Qualification subject (QualificationSubject)

Each Qualification subject (QualificationSubject) is uniquely identified by:

• Qualification identifier (QUALID)
• Qualification subject (QUALSUBJECT)

This entity records the subject(s) of the qualification with associated proportions. The entity is returned once per subject.

The qualification subject(s) must represent directly, or relate very closely to, the wording on the qualification's official certificate of award.

Up to five subjects can be returned however more than three qualification subjects would generally be considered as exceptional.

Please see the HECoS implementation guide for more guidance on the allocation of subjects

If the subject(s) of a given Qualification change in any of the following ways, a new Qualification would be required to be returned:

• The majority subject changes


• A new subject is introduced with a QualificationSubject.QUALPROPORTION of more than 5%


• A subject with a QualificationSubject.QUALPROPORTION of more than 5% is removed


• The proportions of the subjects within a qualification change by more than 5%.

If the subjects change within these parameters, a new Qualification is not required and the QualificationSubject(s) are updated to record the new subject(s).

For example, a Qualification has two subjects of History and Politics with proportions of 25% and 75% respectively:

• The proportions change to be 30% History and 70% Politics: a new Qualification is not required as the proportion change is 5% or less.


• The proportions change to 60% History and 40% Politics: a new Qualification is required as the proportions have changed by more than 5% and there is a new majority subject.


• The subjects change to be History (20%), Politics (60%) and Sociology (20%): a new Qualification is required as a new subject has been introduced with a proportion of more than 5%.