Use of contextual offer grades in law admissions - 2015 to 2019

The request was successful.

John Dimitroulopoulos

Dear University of York,

Please provide the following data in relation to all of your undergraduate law courses (i.e. any course with course code M1**) for the following admissions cycles:

2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19

1. Whether the university currently operates a ‘contextual offers’ policy where law applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds are, subject to meeting certain criteria, eligible to be made a lower grade offer than applicants who do not meet such criteria;

2. If such a policy is in place, the A-level or IB grades that typically make up this lower ‘contextual offer’ (for example, AAA instead of A*AA);

3. The number of ‘contextual offers’ made to applicants to all law-related courses throughout these four admissions cycles (for example, 4 in 2015/16, 2 in 2016/17, etc).

Yours faithfully,

John Dimitroulopoulos

Freedom of Information, University of York

Dear John Dimitroulopoulos,
Freedom of Information Request Ref: F19/249
I acknowledge receipt of your email dated 18 July 2019 requesting
information from the University of York.
Please be advised that the University will respond as soon as possible and
in any event by 16 August 2019. 
Yours sincerely, 
--
Information Governance Team
Legal Services 
Corporate and Information Services
University of York
Heslington
York YO10 5DD

 
  
Web: [1]www.york.ac.uk/records-management/
Email disclaimer: [2]http://www.york.ac.uk/docs/disclaimer/em...

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Freedom of Information, University of York

Dear John Dimitroulopoulos,
Freedom of Information Request Ref: F19/249
Thank you for your request for information from the University of York.
Please see our response below.
Please provide the following data in relation to all of your undergraduate
law courses (i.e. any course with course code M1**) for the following
admissions cycles: 
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19

1. Whether the university currently operates a ‘contextual offers’ policy
where law applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds are, subject to
meeting certain criteria, eligible to be made a lower grade offer than
applicants who do not meet such criteria;
The university operates a contextual offer policy where applicants to M100
LLB (Hons) in Law, subject to meeting certain criteria and participating
in one of our Widening Participation schemes (Realising Opportunities or
Next Step York), are eligible to be made a lower grade offer. 
We may also make a lower grade offer to applicants who have provided
additional information regarding their circumstances using the York Access
Scheme. This enables applicants to provide extra information relating to
their social, personal or educational challenges.

2. If such a policy is in place, the A-level or IB grades that typically
make up this lower ‘contextual offer’ (for example, AAA instead of A*AA);

The York Law School will make a variable offer 2 grades below their
typical offer to applicants undertaking the Realising Opportunities or
Next Step York programmes (as long as they are successful at interview).
The York Law School may make a discretionary offer 1 grade below their
typical offer to applicants who have provided additional information
regarding their circumstances using the York Access Scheme.

The typical offer would be:

* AAA or equivalent (A*AB or  A*A*C) from three Advanced Levels

The reduced offer would be:

* ABB in three subjects at Advanced Level in addition to successful
completion of the Realising Opportunities Programme
* ABB in three subjects at Advanced Level plus successful completion of
the Next Step York Academic Assignment
* AAB in three subjects at Advanced Level for the York Access Scheme

3. The number of ‘contextual offers’ made to applicants to all law-related
courses throughout these four admissions cycles (for example, 4 in
2015/16, 2 in 2016/17, etc).  

+-------------------------------------+
| 2015-16 | <5* |
|----------------+--------------------|
| 2016-17 | <5* |
|----------------+--------------------|
| 2017-18 | 8 |
|----------------+--------------------|
| 2018-19 | 6 |
+-------------------------------------+

*Please note, under section 40 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act, 2000
(FoIA), the University declines to release figures which total fewer than
five, as disclosure of small numbers in such specific context could allow
for individuals to be identified. Where this is the case, we have stated
such figures as <5 (i.e. 1-4).

As personal data, disclosure of this information into the public domain
would mean compromising individuals’ personal data and the University
breaching its obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation
and Data Protection Act, 2018. Consequently, the exemption for personal
data under section 40 (2) of the FoIA (by virtue of section 40 (3)) has
been applied. This states that personal data (as defined by section
5(1)(a) of the GDPR are exempt from disclosure where disclosure to the
public would contravene one or more of the data protection principles.

In accordance with the provisions of section 17(4) of the FoIA this email
acts as a Refusal Notice in respect of the information withheld under
section 40(2) above.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be
submitted in writing to the Information Governance Officer
at [1][University of York request email] , detailing your grounds for appeal/complaint. A full
copy of our review procedure can be found
at [2]http://www.york.ac.uk/records-management....

 If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF.

I hope this information is useful. 
Yours sincerely,
--
Information Governance Team
Legal Services 
Corporate and Information Services
University of York
Heslington
York YO10 5DD

 
  
Web: [3]www.york.ac.uk/records-management/
Email disclaimer: [4]http://www.york.ac.uk/docs/disclaimer/em...
On Thu, 18 Jul 2019 at 10:09, Freedom of Information <[5][University of York request email]>
wrote:

Dear John Dimitroulopoulos,
Freedom of Information Request Ref: F19/249
I acknowledge receipt of your email dated 18 July 2019 requesting
information from the University of York.
Please be advised that the University will respond as soon as possible
and in any event by 16 August 2019. 
Yours sincerely, 
--
Information Governance Team
Legal Services 
Corporate and Information Services
University of York
Heslington
York YO10 5DD

 
  
Web: [6]www.york.ac.uk/records-management/
Email disclaimer: [7]http://www.york.ac.uk/docs/disclaimer/em...

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