L100 BSc Economics Information

The request was successful.

Dear University College London,

Firstly, I would like to request 'Learning Outcomes' or 'Structured Learning Objectives' given to Economics students in all 3 years. This may be limited to a handbook or may be documents which detail what students who take the Economics Course will study within each module. Where applicable both are requested. To clarify, I am looking for a list of what students studying economics will learn over the 3 year course.

Secondly, I would like to request all undergraduate economics papers sat by students in the academic year 2015-16, and, if possible, the corresponding examiners' reports.

Thirdly, I would like to request the following information about all successful applicants who received an offer to study Economics at UCL in 2016 and 2017.

For each successful applicant:
1. The A-Level subjects the applicant took
2. The A-Level grade attained by the applicant in each of their A Levels
2. The GCSE grades of the applicant

For all applicants:
1. A list of the most studied subjects at A Level of the successful applicants
2. The average number of A*s at A-Level of the successful applicants
3. The average number of A*s at GCSE of the successful applicants

Yours faithfully,

Angelo

Finance.FOI Requests, University College London

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Data Protection & FOI
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Finance.FOI Requests, University College London

5 Attachments

Dear Angelo,

 

We have completed the compilation of information in response to your
request.

 

We can confirm that we do hold the information of the description
specified in your request and where this information is not exempt it is
given below and attached.

 

Q) Firstly, I would like to request 'Learning Outcomes' or 'Structured
Learning Objectives' given to Economics students in all 3 years. This may
be limited to a handbook or may be documents which detail what students
who take the Economics Course will study within each module. Where
applicable both are requested. To clarify, I am looking for a list of what
students studying economics will learn over the 3 year course.

 

A) With regard to ‘Learning Outcomes’, I attach a list of the course
summary, description and aims / objectives (where applicable) for each
module that was taken in the 2015-16 academic year.

 

Please note that ECON2002 and ECON2003 are courses set up for affiliates
who are here for only Term 1 or 2. ECON2003 [1]Intermediate
Microeconomics: Microeconomics of the Firm Household is the material from
Term 1 of ECON2001.  ECON2002 Intermediate Microeconomics: Microeconomics
of the Household is the material from Term 2 of ECON2001 Microeconomics. 

 

Q) Secondly, I would like to request all undergraduate economics papers
sat by students in the academic year 2015-16, and, if possible, the
corresponding examiners' reports.

 

A) This information is exempt from disclosure due to Section 21, which
states:

 

“(1)Information which is reasonably accessible to the applicant otherwise
than under section 1 is exempt information.”

 

All past exam papers can be accessed on the UCL Library website at:
[2]http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/digital-col...
please enter “Economics” into the search facility. 

 

Please find attached the External Examiners’ reports for the 2015/16
academic year.

 

As you will see some information contained within the attached documents
has been withheld. This information is personal data, specifically the
names and contact details of some University employees and third parties. 

This information has been withheld under section 40(2) of the FOIA by
virtue of s40 (3)(a)(i). 
 
Section 40(2) of the FOIA allows a public authority to withhold
information from a response to a request under the FOIA when the
information requested is personal data relating to someone other than the
requestor, and its disclosure would breach any of the Data Protection
principles.
 
In this case we believe that the disclosure of the names and contact
details of these individuals would not be within their reasonable
expectations and as such would be unfair and in breach of the first data
protection principle which requires personal data to be processed fairly
and lawfully.

 

Q) Thirdly, I would like to request the following information about all
successful applicants who received an offer to study Economics at UCL in
2016 and 2017.

 

For each successful applicant:

 

1.    The A-Level subjects the applicant took 2. The A-Level grade
attained by the applicant in each of their A Levels 2. The GCSE grades of
the applicant

A) In this case the information you have requested is exempt from
disclosure as the exemption at Section 40(2) applies. Section 40(2)
states:

“Any information to which a request for information relates is also exempt
information if—

(a)it constitutes personal data which do not fall within subsection (1),
and

(b)either the first or the second condition below is satisfied

The first condition is—

(a)in a case where the information falls within any of paragraphs (a) to
(d) of the definition of “data” in section 1(1) of the M1Data Protection
Act 1998, that the disclosure of the information to a member of the public
otherwise than under this Act would contravene—

(i)any of the data protection principles,

(ii)section 10 of that Act (right to prevent processing likely to cause
damage or distress)”

Section 40 exempts personal information about a ‘third party’ (someone
other than the requester), if revealing it would breach the principles of
the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998. The DPA prevents personal information
from disclosure if it would be unfair or at odds with the reason why it
was collected, or where the subject had officially served notice that
releasing it would cause them damage or distress. It is the First Data
Protection Principle concerned with the fair and lawful processing of
personal data which is of issue in this instance.

