needs.

Many institutions are facing financial pressures at present; so we are delighted that our prices have been frozen for 2012 Application and Decision Tracker (with the exception of 20% VAT). You can also benefit from the following:

Get 5% discount - when you subscribe to Application and decision Tracker

Free level 1 Application Tracker - we are pleased to advise that level 1 of Application Tracker remains free to all UCAS member institutions.

Free Daily Decision Tracker* enables you to keep track of your institution's applications and acceptances over confirmation and clearing. The reports are emailed every day from August until mid September and are available in two levels of subscription.

Level 1 contains a HEI summary sheet which compares the latest data with the previous report and a yearly comparison sheet which compares the latest data to last year. The report also contains more detailed 2011 subject and course level data. This report costs £350 plus vat.

Level 2 contains the same as level 1 however the courses data has been extended to included domicile data for both 2010 and 2011. There is also an additional flowchart that compares 2009 and 2010 at course and domicile level. The cost of this report is £500 plus vat.

If you would like more information on Daily Decisions or if you would like to see sample reports please contact the Data Insight team, datainsight@ucas.ac.uk.

*Not available to Application Tracker Level one subscribers

How do I order and pay for Application Tracker?

To order Application Tracker you will need to complete an order form and supply us with a purchase order number if relevant for your organisation. The preferred method of payment is by BACS or credit card. On receipt of your order, our Finance Department will send an invoice or receipt of payment to you. If you wish to send payment with your order, you can still pay by cheque. If you wish to pay by credit card, please call 01242 223748.

Can I order Application Tracker anytime?

Application Tracker is available from September 2011 The first reporting week for Application Tracker 2012, will be the last week of September 2011, thereafter data is extracted for the previous week, every Monday morning at 00:05 until Monday 30th July 2012.

NOTE Some reports accumulate week on week, others are available to view week by week - to monitor changes we recommend that you save reports each week.

Is there a demonstration site?

You can see for yourself the advantages of using Decision Tracker by visiting our demonstration site

You will be prompted to supply a username and password when accessing the demonstration site. Please contact Suzanne Campbell on 01242 544957 or email datainsight@ucas.ac.uk for these details.

Can anyone else access my Application Tracker data?

Your data will not be visible to any other institution or organisation. Only those members of staff within your HEI, set up by your web-link administrator can view Application Tracker. The Data Insight Team can view all data for monitoring purposes.

What format is Application Tracker produced in?

Application Tracker is a secure web-based service. The data are displayed as web pages. Reports can be downloaded as a PDF, HTML or CSV depending on the report.

When will the 2012 Application Tracker be available?

The service begins in September 2011 - the first reporting week for Application Tracker 2012, will be available the last week of September 2011. Thereafter data are extracted for the previous week, every Monday morning at 00:05 until Monday 30th July 2012. You can subscribe for the following year in advance of September and throughout the year.

Are there any Terms and Conditions for the licence of UCAS Data?

All subscribers are sent standard 'Terms and Conditions' via email. You can also find the 'Terms and Conditions' at www.ucas.com/documents/stats/UCASdata_terms.doc in brief:

Publication of the application listing is prohibited as is the provision of data to third parties
There is a requirement to anonymise data for publication purposes and to suppress where the identification of individuals is probable.

What happens if there is a service disruption?

All UCAS member institutions will receive a communication if there is a planned weekend deployment that involves an outage that may impact on web-link or Application Tracker. The deployment window for these release is from 07:00 on the Saturday to 08:00 on the following Monday. Any disruption or problems we are made aware of that are disrupting the service will be dealt with as quickly as possible.

I am a little confused as we have a course - Business and Management which has a code of N201 but is listed under N1 - Business Studies.

The letters and numbers used for the JACS course codes do not always match those used in subject lines. The reason for this is that the system requires a 3-digit number after each letter (N1##) and, due to the quantity of courses available, there simply aren't enough numbers for some of the more popular subjects. We, therefore, use the course information supplied, to allocate the closest JACS number that is still available.

For example, N201, which we presumed would be an N2 course, is actually an N1 course but there were no N1## numbers left. We appreciate this is not ideal.

JACS codes

JACS is the Joint Academic Coding System, developed by UCAS and HESA in partnership, and owned by both organisations. JACS2 was reviewed in 2009/10 and version JACS3 is now in use for courses with entry dates in the 2012 cycle and beyond. It is anticipated that JACS4 will be a radical change from the existing format, and that a review of JACS 3 will begin sometime in 2012.

JACS codes are all constructed in a letter-number-number-number format. JACS consists of a code, a title, and a description of what the code and title relate to.

Example - Due to the above, courses can't be found in the analysis section, why is this?

The courses are assigned to groups by the institutions so they will always show in the group they require. It's often presumed that because the course code is B1234, it will show under group B1 and when they can see it they don't search the other groups. This is usually just a matter of searching through and finding which group the course is in, usually they are combined courses and are in the Y group.

I cannot see some of my previous week's report, why is this?

Certain reports accumulate week on week to build an exact picture. The first reporting week for Application Tracker 2012, will be the last week of September 2011, thereafter data are extracted for the previous week, every Monday morning at 00:05 until Monday 30th July 2012. It is recommended that if institutions want to monitor changes the reports are saved each week.

Can we move courses between groups mid-cycle?

Unfortunately no. As the institution sets the groups at the beginning of the cycle, so they are correct according to the individual who set up. If this is a real issue, we can replicate the subject group using the faculty set up facility, but include only the desired courses. In this case, you will not get the competitor reports but it does give the application numbers and historical data.

Can I change my competitor listing for 2012 Application Tracker?

A simple change to your competitor group can be done on request and will not be charged, however additional work thereafter will be charged if changes are more involved at subject line level.

Some figures don't match!

If you are comparing Tracker data with the situation report there can sometimes be slight variance between the two due to the slightly different times the two systems update each week. If you are finding a difference between Application/applicant numbers between Application Tracker and Decision Tracker, this can be caused by students withdrawing or changing courses, Subscribing to Decision Tracker shows you where these applications/applicants have gone.

Can you provide bespoke or additional reports?

If there is some data or an additional report that you require, we always try and help you to find the data if it's available. There is a charge for any bespoke work undertaken.

Where do I get help and advice on Application Tracker?

When you subscribe to Application Tracker you will be provided with a comprehensive user guide that provides you with information on any changes and instructions on how to log into web-link.

The user guide also gives you an overview of the product content, in addition to showing you how to navigate, analyse and download reports and set up a faculty, so this is always a good starting point. If you can't find the answer to your question in the FAQs or your user guide.

Please contact Suzanne Campbell on 01242 544957 or email s.campbell@ucas.ac.uk