A free webinar by the  HEDIIP Subject Coding Project on HECoS, the new Higher Education Coding Scheme for subjects to replace JACS will take place on the 23rd April. The webinar is hosted by Jisc, the topic of subject coding aligns with Jisc’s work with the sector on course data and its use in supporting the student experience and business intelligence.
This webinar is part of the consultation around the new coding scheme, and will include a description of why it is being developed, how it differs from JACS3, and how organisations can provide feedback on the work so far. The webinar will be at 11:30 on Thursday 23rd April and will last approximately one hour, the registration URL is https://www.eventsforce.net/jisc/395/home.
About the HEDIIP Subject Coding Project
The Higher Education Data and Information Improvement Programme (HEDIIP) includes a project to consult with stakeholders in UK higher education to develop a new subject coding scheme to replace JACS3. In addition to seeking an approach that is sustainable and better suited to consistent application, one of the aims of the new scheme is to enable Higher Education Providers to streamline the handling of subject classification in regulatory returns to multiple bodies.
The project is progressing in two stages. The final report from Stage 1 of this work, covering requirements and impact analysis, was published in the autumn of 2014. Stage 2 consultation is concerned with draft versions of: the full set of subject terms for classifying programmes and modules, a governance model, and an adoption plan.
The project welcomes feedback from any individual interested in the the subject coding of HE courses. Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies, and similar organisations, are invited to provide formal organisational responses covering all aspects of the published drafts, but the project would like to draw your attention to the subject scheme and the governance model, in particular the recommendations concerning specialist vocabularies.
Access to the consultation drafts, response templates, and support documentation is via the consultation web site: https://subjectcoding.wordpress.com

Phil Barker (HEDIIP project)