The data you have requested may be used by ‘motivated intruders’ and other
knowledgeable third parties to identify the grades achieved by particular
students as part of a jigsaw or mosaic effect. This is where strands of
data available to an individual can be put together to create personal
data not in the public domain. There would be no expectation that this
type of information would be disclosed to the wider public and it would be
considered unfair to do so.

If it was useful to you we could provide some aggregated statistics
relating to the Economics programme intake. This would not involve
personal data. Please let me know if I could assist you further with this.

Q) For all applicants:

 

1. A list of the most studied subjects at A Level of the successful
applicants 2. The average number of A*s at A-Level of the successful
applicants 3. The average number of A*s at GCSE of the successful
applicants

 

A)

 

Subject 2016 2017
Maths 612 833
Economics 528 235
Further
Maths 336 473
Chemistry 157 64
Physics 185 145
History 40 23
Chinese 19 46
Average
number of
A*s at
A-Level 2.0 2.0
Average
number of
A*s at
GCSE 6.3 5.8

 

You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including
for non-commercial research purposes. The information may also be used for
the purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for
example by publishing or issuing copies to the public, will require the
permission of the copyright owner.

 

If you are unhappy with our response to your request and wish to make a
complaint or request a review of our decision, please email
[email address]. Emails should include the words ‘Internal Review’
in the subject and be marked For the Attention of the Vice Provost
Operations, alternatively you should write to:

 

Vice Provost Operations

University College London

1-19 Torrington Place

London WC1E 7HB

 

Please note, complaints and requests for internal review received more
than two months after the initial decision will not be handled.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you may
apply directly to the Information Commissioner at the address given
below.  You should do this within two months of our final decision.

 

If you have any queries or concerns, please contact me using the details
provided in this letter and including the request reference number.

 

Further information on the Freedom of Information Act is available from
the Information Commissioner’s Office:

 

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

SK9 5AF

 

01625 545700

www.ico.org.uk

[3][email address]

 

Kind regards,

 

Mehwish Sultan

Data Protection and Freedom of Information Adviser

Legal Services, Finance and Business Affairs

Internal address: 6th Floor, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7HB

E: [4][email address] Data Protection: [5][email address]
FOI: [6][UCL request email].

Telephone: +44 (0)203 108 7862 (internal 57862)

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/economics/study/un...
2. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/digital-col...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[email address]
5. mailto:[email address]
6. mailto:[UCL request email]

Dear Finance.FOI Requests,

I am unhappy with response given with regards to the following question:

Q) Secondly, I would like to request all undergraduate economics papers
sat by students in the academic year 2015-16, and, if possible, the
corresponding examiners' reports.

I have tried following the link which you have provided however it does not seem to work. I would be grateful if you could attach the past papers or provide an alternative link.

Yours sincerely,

Angelo

Finance.FOI Requests, University College London

12 Attachments

Dear Angelo,

Thank you for your below e-mail.

Please find attached the past examination papers.

Please note that I'll provide these to you in three e-mail batches because of the number of attachments.

Kind regards,

Mehwish Sultan
Data Protection and Freedom of Information Adviser
Legal Services, Finance and Business Affairs
Internal address: 6th Floor, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7HB
E: [email address] Data Protection: [email address] FOI: [UCL request email].
Telephone: +44 (0)203 108 7862 (internal 57862)

show quoted sections

Finance.FOI Requests, University College London

12 Attachments

Mehwish Sultan
Data Protection and Freedom of Information Adviser
Legal Services, Finance and Business Affairs
Internal address: 6th Floor, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7HB
E: [email address] Data Protection: [email address] FOI: [UCL request email].
Telephone: +44 (0)203 108 7862 (internal 57862)

show quoted sections

Finance.FOI Requests, University College London

10 Attachments

Mehwish Sultan
Data Protection and Freedom of Information Adviser
Legal Services, Finance and Business Affairs
Internal address: 6th Floor, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7HB
E: [email address] Data Protection: [email address] FOI: [UCL request email].
Telephone: +44 (0)203 108 7862 (internal 57862)

show quoted sections