Dear Eliza Chua

I acknowledge receipt of your email received by this office on 28 September 2021.

Your request will now be dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and has been allocated reference FOI21-399 which should be quoted in all correspondence. We will respond to your request within 20 working days starting the next working day after receipt, therefore you can expect to receive a response no later than 26 October 2021.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and, if that is the case, we will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

Yours sincerely

Swyddfa Ysgrifenydd y Brifysgol
Prifysgol Caerdydd
Ebost : [email address]

Mae'r Brifysgol yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg neu'n Saesneg. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn creu unrhwy oedi.

University Secretary's Office
Cardiff University
Email: [email address]

The University welcomes correspondence in Welsh or English. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to any delay.

show quoted sections

Dear Eliza,

Further to our email of 29^th September 2021, unfortunately we are not
able to provide you with a response by today’s date.

We anticipate that we will require up to a further 10 working days in
which provide you with a response and you can therefore expect to receive
this by 9^th November 2021.

We apologise for the inconvenience.

Kind regards

Ian Johnson                                                               
             Ian Johnson 

  Swyddog Cydymffurfiaeth                                    
              Compliance Officer

Swyddfa Ysgrifennydd y Brifysgol   University Secretary’s Office

Prifysgol Caerdydd   Cardiff University

Tŷ McKenzie   McKenzie House
 
30-36 Heol Casnewydd   30-36 Newport Road

Caerdydd   Cardiff

CF24 0DE   CF24 0DE
Ffôn: 029 208 79633 Phone: 029 208 79633

E-bost: [1][email address] E-mail: [2][email address]

Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth trwy’r   We welcome correspondence in Welsh
Gymraeg neu’r Saesneg. Ni fydd gohebu or English. Corresponding in Welsh
yn Gymraeg yn creu unrhyw oedi. will not lead to any delay.

Ysgrifennwch ataf yn Gymraeg neu’n Please write to me in Welsh or
Saesneg English

show quoted sections

Dear Eliza,

I am writing in response to your Freedom of Information request dated
28^th September 2021.

For ease of reference, I have reproduced your questions below and set out
our corresponding responses.

1. how do you rank the students if they do not have any of the
gcses/highers/ib qualifications? (they may have provided equivalent
qualifications in their country on ucas)

All international grade equivalents can be found in a PDF document that is
publicly available on the Cardiff University website, under the Entry
Requirements subheading of the Admissions policies page, at:

Page: [1]Admissions policies - Public information - Cardiff University

Direct PDF link: [2]UG Combined Equivalencies Table
2021_22_entry_July21.xlsx (cardiff.ac.uk)

Accordingly this information is reasonably accessible to you by other
means and is exempt from disclosure under section 21 of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

2. How many graduate applicants applied to the BDS A200 dentistry course
in the recent 3 years? Among all the graduate applicants, how many were
invited for an interview and how many got an offer? Please provide an
excel sheet including their fee status and ucat scores too.

3. how many international students applied to the A200 course in the
recent 3 years and how many got interviews and offers? And if you can,
please include the nationalities of the international applicants.

Please see below table:

Year Home Overseas
Applications Offers Made Applications Offers Made
2018/9 560 158 60 8
2019/0 641 154 70 13
2020/1 630 140 68 14
Grand Total 1831 452 198 35

Information regarding UCAT scores, and Interview is not routinely
centrally collated and is held at School level. To provide the information
you have requested would involve manually reviewing the above
applications. The University is not obliged to spend more than 18 hours
(as set by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate
Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004) collating such information and
accordingly the exemption provided by section 12(2) of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 will apply.

After due consideration it is considered that providing information on
applicants’ nationalities would be exempt from disclosure by virtue of
Section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act entitled Commercial
Interests. This section states:

“43(2) 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).”

The information requested contains data that would give insight into the
University’s

activities that would be likely to prejudice its commercial interests. The
University

operates in a highly competitive market in attracting international
students. To disclose this information into the public domain would put
the University at a commercial disadvantage by exposing their recruitment
strategy and key business information to competitors, who could exploit
that information for their own competitive gain.

Furthermore, sharing of commercially confidential information between
competitors is normally prohibited under the Competition Act 1998 as this
could have an adverse

impact upon competition in that market.

In order to apply, the exemption requires that a public interest be
considered, and this is documented below:

Public Interest Test

Factors in favour of disclosure

Openness and Transparency - It is in the public interest that
Universities, as public

authorities, are as open and transparent as possible in the way that they
operate and

the way in which decisions are made.

Factors in favour of non-disclosure

Commercial Interests - It is not in the public interest to disclose
information that would undermine the ability of the University to
differentiate itself from competitors and maintain its position within the
market.

Efficiency and effectiveness – It is not in the public interest to
disclose information that would erode the efficiency and effectiveness of
the organisation by eroding its

opportunities to develop income and undermine its ability to use that
income for

reinvestment in its public task.

Given the above, it is considered that it is in the greater public
interest to withhold the

information from disclosure at this time.

I trust this information satisfies your enquiry.  Should you feel
dissatisfied with this response or the way in which your request was
handled you can request an Internal Review. This should be made in writing
within 40 working days of the date of this email. Please provide your
unique reference number of your request, information on why you are
dissatisfied and any detail you would like us to consider as part of the
Internal Review process. Email your request to
[3][email address] where it will be forwarded to the Head of
Compliance and Risk who will be responsible for overseeing the review.

If you remain dissatisfied following the outcome, you have the right to
apply directly to the Information Commissioner for consideration.  The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at the following address:
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Ian Johnson                                                               
             Ian Johnson 

  Swyddog Cydymffurfiaeth                                    
              Compliance Officer

Swyddfa Ysgrifennydd y Brifysgol   University Secretary’s Office

Prifysgol Caerdydd   Cardiff University

Tŷ McKenzie   McKenzie House
 
30-36 Heol Casnewydd   30-36 Newport Road

Caerdydd   Cardiff

CF24 0DE   CF24 0DE
Ffôn: 029 208 79633 Phone: 029 208 79633

E-bost: [4][email address] E-mail: [5][email address]

Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth trwy’r   We welcome correspondence in Welsh
Gymraeg neu’r Saesneg. Ni fydd gohebu or English. Corresponding in Welsh
yn Gymraeg yn creu unrhyw oedi. will not lead to any delay.

Ysgrifennwch ataf yn Gymraeg neu’n Please write to me in Welsh or
Saesneg English

References

Visible links
1. https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/public-informa...
2. https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[email address]
5. mailto:[email address]