Compuware respond to UCAS website crash
With thousands of A-level students checking to see if they have got the grades to get into university before the fees go up, it is a frustrating time for the UCAS Track website to be taken offline due to too many people trying to get on.
Michael Allen, director of application performance management solutions at Compuware, responds to the UCAS statement about the website being shut down due to quadruple the number of views from last year.
He said: “In this day and age, there’s no reason why increased traffic should cause a website to crash. For it to happen to UCAS on results day is inexcusable and has added more stress to what is already a tough day for prospective University students.
“Every year, we know students will be rushing to the website on A-Level results day and UCAS should be in a great position in that it knows exactly how many students have applied for University and should therefore be in a good position to predict website traffic. The site should therefore have been checked in advance of today’s influx to ensure it could withstand the expected numbers.
“There are numerous tests that can be done to ensure a website can handle the pressure. Testing in advance will flag up any problems so steps can be taken to ensure things run smoothly when the traffic hits. For any organisation running a website likely to come under sudden pressure, this kind of forward thinking is vital and it would have made the difference today.”