% of overseas schools taking international A level in various subjects

The request was refused by University of Cambridge.

Dear University of Cambridge,

Could you please tell me the most recent information for the %, or numbers, taking International A level in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics in the following categories
overseas schools
schools outside europe
schools in Asia

Yours faithfully,

J Pattison

FOI Requests,

Dear J Pattison

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

You have requested entry data for the following Cambridge International AS
& A Level subjects: Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics.

 

Could you confirm whether you are asking for the number of entries for the
full A Level (so AS & A Level components) or just the A Level components?

 

Could you also confirm the below information for each of these categories:

 

1. Overseas schools – what you mean by overseas schools? We work in over
160 different countries across the world

2. Schools outside Europe – when you refer to outside Europe, could you be
clear which list of countries in Europe you are referring to so that we
can exclude them

3. Schools in Asia – could you confirm which list of countries in Asia you
are expecting us to provide data for

 

Kind regards

 

Freedom of Information Team

 

Cambridge Assessment International Education

The Triangle Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge, CB2 8EA

[1]www.cambridgeinternational.org

 

Cambridge Assessment International Education prepares school students for
life, helping them develop an informed curiosity and a lasting passion for
learning. We are part of the University of Cambridge.

 

Any dissemination or copying of this email or attachments is strictly
prohibited unless you are the intended recipient or are responsible for
delivering the message to the intended recipient. If you have received
this email in error, please let us know and then delete the original
emails and any attachments. Emails are not secure and therefore
[2]Cambridge Assessment and OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations is
a company limited by guarantee, registered in England. Registered office:
The Triangle Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge, CB2 8EA. Company
number: 3484466 and an exempt charity) do not accept legal responsibility
for the contents of this message. Any views or opinions presented are
solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of
Cambridge Assessment or OCR unless specifically stated. The information
contained in this email may be subject to public disclosure under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 and unless legally exempt from disclosure,
the confidentiality of this email and your reply cannot be guaranteed.

References

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1. http://www.cambridgeinternational.org/
2. http://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/ab...

Dear University of Cambridge,

You asked me to clarify my request. Please see my response below.

You have requested entry data for the following Cambridge International AS
& A Level subjects: Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics.

Could you confirm whether you are asking for the number of entries for the
full A Level (so AS & A Level components) or just the A Level components?
As my request clearly stated, both.

Could you also confirm the below information for each of these categories:

1. Overseas schools – what you mean by overseas schools? We work in over
160 different countries across the world
As with the dictionary definition of overseas I mean any country that is not the country in which Cambridge is i.e. Non UK

2. Schools outside Europe – when you refer to outside Europe, could you be
clear which list of countries in Europe you are referring to so that we
can exclude them
Europe, as in the continent of Europe. Feel free to use any geographical definition of Europe you wish.

3. Schools in Asia – could you confirm which list of countries in Asia you
are expecting us to provide data for
Asia, as in the continent of Asia. Feel free to use any geographical definition of Asia you wish.

Yours faithfully,

J Pattison

FOI Requests,

1 Attachment

Dear J Pattison

 

Please find attached a response to your Freedom of Information request.

 

Kind regards

 

Freedom of Information Team

 

Cambridge Assessment International Education

The Triangle Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge, CB2 8EA

[1]www.cambridgeinternational.org

 

Cambridge Assessment International Education prepares school students for
life, helping them develop an informed curiosity and a lasting passion for
learning. We are part of the University of Cambridge.

 

Any dissemination or copying of this email or attachments is strictly
prohibited unless you are the intended recipient or are responsible for
delivering the message to the intended recipient. If you have received
this email in error, please let us know and then delete the original
emails and any attachments. Emails are not secure and therefore
[2]Cambridge Assessment and OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations is
a company limited by guarantee, registered in England. Registered office:
The Triangle Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge, CB2 8EA. Company
number: 3484466 and an exempt charity) do not accept legal responsibility
for the contents of this message. Any views or opinions presented are
solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of
Cambridge Assessment or OCR unless specifically stated. The information
contained in this email may be subject to public disclosure under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 and unless legally exempt from disclosure,
the confidentiality of this email and your reply cannot be guaranteed.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.cambridgeinternational.org/
2. http://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/ab...

Dear FOI Requests,

Thank you very much for the information.
Could you also tell me the numbers the same subjects for UK schools and the numbers specifically for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong (if denoted separately from China), Singapore and Malaysia?

Yours sincerely,

J Pattison

FOI Requests,

1 Attachment

Dear J Pattison

 

Please find attached a response to your Freedom of Information request.

 

Kind regards

 

Freedom of Information Team

 

Cambridge Assessment International Education

The Triangle Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge, CB2 8EA

[1]www.cambridgeinternational.org

 

Cambridge Assessment International Education prepares school students for
life, helping them develop an informed curiosity and a lasting passion for
learning. We are part of the University of Cambridge.

