A100 Medicine UCL

The request was successful.

Dear University College London,

According to the Freedom of Information Act, I am requesting a
spreadsheet on undergraduate admissions statistics to the A100
Medicine course at UCL Medical School from the admission cycles for 2016 and 2017 entry i.e, the most recent statistics.

I would like the spreadsheet to include:

1) For each applicant interviewed (anonymized) I would like to know
what International Baccalaureate results and their BMAT scores
(divided between Section 1, Section 2, and Section 3) I would like
the same for those who were not interviewed.

2) The information of candidates with their A level predicted grades and
BMAT scores to be split into successful and unsuccessful.

3) The information of candidates with their GCSE grades (number of A*s) to be split into successful and unsuccessful with the BMAT scores divided between section 1, 2 and 3.

4) If any scoring system is used to grade applicants to be invited
to interview, then I would kindly request this to be made available
to me as well (for 2016 and 2017 entry).

5) The number of applicants, the number of candidates successful for interview and the number of offers for 2017 entry.

Yours faithfully,

Simon Andrews

Finance.FOI Requests, University College London

Thank you for your message.
If you have submitted a Freedom of Information request please accept this
email as acknowledgement that your request has been received. You should
expect a response from us within 20 working days.
Data Protection & FOI
Legal Services
UCL

Finance.FOI Requests, University College London

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Andrews,

 

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. Where this information is held and is not
exempt, it is given below directly beneath each limb of your request.

 

According to the Freedom of Information Act, I am requesting a spreadsheet
on undergraduate admissions statistics to the A100 Medicine course at UCL
Medical School from the admission cycles for 2016 and 2017 entry i.e, the
most recent statistics.

 

I would like the spreadsheet to include:

 

Q1) For each applicant interviewed (anonymized) I would like to know what
International Baccalaureate results and their BMAT scores (divided between
Section 1, Section 2, and Section 3) I would like the same for those who
were not interviewed.

 

Q2) The information of candidates with their A level predicted grades and
BMAT scores to be split into successful and unsuccessful.

 

Q3) The information of candidates with their GCSE grades (number of A*s)
to be split into successful and unsuccessful with the BMAT scores divided
between section 1, 2 and 3.

 

A1-3) Some of the requested information 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 [1]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.

 

Although there are no identifiable details within the data being
disclosed, that data may be used by ‘motivated intruders’ and other
knowledgeable third parties to identify individual applicants as part of a
jigsaw-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.

 

It is for these reasons that this information is exempt under section
40(2) of the Act.

 

Rather than listing applicants individually, which could make them
identifiable, we could however, provide aggregated figures for questions 1
to 3 split between those who were invited to interview and those who were
not invited to interview for the two years covered.

 

Please note that we can only report on those who were invited to interview
as we do not record whether the applicant attended the interview

 

Let me know if I can assist you further with this.

 

Q4) If any scoring system is used to grade applicants to be invited to
interview, then I would kindly request this to be made available to me as
well (for 2016 and 2017 entry).

 

A4) All applicants invited to interview are assessed on the criteria
listed on the attachment titled ‘select_2017.pdf’ under the section
‘Assessment at Interview’. Also attached is ‘ScoreCardTemplate 2017.pdf’
which, the interviewers use to record interview performance.

 

Q5) The number of applicants, the number of candidates successful for
interview and the number of offers for 2017 entry.

 

A5) Please see below for the figures for question 5:

 

Applications
– 2,348
Invited for
Interview –
689
Offers Made
– 554

 

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
[2][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

[3]www.ico.org.uk

[4][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: [5][email address] Data Protection: [6][email address]
FOI: [7][UCL request email].

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

 

References

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Dear Finance.FOI Requests,

Thank you for your response.

For questions 1-3, please could you provide aggregated figures for candidates selected and not selected for interview.

Additionally, for 2018 entry, are GCSE grades used for selection for interview?

Yours sincerely,

Simon Andrews

Finance.FOI Requests, University College London

Thank you for your message.
If you have submitted a Freedom of Information request please accept this
email as acknowledgement that your request has been received. You should
expect a response from us within 20 working days.
Data Protection & FOI
Legal Services
UCL

Finance.FOI Requests, University College London

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Andrews,

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

Please find attached the aggregated data for questions 1 - 3 for candidates that were selected and not selected for interview.

Please also find attached the aggregated data for the BMAT scores. Please note that the Medical School cannot extract A Level or IB predictions alongside the BMAT scores as their scoring system does not hold this information. We are therefore not able to match the BMAT scores for those that were interviewed and those that were not interviewed to a specific qualification.

We do not use GCSE grades in the selection process other than to ensure that they meet our minimum entry requirements.

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
[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: [email address] Data Protection: [email address] FOI: [UCL request email].
Telephone: +44 (0)203 108 7862 (internal 57862)

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