Application and Offer Statistics for Singaporean Students

The request was refused by University of Manchester.

Dear University of Manchester,

I would like to request, for the 2018-2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 application years, the following fields of data for schools in Singapore:

(a) the number of applications for undergraduate courses, regardless of course, received from students in these schools, broken down by school;
(b) the number of offers for undergraduate courses, regardless of course, given to students of these schools, broken down by school; and
(c) the number of offers for undergraduate courses, regardless of course, accepted by students of these schools, broken down by school,

for the following list of Singaporean schools:

(i) Anderson Serangoon Junior College;
(ii) Anglo-Chinese Junior College;
(iii) Anglo-Chinese School (Independent);
(iv) Catholic Junior College;
(v) Dunman High School;
(vi) Eunoia Junior College;
(vii) Hwa Chong Institution;
(viii) Jurong Pioneer Junior College;
(ix) Millennia Institute;
(x) Nanyang Junior College;
(xi) National Junior College;
(xii) National University of Singapore (NUS) High School of Math and Science;
(xiii) Raffles Institution;
(xiv) River Valley High School;
(xv) School of the Arts Singapore;
(xvi) Singapore Sports School;
(xvii) St. Andrew’s Junior College;
(xviii) St. Joseph’s Institution;
(xix) Tampines Meridian Junior College;
(xx) Temasek Junior College;
(xxi) Victoria Junior College;
(xxii) Yishun Innova Junior College;
(xxiii) Nanyang Polytechnic;
(xxiv) Ngee Ann Polytechnic;
(xxv) Republic Polytechnic;
(xxvi) Singapore Polytechnic and
(xxvii) Temasek Polytechnic.

Yours faithfully,

Caleb Lee

MTRS FOIA, University of Manchester

Dear Caleb,

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

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

Kind regards

Paula

Paula Egerton | Information Officer | Information Governance Office | Directorate of Compliance and Risk | Professional Services | G7 Christie Building | The University of Manchester | Oxford Road | Manchester | M13 9PL | Please contact me on Teams or e-mail as I may not be working in the office to take your call

www.manchester.ac.uk

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MTRS FOIA, University of Manchester

1 Attachment

Dear Caleb,

 

Thank you for your request for information received by The University of
Manchester on 04 April 2022 which was as follows:

 

I would like to request, for the 2018-2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021
application years, the following fields of data for schools in Singapore:

 

(a) the number of applications for undergraduate courses, regardless of
course, received from students in these schools, broken down by school;

 

(b) the number of offers for undergraduate courses, regardless of course,
given to students of these schools, broken down by school; and

 

(c) the number of offers for undergraduate courses, regardless of course,
accepted by students of these schools, broken down by school,

 

for the following list of Singaporean schools:

 

(i) Anderson Serangoon Junior College;

(ii) Anglo-Chinese Junior College;

(iii) Anglo-Chinese School (Independent);

(iv) Catholic Junior College;

(v) Dunman High School;

(vi) Eunoia Junior College;

(vii) Hwa Chong Institution;

(viii) Jurong Pioneer Junior College;

(ix) Millennia Institute;

(x) Nanyang Junior College;

(xi) National Junior College;

(xii) National University of Singapore (NUS) High School of Math and
Science;

(xiii) Raffles Institution;

(xiv) River Valley High School;

(xv) School of the Arts Singapore;

(xvi) Singapore Sports School;

(xvii) St. Andrew’s Junior College;

(xviii) St. Joseph’s Institution;

(xix) Tampines Meridian Junior College;

(xx) Temasek Junior College;

(xxi) Victoria Junior College;

(xxii) Yishun Innova Junior College;

(xxiii) Nanyang Polytechnic;

(xxiv) Ngee Ann Polytechnic;

(xxv) Republic Polytechnic;

(xxvi) Singapore Polytechnic and

(xxvii) Temasek Polytechnic.

 

The University has now considered your request and unfortunately 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. Releasing information such as that
requested would impact on the University’s competitive advantage and would
therefore prejudice our commercial interests. This is because providing
information in relation to the overseas schools from which our
students/prospective students come would give a new or existing competitor
key information which could enable them 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 overseas 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.

 

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

 

Sharon

 

Sharon Glen | Information Officer | Information Governance Office |
Directorate of Compliance and Risk |Professional Services | G7 Christie
Building | The University of Manchester | Oxford Road | Manchester | M13
9PL | Tel +44(0) 161 306 7549| [3]www.manchester.ac.uk

 

Please contact me on Teams or email as I may not be working in the office
to take your call.

 

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We are all responsible for protecting personal data held by the
University, including who we share that data with. Stop and think before
you send your email.  For further guidance see:
[5]www.dataprotection.manchester.ac.uk

 

References

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