Dear Thames,

I acknowledge receipt of your email received by this office on 16 November 2022.

Your request will now be dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and has been allocated reference FOI22-415 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 15 December 2022.

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.

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Dear Thames Menteth

I am writing in response to your Freedom of Information request dated 16
November 2022

For ease of reference, I have reproduced your question(s) below and set
out our corresponding response(s).

I am currently compiling figures to help understand how diverse geoscience
MSc courses are in higher education. As such, I would be grateful if you
could provide me with the following information.

For the MSc Applied Environmental Geology course at Cardiff University
please could you provide me with the following data for the years
2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021,2022.

•       Total number of applicants to the course

•       Applicants by gender

•       Applicants by ethnicity (Where data is held this should be broken
down into specific

•       ethnic groups e.g. White, Asian, Black, Chinese)

•       Total number of enrolled students to the course

•       Enrolled students by gender

•       Enrolled students by ethnicity (Where data is held this should be
broken down into specific

•       ethnic groups e.g. White, Asian, Black, Chinese)

The University holds this information however we consider this information
exempt from disclosure under S43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act
entitled “Commercial Interests”. In particular, section 43(2) states that
information is exempt 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 recruitment of both Home and International students is a very
competitive environment where UK universities face competition not just
from each other but also from other institutions around the world.
Students are highly mobile and have wide choices over where they may
decide to study.

The release of information on postgraduate applications and offers into
the public domain would be highly likely to prejudice the University’s
commercial interests, by allowing competitor institutions to undermine the
University’s recruitment activity. Disclosure of this information would
reveal details of the outcome of the University’s recruitment strategy and
to release this information into the public domain would enable our
competitors to benefit by copying our strategy or programmes. In so doing
this will affect the University’s ability to distinguish itself from its
competitors in a highly competitive market.

Any loss of market share and reduction in enrolled student numbers would
have a significant impact on the University’s student fee income and would
further impact the University’s long term financial sustainability. As
public funding sources for higher education have declined, student fee
income has become an increasingly important source of income and is a key
factor in ensuring the University’s long term financial sustainability.
The ability for the universities in general, and Cardiff University in
particular as a major research intensive university in Wales, to compete
effectively in a global market is an important strategic objective as set
out by the Welsh Government in 'For Our Future: the higher education
strategy plan for Wales' and in the Welsh Government Policy Statement on
Higher Education which is available at:
[1]http://wales.gov.uk/docs/dcells/publicat....
It is also important that Cardiff University is able to continue competing
on an equal footing with similar large, research intensive institutions in
the UK and overseas.

Based on the above it is considered that the commercial interest of the
University would be likely to be prejudiced by release and as such the
Section 43(2) exemption is engaged.

In applying the Section 43 exemption the University has taken account of
the public interest as required by the Act. The University has reviewed
the arguments in favour of disclosing the information (openness and
transparency in public life) and found them to be outweighed by the
greater general public interest in protection of the University's
competitive edge and market positioning.

The University must consider the public interest test when applying this
exemption and this is considered below.

Public Interest Test

Factors in Favour of Disclosure

It is in the public interest to release information that provides a
greater public understanding of the way the University operates and its
provisions for future delivery of its services.

Factors in Favour of Non-disclosure

It is not in the public interest to release information that would be
likely to damage the commercial interests of the University by undermining
its ability to compete in the marketplace.

It is not in the public interest to release information that would reduce
the efficiency and effectiveness of the University by having the effect of
damaging the ability of the University to pursue its recruitment
strategies on an equal footing to other public and privately funded
education institutions.

On balance it is considered that it would not be in the public interest to
release this information and therefore the information will not be
released 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
[2][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 of your complaint, 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.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Cardiff University. If you require further assistance please feel free to
contact me.

Kind regards

Swyddfa Ysgrifenydd y Brifysgol University Secretary’s Office

Prifysgol Caerdydd Cardiff University

Ebost : [3][email address] Email: [4][email address] 
 
 
 
The University welcomes
Mae'r Brifysgol yn croesawu correspondence in Welsh or English. 
gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg neu'n Saesneg.  Corresponding in Welsh will not lead
Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn creu to any delay.
unrhwy oedi.

References

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