 

From: Pattison [mailto:[FOI #561029 email]]
Sent: 07 May 2019 20:51
To: FOI Requests
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - % of overseas schools taking
international A level in various subjects

 

Dear FOI Requests,

Thank you very much for the information.
Could you also tell me the numbers the same subjects for UK schools and
the numbers specifically for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong (if denoted
separately from China), Singapore and Malaysia?

Yours sincerely,

J Pattison

show quoted sections

Dear University of Cambridge,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of University of Cambridge's handling of my FOI request '% of overseas schools taking international A level in various subjects'.

You Stated "Providing this data could therefore give our competitors an insight into our performance and strategy in the named countries, therefore providing them with an advantage."
Your refusal is incorrect because I am asking for what %, not strategies. I didnt even ask you to name countries, just regions.
You do not need to give strategies just what % of students are UK, Europe and Asian.
That gives no one a commercial advantage (especially as I was under impression you were a non profit organisation.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/o...

Yours faithfully,

J Pattison

John Harris,

Dear J Pattison

 

Your request for an internal review has been passed to me and I will
respond to you within 20 working days of our receipt of the request.
Thanks.

 

Regards,

 

John Harris

Corporate Affairs Manager

Group Chief Executive's Office

 

Cambridge Assessment

Direct +44 (0)1223 553419

Address The Triangle Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge, CB2 8EA

Web [1]www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk

 

Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate, a department of the University of Cambridge.
Cambridge Assessment is a not-for-profit organisation.

 

 

Any dissemination or copying of this email or attachments is strictly
prohibited unless you are the intended recipient or are responsible for
delivering the message to the intended recipient. If you have received
this email in error, please let us know and then delete the original
emails and any attachments. Emails are not secure and therefore
[2]Cambridge Assessment and OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations is
a company limited by guarantee, registered in England. Registered office:
The Triangle Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge, CB2 8EA. Company
number: 3484466 and an exempt charity) do not accept legal responsibility
for the contents of this message. Any views or opinions presented are
solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of
Cambridge Assessment or OCR unless specifically stated. The information
contained in this email may be subject to public disclosure under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 and unless legally exempt from disclosure,
the confidentiality of this email and your reply cannot be guaranteed.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/
2. http://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/ab...

John Harris,

Dear J Pattison

 

I am now writing with the outcome of my internal review.

 

First of all I just want to clarify that we dealt with your original
request and that your request for an internal review relates to our
response of 13 May to your follow-up request of 7 May in which you asked
for data on entry numbers for four subjects in several specific countries.

 

While you are correct in your statement that we are a not-for-profit
organisation this does not detract from the fact that we have to compete
with various national, regional and international organisations to get
people to take our qualifications. What this means, therefore, is that any
information that could be used by our competitors to their advantage and
to our detriment is information that we are concerned about protecting.
While we were willing to provide you with data on entries on a broad
regional basis in response to your original request, if we published
information on entry numbers for specific countries that would enable our
competitors to have much more detailed information which they could use to
inform  their sales and marketing strategies to compete with us more
effectively in those countries. And, since we have already provided you
with actual entry numbers per region, if we were to give you a percentage
breakdown for the specific countries it would be very easy for anyone to
use this data to calculate actual entry numbers for those countries so we
are not prepared to provide a percentage breakdown either.

 

I believe colleagues were right therefore to claim the section 43
exemption in relation to your request of 7 May and I also agree with their
conclusions arising from the public interest test. We feel that learners
benefit from competition and from having the opportunity to choose from
different suppliers. If we undermine our own position by publishing
commercially sensitive information that could provide a potential
advantage to our competitors then I do not feel that the wider public
interest is being served. Conversely I cannot see what benefit there would
be to the wider public in the release of entry numbers for our
qualifications in specific countries.

 

If you are unhappy with this response, or the way that your complaint has
been handled, you have the right to appeal to the Information
Commissioner’s Office. You can find further information about how to do so
here - [1]https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/offici...

 

Regards,

 

John Harris

Corporate Affairs Manager

Group Chief Executive's Office

 

Cambridge Assessment

Direct +44 (0)1223 553419

Address The Triangle Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge, CB2 8EA

Web [2]www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk

 

Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge
Local Examinations Syndicate, a department of the University of Cambridge.
Cambridge Assessment is a not-for-profit organisation.

 

 

 

Any dissemination or copying of this email or attachments is strictly
prohibited unless you are the intended recipient or are responsible for
delivering the message to the intended recipient. If you have received
this email in error, please let us know and then delete the original
emails and any attachments. Emails are not secure and therefore
[3]Cambridge Assessment and OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations is
a company limited by guarantee, registered in England. Registered office:
The Triangle Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge, CB2 8EA. Company
number: 3484466 and an exempt charity) do not accept legal responsibility
for the contents of this message. Any views or opinions presented are
solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of
Cambridge Assessment or OCR unless specifically stated. The information
contained in this email may be subject to public disclosure under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 and unless legally exempt from disclosure,
the confidentiality of this email and your reply cannot be guaranteed.

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/offici...
2. http://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/
3. http://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/ab...