Dear April,

I am writing to acknowledge your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 received by The University of Manchester on 14 September 2023, our reference as per the subject line.

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

Regards
 
Kim
 
Kim Britt l Office Administrator
Directorate of Compliance & Risk
The University of Manchester 
Simon Building
Oxford Road l Manchester M13 9PL
 
My usual working pattern –
On Campus: Wednesday & Thursday
Remote: Monday, Tuesday & Friday
 

show quoted sections

Dear April Tong

Freedom of Information Request reference 023-569

We write further to your email dated 14^th September 2023. Your request
has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI). We
apologise for the delay in responding to your request.

Request

I would like to know every undergraduate programme for ucas cycle 2023(for
entry in 2023 or deferred in 2024: -the programme name -the number of
applications -the number of offers Specially, I also want to know the
China applications and offers for ucas cycle 2023 And also I would like to
know

In 2023 Entry how many A-Level students have submitted grades and how many
A-Level students have received offers?

How many IB students have submitted grades and how many IB students have
received offers ?

How many AP students have submitted grades and how many AP students have
received offers ?

Response

Having reviewed your request we can confirm that we are not able to comply
with this request within the 18 hour timeframe. We will therefore be
applying Section 12 to this request.

Please be advised that this task would take in excess of the 18 hour
‘Appropriate Limit’ (as defined in the Freedom of Information and Data
Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004). As a result,
Section 12 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies and
regrettably this task cannot be undertaken at this stage. This email
serves to act as a refusal notice for this request, as per Section 17 (5)
of the Act. 

We would advise that you resubmit Question 1 next month, we would then be
in a position to provide you with a list of programmes with the total
number of applicants.

Unfortunately for Question 2 we have over 90,000 applicants that will have
completed A Levels over multiple years and also alongside other
qualifications. Therefore it would take us in excess of 18 hours to
provide this information.

We trust you find our response helpful, however, should you wish for our
response to be reviewed, please reply directly to this email, stating your
wish for an internal appeal. 

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Team

Liam Smith | Information Officer | Information Governance Office |
Directorate of Compliance and Risk | Professional Services | G.004 |
Christie Building | The University of Manchester | Oxford Road |
Manchester | M13 9PL | 0161 200 8799 | [1]www.manchester.ac.uk.  Please
contact me on Teams or email as I may not be working in the office to take
your call.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.manchester.ac.uk/

Dear April,

I am writing to acknowledge your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 received by The University of Manchester today (12 December 2023), our new reference as per the subject line.

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

Regards
 
Kim
 
Kim Britt l Office Administrator
Directorate of Compliance & Risk
The University of Manchester 
Simon Building
Oxford Road l Manchester M13 9PL
 
My usual working pattern –
On Campus: Wednesday & Thursday
Remote: Monday, Tuesday & Friday
 

show quoted sections

Dear April,

Thank you for your request for information received by The University of
Manchester on 12 December 2023  regarding undergraduate courses, your
request and our response can be found below:

I would like to know every undergraduate programme for ucas cycle 2023(for
entry in 2023 or deferred in 2024:

• the programme name
• the number of applications
• the number of offers
• Specially, I also want to know the China applications and offers for
ucas cycle 2023

In response to your request, we can provide a list of all programmes/UCAS
codes applied to in the 2023 entry cycle, please see the attached
document.

We can also provide overall figures, which to date, shows the University
of Manchester had 90,732 undergraduate applications overall, with 40,869
offers showing against them. There were 13,875 applications from China
with 6,118 offers showing against them.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide this information broken down at
individual programme level.   This is because it is deemed to be exempt
from disclosure by virtue of the listed exemption at Section 43 (2) of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 – Commercial Interests.

Refusal Notice 

This Refusal Notice has been issued under Section 17 (1) of the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA). Under Section 1 (1) of the FOIA The University of
Manchester confirms that the information requested is held but we are
refusing to provide it in response to your request for the reasons set out
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 are applying Section 43 (2) as a prejudice-based exemption. 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. 

It is the latter of these three points that The University of Manchester
feels is relevant to this request. To determine where the public interest
lies with regard to this exemption, we have previously liaised extensively
with relevant staff in the University regarding requests of this nature,
including the Director of Student Recruitment & International Development,
the Heads of Teaching, Learning and the Student Experience in Faculties as
well as the University’s Head of Student Data, Analysis and Records. 

All felt that releasing information of the type requested at course level
would impact on the University’s competitive advantage and would therefore
prejudice our commercial interests. Providing information on the level of
applications and offers at course level would give a new or existing
competitor key information about our programmes. This could enable them to
either start a new course themselves (by identifying a perceived gap in
the market which could then impact on our numbers of applications, offers
and/or acceptances) or to more aggressively compete with us/poach from us
(as they identify they could be able to gain a bigger share of the market
which could then impact on our numbers of applications, offers and/or
acceptances). Any disclosure under the FOIA is considered as a disclosure
to the world, so whereas it may not be your intention to use the
information in this way, it must be an important factor in our
considerations.  

Public Interest Test 

As Section 43(2) is a qualified exemption we are required to carry out a
public interest test to determine if the commercial interest is overridden
by the public interest from a release of the information concerned. 

Factors in Favour of Disclosure 

There is public interest in disclosing applications and offer data. To do
so would ensure that members of the public can be satisfied that the
University of Manchester is open and transparent. It may also assist
public debate with regard to the issue of student recruitment and offer
making. 

Factors Against Disclosure 

Universities operate in an ever and increasingly competitive environment
and as such, the University would not wish to disclose information that
would be likely to prejudice our commercial interests and our position
within this environment. 

Therefore, we believe that for the reasons outlined above, the balance
lies in maintaining the exemption for the majority of your request at this
time. 

I am sorry that we were unable to assist with all of your request on this
occasion.

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 [1][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 [2]www.ico.org.uk. 

Kind regards,

Catherine

Catherine Duffy| Information Officer | Information Governance Office |
Directorate of Compliance and Risk |Professional Services | G7 Christie
Building | The University of Manchester | Oxford Road | Manchester | M13
9PL| [3]www.manchester.ac.uk

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.ico.org.uk/
3. http://www.manchester.ac.uk/