UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
University Offices, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JD
Ref. FOI/20191223/1
20 January 2020
Reply to request for information under the Freedom of Information Act
Your Ref
Your email of 23 December 2019
Address
WhatDoTheyKnow.com
_
Request
I request the following information from you:
1) Number of Economics and Management applicants from Malaysia in the period of
2016 to 2020. ( please give the number for each course and each colleges
separately)(information for the 2020 cycle could be provided in a follow up response)
2) What were their TSA scores? (section 1/section 2)
3) How many were invited for an interview?
4) What were their interview scores?
5) How many got an admission offer?( please give the number for each course and
each colleges separately)
6) What was the conditions of the offer?
Dear Kenneth Wong,
I write in reply to your email of Monday 23 January, requesting the above information.
Please refer to the attached workbook.
Your request is for detailed individual level data relating to specific colleges and single application cycles. We
consider that disclosure of this information in full/in the form requested might enable those with access to other
information or knowledge (e.g. those associated with individuals who are known to have applied) to identify
individuals and learn new information about those individuals. For this reason, we have taken the following
measures to reduce the risk of individuals being identified:
We have divided up the information between separate tabs and we have sorted each tab
independently of the others so that the rows are not standardised across the tabs;
We have aggregated the data for item 1 for the whole period specified.
We have substituted an asterisk for any numbers smaller than 3, including zero.
We have withheld some individual interview scores where it is possible to identify an individual’s
scores due to the type of interview they had (e.g. because they interviewed at multiple colleges
and/or for specific subjects only). This is shown as an asterisk (*);
We have withheld the conditions of each offer (item 6) due to the low number of offers.
In taking these measures, we are applying the exemption in section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA). Section 40(2) provides an exemption from disclosure for information that is the personal data of
someone other than the requester, where disclosure would breach any of the data protection principles in Article
5 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We consider that disclosure of the information in full/in
the form requested would breach the first data protection principle, which requires that personal data is
processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner. Disclosure would be unfair to the individuals concerned,
as it would be contrary to their reasonable and legitimate expectations. They would not reasonably expect that
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information about their application to Oxford would be made public under the FOIA without their consent. Please
note that a disclosure of information under FOIA is presumed to be a disclosure to the world at large, and not
just to the individual making the request.
For the disclosure of personal data to be lawful, it must have a lawful basis under Article 6 of the GDPR. There
are six possible lawful bases in Article 6; we do not consider that any of them would be satisfied in respect of
the disclosure.
The exemption in section 40(2) is an absolute exemption and is not subject to the public interest test provided
for in section 2(2)(b) of the FOIA. To the extent that the public interest is relevant in this case, the University
consider it is satisfied by the attached information.
There were 3 offers issued to students with a domicile of Malaysia, over the whole period specified, to read
Economics and Management.
INTERNAL REVIEW
If you are dissatisfied with this reply, you may ask the University to review it, by writing to the Head of
Information Compliance at the following address:
University Offices
Wellington Square
Oxford
OX1 2JD
Alternatively, you may request a review by e-mailing
xxx@xxxxx.xx.xx.xx
THE INFORMATION COMMISSIONER
If, after the internal review, you are still dissatisfied, you have the right under FOIA to apply to the Information
Commissioner for a decision as to whether your request has been dealt with in accordance with the FOIA. The
Information Commissioner’s address is:
Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123113
Further information for submitting complaints to the Information Commissioner is available at
http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx
Yours sincerely,
FOI OXFORD
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