Why does UCAS need job title of highest household earner?

[arjybarjy]

I can understand why UCAS might want some broad details about parents' profession and salary, for equalities monitoring, but why do they ask for the exact job title? Many job titles are unique to the individual, so they are very identifying.

I've recommended that my DC chooses "Prefer not to say" or "Don't Know".

No, I'm not.

Feel free to move on if you're not interested, or else just keep bumping the thread.

You're way over thinking this. Just do what everyone else does. Generalise the title like you would for your car insurance/marriage certifiate/anything else. They're not going to check the exact wording of your job title given matches your job description are they

I have a niche title. Am one of 16 people with that job title in the country. So yes it would be outing. But i'd just generalise it. Partly because i dont like being outing, but more because the title doesn't really fit the job for the purposes you're giving it.

It isn't you filling in the form though is it? It's your 17yo.

As I said in a pp, this isn't about me or my family, it's about the principle.

A new to MN/namechanger doesn't get to tell me how or where to post.

You are being ridiculous.

But crack on. Let your son fill in his UCAS form incorrectly. The school will be helping him with it anyway. And they will advise him on what to put and how not to lie or fudge the truth on something that's so important for his future.

I agree. I’m annoyed by the things people think they should know for no obvious reason.

It's not incorrect to select "Prefer not to say".

I agree that obfuscating the job title (as others suggested) would be a fudge, and a technical breach of the declaration that the form contains accurate and complete data.

https://www.ucas.com/about-us/policies/privacy-policies-and-declarations/ucas-privacy-policy

There you go.
Saved you 0.6 seconds on Google @arjybarjy

UCAS is signed up for the highest level of GDPR protocols.

There's an email address you can contact if you want to carry on being Disgruntled of Tunbridge Wells.

Beat you to it. I've already asked them the question, so will let you know what they say.

Wowsers, quite rude! The OP was very polite in asking the question but people really have piled it on here.
Seems to be the general way on MN nowadays sadly.

Yet you ask a group of randoms on the internet.
Okaaaaay.

You're really not that special op, nobody at UCAS cares about you, or your 'outing' job description.

Generally, you will be asked for job title for two reasons:

1. People frequently code their job to incorrect categories if categories are provided to them.
2. Occupational classification frameworks develop and evolve, becoming more detailed and more exact as more machine learning is built into them. Having a job title extends the usage value of the data as historically provided job titles can be coded into newly developed, more detailed or more focussed frameworks, while precoded category data is essentially dead as nothing more can be done with the data. People who want to use, e.g., top level 6 or 8 category data can convert the job title data into the 6 or 8 categories, but you can't go the other way and convert the category data into job titles to then use in a different, newer or more detailed classification.

The primary use of the data collected by UCAS is for widening participation planning and monitoring. It can also be used to look at intergenerational social mobility and in understanding the added value of HE.

The raw job title data is rarely, if ever, looked at or used in any analysis of the data because it's basically unusable in that form. It is coded by computer programme into whichever classification frameworks whoever is doing the analysis finds most useful, most commonly to generate SEC, SOC and derived social class variables at extended and aggregate levels.

The circumstances in which data (whether raw or processed) is shared with third parties, including the limited circumstances where personally identifying data may be shared and processed is described in the UCAS privacy statement. Its collection by UCAS is supposed to be being phased out anyway.

Not sure if someone else has asked this, but why does it matter if a potential university can identify your DH from his job title?Student Finance England wanted a lot more information than that from us. Is your question about him not being asked for his consent?

What have I just read? This is a non issue.

I have a unique job title! I completely understand your question OP and it's good and useful to have this conversation. Not sure why you're getting a hard time, appropriate sharing of data is an important issue even if the final decision is that it's not a big deal in this particular instance... it's the discussion that is significant.

What's an SF form?

SF = Student Finance

Oh OP this is just the start. If you do student loan and he’s ever off PAYE for a period and living with you - you will also be asked to disclose all your bank account records to prove you are supporting him. It’s wild. My mother refused that as well but they constantly threatened you with the stick of emergency interest rates.

I can’t imagine being this paranoid. In admissions we don’t look you up on Linkedin and tell our family who we had applications from.
Data is secure, used only as intended and not at risk. Get a bloody big grip.

Your job title does not need to be identifying. Just put the profession. So if you were head of mechanical processing, you just put engineer/manager.
It doesn't have to say what sector or the name of your employer. But I'd say to refuse it is unnecessarily unhelpful.

Is anyone else imagining these incredibly outing job titles to be along the lines of so-called unique baby names, eg, Lybraryan, Fynanz Direktor?

@HappyCompromise How on earth do your bank statements prove you are supporting your DC?
My DS has lived back at home since just before he finished his Masters. Thankfully he's always had a job since he graduated but if he were to be unemployed for a while I can't think how I could prove how I was supporting him from my bank statements. He'd be living off his own savings! Food and other bills would remain as now!

The difference is that I would be disclosing my own personal data, with consent.

On the UCAS form, 17yo's are consenting to disclose their own personal data (fine) but then being asked to enter their parent's personal data (not fine, unless the privacy agreement states that they should get consent for this, which it doesn't do).

Half way down page 1 I have decided that everytime I can freestyle my job title it will always be "Head of Jaffa Cake Development"

Something with which the OP - thankfully for all concerned- will never have to concern themselves, assuming that the unique, totally personally identifying job titles don't come with a joint household income of less than about £63 000 pa. There is no point in filling them in if you have already calculated from the gov.uk site that Junior will only be eligible for the minimum maintenance loan anyway.