A100 Admission Statistics 2018 and 2019 Entry

Riddhi S made this Freedom of Information request to University of Bristol This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was successful.

Dear University of Bristol,

I would like to kindly make the following requests under the Freedom of Information Act (2000) to Bristol Medical School. I would like to know the following data for all applicants to A100 Medicine for both 2018 and 2019 entry:

1. UCAT score
2. A level predicted grades
3. Number of A*s achieved at GCSE

Please state whether these applicants had received an interview, offer or were rejected. I would also like to know the following:

4. The mean UCAT score of successful applicants for 2018 and 2019 entry
5. The interview scoring sheets used for 2018 and 2019 entry

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Riddhi S

University of Bristol FOI mailbox, University of Bristol

Thank you for your e-mail.  The University will endeavour to respond to
your request under the Freedom of Information Act within 20 working days.

However, we are currently receiving a high volume of requests, and we
would be grateful if you could bear with us if, on occasion, we are unable
to respond within the statutory time-frame. We apologise for any
inconvenience that this may cause.

We may need to ask you certain questions to clarify your request to ensure
we fully understand what information is being requested. If so, the 20
working day deadline will be calculated once we have received such
clarification. 

 

The University's A-Z index can help in locating information that is
publicly available on the University's
website: [1]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/index/

 

Our Publication Scheme is available
at: [2]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/s...

 

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) annually publish certain
data about students and higher education, and also have a bespoke data
request service: [3]https://www.hesa.ac.uk/

 

For further information about the University's FOI procedure, please
see: [4]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/secretary/foi/

References

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University of Bristol FOI mailbox, University of Bristol

Dear Riddhi S

 

We write further to your freedom of information request dated 4 September
2019. We are currently compiling information relevant to your request.
However, we consider that some of the information may be exempt from
disclosure under section 36(2)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000,
and we are therefore required to consider the public interest factors for
and against disclosure. As permitted under section 10(3) of the Act, we
write to request an extension of time to consider the public interest
factors.

 

We anticipate being in a position to respond to your request with the next
two weeks, i.e. by Friday 11 October 2019. We trust that this is
acceptable.

 

Kind regards

 

Freedom of information team

University of Bristol

To: SecOInformation Governance ([University of Bristol request email])
From: Riddhi S ([FOI #601513 email])
Title: Freedom of Information request - A100 Admission Statistics 2018 and
2019 Entry
Sent: 04/09/2019 12:27

Dear University of Bristol,

I would like to kindly make the following requests under the Freedom of
Information Act (2000) to Bristol Medical School. I would like to know the
following data for all applicants to A100 Medicine for both 2018 and 2019
entry:

1. UCAT score
2. A level predicted grades
3. Number of A*s achieved at GCSE

Please state whether these applicants had received an interview, offer or
were rejected. I would also like to know the following:

4. The mean UCAT score of successful applicants for 2018 and 2019 entry
5. The interview scoring sheets used for 2018 and 2019 entry

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Riddhi S

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University of Bristol FOI mailbox, University of Bristol

1 Attachment

Dear Riddhi S,

 

Freedom of Information Request (our reference FOI19-395)

 

We refer to your Freedom of Information request dated 4^th September. We
apologise for the delay in responding to your request. We are currently
short-staffed and have a backlog of requests that we are working through
as quickly as we can. You requested the following information:

 

“I would like to kindly make the following requests under the Freedom of
Information Act (2000) to Bristol Medical School. I would like to know the
following data for all applicants to A100 Medicine for both 2018 and 2019
entry:

1. UCAT score
2. A level predicted grades
3. Number of A*s achieved at GCSE

Please state whether these applicants had received an interview, offer or
were rejected. I would also like to know the following:

4. The mean UCAT score of successful applicants for 2018 and 2019 entry
5. The interview scoring sheets used for 2018 and 2019 entry”

 

University’s Response

 

Further to Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the “Act”) we
confirm that the information requested is partially held by the University
of Bristol (the “University”), however, some of the information is exempt
from disclosure.

 

Please find attached a summary of the information requested for the 2018
cycle. Data for the 2019 admission cycle is not currently available as it
is still being collated. The information should be available in December.
Please note that we do not use the section scores of the UKCAT and instead
calculate an overall %.

