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A100 Medicine

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Dear University of Leicester,

Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I kindly
request some raw data from you regarding A100 applications for the
latest available admissions cycle and the one preceding that.

The data I would like to have is as follows:
1) For each applicant successful in gaining an interview (anonymised), I would like to know what A-Levels (or equivalent) they have completed, their predicted grades in the A level, what grades the applicant achieved at GCSE's and their UKCAT scores.
2) How many places are available on your course?
3) I would also like any scoring or grading system used to assess interview performance and if a form or such is provided to interviewers to record performance is available I would also kindly request this. This specific request is for 2017 entry or if possible 2018 entry.

Yours faithfully,
Mr. Saghir

Dear Mr. Saghir,

I write to acknowledge receipt of your request, dated 11th September 2017, made under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please note the effective date of the request, i.e. date of receipt of your request by the University of Leicester for processing, is 11th September 2017 and that the latest date by which the University must respond under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is 9th October 2017.

I will arrange for the information to which you are entitled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to be supplied to you as soon as reasonably possible, and in any event within the period set out by the Act.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries regarding your request.
Regards,

Paul Starkey
Senior Information Assurance Officer

Information Assurance Services,
University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK

t: +44 (0)116 229 7945
e:  [email address]
w: www.le.ac.uk

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1 Attachment

Dear Mr. Saghir,

I write on behalf of the University of Leicester in response to your request, dated 11th August 2017, made under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Our response is as follows

1. Please refer to the enclosed spreadsheet. Please note each individual has been assigned a random number to differentiate them without providing personal information. Please note that we do not accept General Studies or Critical Thinking A-levels, so they never form part of an offer and we only accept one of Mathematics and Further Mathematics. Also, an A-level in a language where the applicant is a native or home speaker of that language does not form part of an offer.

2. For 2017 entry - 241; for 2018 entry - 260

3. With regard to the criteria used in the interview process we cannot release the scoring form used at interview or any further information as this would give away the content of our interview stations. We consider that it is exempt from disclosure under Section 36 (Prejudicial to the Effective Conduct of Public Affairs) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

For Section 36 to apply it must be in the reasonable opinion of a qualified person that such disclosure would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs. The Vice-Chancellor of the University is designated as the ‘qualified person’. After careful consideration, he has formed the opinion that the information referred to above is exempt under Section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as its disclosure would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs (Section 36(2)(c)). He has reached the view that its disclosure would have the adverse effects specified below and that the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in its disclosure.

It may be helpful if the reasoning behind this opinion is explained in more detail, particularly in view of the provision under section 2(2)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) for the public interest in maintaining the exemption to be weighed against the public interest in disclosing the information:

1. Knowledge of the scoring systems would give an interviewee an unfair advantage over other interviewees. As the stations and interviews are similar each year, providing information on previous years would also give an unfair advantage. Clearly, interviewees gaining an unfair advantage would prejudice the University’s effective conduct of the recruitment process.
2. Any unfairness in the process would result in a loss of integrity which would be highly damaging to the reputation of the University and its academic standing.
3. The recruitment process is designed to identify the best potential students. As an institution the University’s standing depends greatly on the calibre of students it admits to study and the standards they achieve. If less able students were able to obtain entry at the expense of better qualified applicants this would result in a lowering of achievement standards and be damaging to the standing of the University.
4. The recruitment process is also designed to ensure that potential students have the ability to undertake the course. Knowledge of the scoring and grading systems could impair the proper assessment of candidates abilities and result in unsuitably qualified applicants obtaining a place which could result in a higher failure rate which would be damaging to the University’s standing, be wasteful of resources, and not in the best interests of the student.
5. As section 36 is a qualified exemption we are required to undertake the Public Interest Test. In the view of the Vice Chancellor we can determine no significant public interest in releasing this information. There is, however, a strong public interest in the University maintaining rigorous selection procedures and admitting the best candidates possible, and especially so given that this request relates to the A100 medical course.

If you have any concerns or wish to complain or appeal about any aspect of this response then in the first instance please contact the University's Data Protection Officer (Mr Henry Stuart: 0116 229 7945, [email address])

Please be aware that it is also your legal right under Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act, to apply to the Information Commissioner for a decision whether a request for information made to the University has been dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Act. It should be noted that there is a requirement that there will be no undue delay in making the application and there is an expectation that the complainant will have exhausted the University's internal complaints procedure.

Complaints to the Information Commissioner should be addressed to:

FoI Compliance Team (Complaints)
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

I hope you find this response helpful. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any queries regarding the above.

Regards,

Paul Starkey
Senior Information Assurance Officer

Information Assurance Services,
University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK

t: +44 (0)116 229 7945
e:  [email address]
w: www.le.ac.uk

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We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Mr. Saghir please sign in and let everyone know.