CUKAS newsletter – October 2014

odbc-link updates reminder

As mentioned in September's newsletter, if you are an odbc-link user there are two updates for you to make to the system:

Enhanced odbc-link connection

As part of our continual service improvement programme, we introduced an enhanced odbc-link instance (ODBCFE1) in summer 2013, with greater capacity and throughput.

If you have not already made the recommended changes to switch to the enhanced ODBCFE1, please ensure you make them by Friday 28 November 2014, as from this date the older odbc-link (ODBCFE) will be removed and decommissioned.

Adding new IP ranges

Additionally you need to add the following IP ranges to the original ranges:

• 54.74.0.0/15 (54.74.0.0 - 54.75.255.255)
• 54.170.0.0/15 (54.170.0.0 - 54.171.255.255)
• 185.48.120.0/22 (185.48.120.0 - 185.48.123.255)

To make the updates, please refer to page 3 of the 

If you have any questions or would like any support, please contact your Technical Relationship Manager:

• Kalvyn Griffiths - London and South East
• Adam Glaudot - Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland
• Tom Gromski - East, Midlands, South West and Wales

Post-incident analysis report - September

As part of our incident management process, we will now provide you with a monthly analysis of any incidents which have occurred in relation to our systems and services. The

• two odbc-link outages
• xml outage

If you have any queries relating to these incidents, please contact the HEP Team on 01242 545 734.

Course Collect user manual

A comprehensive user manual is now available to support you in using the Course Collect tool. The manual is compatible with Release 2.0 of Course Collect and includes information and helpful screenshots on each section of the system.

Easy to access

You can access the user manual whilst logged in to Course Collect, by selecting the red help button displayed above the header tabs at the top of each page. You need to be logged in to the Providers' section of ucas.com to view the user manual.

Additional field help text has also been added throughout Course Collect and can be viewed by clicking on the respective information icons.

The Course Collect manual covers detailed guidance on the following:

• Section 1: Course Collect overview and getting started
• Section 2: Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
• Section 3: Provider profile and venues
• Section 4: Programmes and courses
• Section 5: Vacancies
• Section 6: Entry requirements
• Section 7: Fees and financial support
• Section 8: User accounts and contacts
• Glossary
• Course Collect user manual (complete)

For more information on how to access or use the Course Collect manual contact the Data Collection Team on 01242 544 864 or email coursecollect@ucas.ac.uk.

CUKAS marketing meeting

On 15 September, we held a meeting for marketing staff from CUKAS conservatoires. We explained how UCAS currently communicates with applicants, advisers and parents, and discussed how we can communicate key information on the CUKAS scheme to these audiences in the future.

Read the 

2015 Admissions Conference - call for proposals

We look forward to welcoming colleagues from the higher education sector to the 21st Annual Admissions Conference at Celtic Manor Resort, Newport on Monday 30 March to Wednesday 1 April 2015.

As you are aware, the HE sector is constantly changing environment responding to a complex landscape of government policy and student numbers. To reflect this, the theme of the conference is Managing Admissions in a Changing and Competitive Market.

Our aim for 2015 is to involve HE practitioners in the shaping and delivery of the conference. We would like to offer you the opportunity to submit proposals for one hour breakout session during the conference structured into one of the following formats:

• Learning: A presentation on a project or example of good practice, followed by a short question and answer session.
• Discussion: A session exploring a particular aspect of admissions process that you feel warrants in-depth conversation. This session may involve a short presentation outlining the topic area followed by discussion and capturing any actions to take forward.
• Debate: Work with a colleague in the sector to develop a debate on a key admissions topic. This would involve developing a briefing paper in advance of the session outlining two sides of a particular issue.

Please submit your session proposals by email to Helen Wakefield - h.wakefield@ucas.ac.uk by Friday 14 November 2014. These should include:

• session title
• short summary
• speaker(s) details (name, job title and contact details)
• benefits to the audience

All session proposals will be reviewed by a group of admissions professionals who are working with us to help shape the 2015 conference. The group will consider topic relevance, professional development need and demand.