2024/25 Undergraduate & Postgraduate Admission Statistics

Dear Yifan,

I am writing to acknowledge your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 received by The University of Manchester on 27 May 2025, 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
 
 

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Dear Yifan Bao,

Thank you for your request for information received by The University of
Manchester on 27 May 2022 which was as follows:

I would be very grateful if you can kindly provide the following data
(hopefully & ideally in .xlsx sheet format) for 2024/25 admission cycles
(i.e. Sept/Oct 2024 intake), until the date you reply to me:

1. List of all undergradaute and postgraduate taught programmes (you can
seperate undergraduate and postgraduate into two excel sheets)

2. Numbers of all applications (each specific programme)

3. Numbers of all offers made (each specific programme)

4. Numbers of Chinese nationality applications (each specific programme)

5. Numbers of Chinese nationality offers made (each specific programme)

The University has now considered your request and unfortunately with the
exception of information in response to Q1 of your request, which is
attached, the remainder of the information you are seeking cannot be
provided at this time. 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. Further details of
this follow in the refusal notice below.

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, offers, acceptances and enrolments 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 at this time.

I am sorry that we were unable to assist with the majority of your request
on this occasion.   We can provide the total numbers across the
University, which is in the table below.   Note, that the 2024 entry cycle
for postgraduates is incomplete at this time as it runs up until July 2025
but we can provide the figures that we have at this time:

All applications All offers
All (Nationality (Nationality
  applications All offers Chinese) Chinese)
UG 90275 44750 15620 8045
PGT 115415 35895 73025 20160

Note: Numbers taken from end of cycle for UG information and recent (“Week
52”) figures for PG. All numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.

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

Paula

Paula Egerton| Information Officer | Information Governance Office |
Directorate of Compliance and Risk |Professional Services | G.007 Christie
Building | The University of Manchester | Oxford Road | Manchester | M13
9PL | [3]www.manchester.ac.uk

I am currently unavailable by telephone but happy to speak via Teams.

My usual working days are full days Monday Tuesday and Thursday mornings. 
I job-share with Holly Haslam who usually works Wednesday, Thursday and
Friday.

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