 

We are unable to provide a line by line analysis for each applicant as it
could be possible to identify the individuals concerned. The information
is exempt from disclosure under Section 40 (2) of the Act -third party
personal information. This is an Absolute exemption therefore there is no
requirement to conduct public interest test. Any information is exempt
from disclosure under the Act if it relates to or is supplied by another
individual and disclosure of that information would contravene any of the
principles of the Data Protection Act (1998). In addition, the
University does not release exact counts of less than 5 for this reason.

 

The interview scoring sheets are considered exempt from disclosure
under section 36(2)(c) of the Act:

 

“Information to which this section applies is exempt information if, in
the reasonable opinion of a qualified person, disclosure of the
information under this Act would otherwise prejudice, or would be likely
to prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs.”

 

The disclosure of the scoring criteria into the public domain would be
likely to prejudice the effective conduct of the University’s public
affairs, namely its duty to use a fair and equitable process to select the
most suitable candidates for its courses. Disclosure of the scoring
criteria would undermine the admissions process, by giving applicants an
opportunity to pre-empt the questions in the questionnaire or to use the
criteria as a ‘tick list’ with which they seek to comply when completing
the questionnaire. This could leave the University in a position where it
needed to differentiate between equally capable candidates on some other
undeclared basis.

 

Public interest considerations

 

We are required to consider the public interest in disclosure of the
information when applying this exemption. There is a public interest in
disclosure, to demonstrate that the University’s admissions procedure is
clear and transparent, so applicants (and the public) can be assured that
the selection process is consistent and fair and there can be no
accusation of bias. The integrity of admissions procedures is essential
for all higher education institutions, to ensure that the public trusts
them to select the most suitable applicants, and thus make effective use
of public funds and students’ tuition fees.   

 

However, there is also a public interest in withholding the questionnaire
and scoring criteria from disclosure, to ensure a level playing field for
all applicants so that the University may identify the candidates most
suitable for its courses. This public interest is increased when the
course relates to a vocation such as Medicine where, with the welfare of
individuals at stake, it is in the public interest that the University
selects only the candidates most suitable for the study of the subject and
the practice of medicine.

 

If disclosed, applicants who were to find and use the scoring criteria
when preparing their application would potentially gain an unfair
advantage over other applicants. That could lead to the University
accepting applicants who have closely followed the criteria but who are
not as suitable for the programme as others. Equally, the University might
find itself having to create new application processes or criteria in
order to level the playing field again and differentiate between large
numbers of apparently suitable candidates.

 

As the wording of the exemption in section 36(2)(c) of Act states, it may
only be applied if such prejudice would, or would be likely to, occur in
the “reasonable opinion of a qualified person”. The qualified person for
universities is the Vice-Chancellor (or equivalent) and our
Vice-Chancellor has approved the application of this exemption having
considered the relevant issues.

 

Internal Review Procedure

 

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, then you have a
right under Section 50 of the Act to request an internal review.  All such
requests must be sent to us within 40 days, and must clearly state our
reference number (at the top of this email) and your reason for requesting
an internal review.  We will respond to your request for an internal
review within 20 working days of receipt.

 

Your request for an internal review should be sent to:

 

Director of Legal Services

Secretary’s Office

University of Bristol

Senate House

Tyndall Avenue

Bristol

BS8 1TH

 

Or you can email your request to [University of Bristol request email],
quoting your FOI reference number at the head of this letter.

 

Information Commissioners Office

 

Should you remain dissatisfied with the final outcome of the internal
review then you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner (the
“ICO”) for an independent review.  The ICO is the Government’s Independent
Body responsible for overseeing the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the
Data Protection Act 2018 and The Environmental Information Regulations
2004.

 

Please note the ICO will only review cases that have exhausted the
University’s internal review procedure. All correspondence to the ICO must
quote the University’s reference number and your reasons for your appeal. 
The ICO’s contact details are as follows:

 

The Information Commissioners Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

More information can be found at the ICO’s website
at [1]http://www.ico.org.uk

 

Kind Regards

 

Freedom of Information Team

University of Bristol

 

 

References

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