Medicine a106

The request was partially successful.

Dear University of Manchester,

Please could you tell me the the number of applicants who applied for the a106 course for 2019, 18 & 17 entry, the number of interviews given, and number of offers.
Could you also tell me on A Level results day for the last 3 years, how many candidates missed the grade offered by one or two and were still offered a place

Yours faithfully,

Steven Dempsey

MTRS FOIA, University of Manchester

Dear Steven,

I am writing to acknowledge your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 received by The University of Manchester today, our reference as per the subject line.

The University will respond to your request within 20 working days.

Kind regards

Sharon

Sharon Glen | Information Officer | Information Governance Office | Directorate of Compliance and Risk |Professional Services | G7 Christie Building | The University of Manchester | Oxford Road | Manchester | M13 9PL | Tel +44(0) 161 306 7549| www.manchester.ac.uk

We are all responsible for protecting personal data held by the University, including who we share that data with. Stop and think before you send your email.  For further guidance see: www.dataprotection.manchester.ac.uk

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MTRS FOIA, University of Manchester

1 Attachment

Dear Steven,

 

Thank you for your request for information received by The University of
Manchester on 20 September 2019 which was as follows (numbered for ease):

 

1.       Please could you tell me the number of applicants who applied for
the a106 course for 2019, 18 & 17 entry, the number of interviews given,
and number of offers.

2.       Could you also tell me on A Level results day for the last 3
years, how many candidates missed the grade offered by one or two and were
still offered a place.

 

The University has now considered your request and our response can be
found below.

 

1.       This information is deemed to be exempt from disclosure by virtue
of the listed exemption at Section 21 (1) of the FOIA – Information
reasonably accessible by other means. This is because this information is
published on our website at
[1]https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/study/m....

 

2.        This information is deemed to be exempt from disclosure by
virtue of the listed exemption at Section 43 (2) of the FOIA – Commercial
Interests. This is a prejudice based exemption and as such we are required
to conduct a public interest test when applying it. Further details of
this can be found below.

 

Section 43 (2) – Commercial Interests

 

Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would,
or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person
(including the public authority holding it).

 

We may rely on this exemption if the disclosure would prejudice someone’s
commercial interests (including the University’s own).  Commercial
interests may be prejudiced where a disclosure would be likely to:

 

·         Damage its business reputation or the confidence that customers,
suppliers or investors may have in it

·         Have a detrimental impact on its commercial revenue or threaten
its ability to obtain supplies or secure finance

·         Weaken its position in a competitive environment by revealing
market sensitive information or information of potential usefulness to its
competitors

 

Public Interest Test

 

Factors in Favour of Disclosure

 

Disclosing the requested data would ensure that members of the public
could be satisfied that the University of Manchester applies the highest
standards during its admissions process. In so doing, this would give the
public confidence in the medical professionals of the future.

 

Factors Against Disclosure

 

Medical schools are increasingly in competition with each other in the
selection of the best possible candidates. If the level of data requested
were to be made publicly available we would be placed at a significant
commercial disadvantage, as our ability to attract the highest calibre of
students would be likely to be prejudiced.

 

The University of Manchester has carefully considered the balance of
public interest in this instance and has concluded that whilst there is a
public interest in the University being as transparent as possible, we
feel that the ability of The University of Manchester to be able to
compete effectively to attract the best students outweighs this.

 

I can however provide the following advice in relation to admissions. All
Medical Schools are subject to a HEFCE cap on total student numbers and
therefore we make decisions on or around results day to accept or reject
students with a grade profile that differs from their offer in order to
manage the intake numbers in respect of target. Each year a minority of
applicants are admitted with slightly lower grades or, in some cases, with
a tariff equivalent (for example, A*A*B instead of AAA). The decision on
taking students with dropped grades is made on academic grounds, following
a holistic review of the application by the Academic Lead for Admissions
and/or members of the admissions team. Although UCAT and Interview scores
are an important element of this review process we do not assign specific
weightings to them.

 

This email serves to act as a refusal notice for this request, as per
Section 17 (1) of the FOIA.

 

If you feel that The University of Manchester has refused access to
information to which you are entitled, or has not dealt with your request
appropriately under the FOIA, you have a right of appeal.

 

An appeal in the first instance should be directed to the Information
Governance Office at [2][email address]. You should include: 

·         details of your initial request

·         any other relevant information

 

You must make this appeal within 40 working days from receipt of your
response. We will not accept appeals received after this date, as per the
Freedom of Information Code of Practice, Section 5.3.

 

The University will deal with your appeal within a reasonable time, and
will inform you of the projected time scale on receipt of your complaint.
You are also welcome to contact the Information Governance Office with
informal questions about the handling of your request. 

 

After The University’s internal appeals procedure has been exhausted, you
have a further right of appeal to the Information Commissioner’s
Office. Details of this procedure can be found at [3]www.ico.org.uk.

 

Kind regards

 

Sharon

 

Sharon Glen | Information Officer | Information Governance Office |
Directorate of Compliance and Risk |Professional Services | G7 Christie
Building | The University of Manchester | Oxford Road | Manchester | M13
9PL | Tel +44(0) 161 306 7549| [4]www.manchester.ac.uk

[5]data_matters_logo2-(3)

We are all responsible for protecting personal data held by the
University, including who we share that data with. Stop and think before
you send your email.  For further guidance see:
[6]www.dataprotection.manchester.ac.uk

 

Confidentiality and Legal Privilege: The contents of this email and its
attachment(s) are confidential to the intended recipient and may be
legally privileged. It may not be disclosed, copied, forwarded, used or
relied upon by any person other than the intended addressee. If you
believe that you have received the email and its attachment(s) in error,
you must not take any action based on them, nor must you copy or show them
to anyone. Please respond to the sender and delete this email and its
attachment(s) from your system.

 

References

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