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Applicants for Maths with pre-existing STEP Grades

Ernest Yau made this Freedom of Information request to University of Cambridge Automatic anti-spam measures are in place for this older request. Please let us know if a further response is expected or if you are having trouble responding.

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Dear University of Cambridge,

Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to make a request for data concerning applicants for Maths with pre-existing STEP grades (ie. no. of applicants in each year, declared STEP paper(s), range and distribution of said STEP results, subsequent application results etc) for application years 2013-2023 listed by college and year.

Yours faithfully,
E Yau

FOI, University of Cambridge

This is to acknowledge receipt of your request for information. Your reference number is given in the subject line of this email. We will respond on or before 10 May 2024.

Regards,

Information Compliance Office
University of Cambridge
Governance and Compliance Division, The Old Schools
Trinity Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1TN
E: [University of Cambridge request email]

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Ernest Yau left an annotation ()

In terms of application results, I refer specifically to a list containing their STEP
grades already achieved in STEP I, STEP II and STEP III, interviewed yes/no, offer yes/no,
STEP offer condition (if applicable), STEP offer achieved (if applicable), place accepted.

Dear FOI,

In terms of application results, I refer specifically to a excel table containing candidates with names anonymised, STEP
grades already achieved in STEP I, STEP II and STEP III (as many as applicable in separate columns for each paper), interviewed yes/no, offer yes/no,
STEP offer condition (if applicable), STEP offer achieved (if applicable), place accepted, college, year of application.

Yours sincerely,
Ernest Yau

FOI, University of Cambridge

Thank you; your clarification is noted.

Regards,

Information Compliance Office
University of Cambridge
Governance and Compliance Division, The Old Schools
Trinity Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1TN
E: [University of Cambridge request email]

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FOI, University of Cambridge

2 Attachments

Further to your request for information, please find attached the University’s response.

Regards,

Information Compliance Office
University of Cambridge
Governance and Compliance Division, The Old Schools
Trinity Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1TN
E: [University of Cambridge request email]

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Dear FOI,

Could you please provide the tables as excel files? And I would like to clarify: the STEP website states that STEP 1 was discontinued around 2019, so why do some applicants from 2020 onward still have a STEP 1 result? I would also like to clarify the difference between the columns STEP Result (Declared) and STEP Result (Verified). Does “Declared” indicate their pre-existing grade achieved prior to the admissions cycle and “Verified” indicate their subsequent result taken after having received an offer? Apologies for the ambiguity , but by “Declared” in my original request, I’m referring to official STEP results achieved prior to application, not past papers taken privately in examination conditions etc.

Yours sincerely,

Ernest Yau

FOI, University of Cambridge

Dear Mr Yau,

We will make enquiries and get back to you.

Regards,

Information Compliance Office
University of Cambridge
Governance and Compliance Division, The Old Schools
Trinity Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1TN
E: [University of Cambridge request email]

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FOI, University of Cambridge

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Yau,

Further to the below, a revised Excel file is attached.

"And I would like to clarify: the STEP website states that STEP 1 was discontinued around 2019, so why do some applicants from 2020 onward still have a STEP 1 result?"
The format of the declared STEP grades at UCAS varies greatly, but the relevant office has discovered that there was an error in the data originally disclosed as the system was by default presenting anything entered as 'STEP' (with no number) as 'STEP I'. This is not what would have been seen on the applications at the time. This has been corrected, so in the attached the relevant declared grades show as 'STEP' where many previously showed as 'STEP 1'. There are still a handful of STEP I grades for 2020 onwards, but as they are declared results they could have been taken some years previously, or could have been entered erroneously at UCAS. We apologise for this error.

"I would also like to clarify the difference between the columns STEP Result (Declared) and STEP Result (Verified). Does “Declared” indicate their pre-existing grade achieved prior to the admissions cycle and “Verified” indicate their subsequent result taken after having received an offer?"
We refer you to the covering notes in the file but yes, 'declared' is anything an applicant lists on their UCAS application as a qualification they have already completed and received a grade for. 'Verified' is what we receive from the exam board directly.

"Apologies for the ambiguity , but by “Declared” in my original request, I’m referring to official STEP results achieved prior to application, not past papers taken privately in examination conditions etc."
We can only provide what has been declared by the applicants; we would by default assume these are official STEP results, but this would be checked and verified by the assessing College. (Each College is a separate legal entity and public authority under the FOI Act.)

Regards,

Information Compliance Office
University of Cambridge
Governance and Compliance Division, The Old Schools
Trinity Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1TN
E: [University of Cambridge request email]

show quoted sections

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