4 March 2024
By email to: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Dear Keira Crafts
We refer to your Freedom of Information request received on 13 February 2024
about exchange students. Details of any exemptions applied are included below
(where applicable).
Those parts of the University’s response (together with the details of how to ask the
University to review the management of your request, or thereafter to seek a review
by the Scottish Information Commissioner, should you wish to do so – please see
below) constitutes the notice in writing that the information specified is not held by
the University which is required under section 17 of the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002 (“FOISA”) and under Regulation 10(4)(a) of the Environmental
Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (“EIRs”).
Your Request and Our Response (
Request in Bold)
Could you kindly provide the following statistics for each of the following
academic years 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024?
1. The number of exchange students who studied at your university during
Semester 1.
2. The number of exchange students who studied at your university during
Semester 2.
3. The number of exchange students who studied at your university as part of
a year-abroad programme.
Academic year
No. of exchange
No. of exchange
No. of exchange
students Sem. 1
students Sem. 2
students on year
abroad
programme
2013/14
0
0
Under 5
2014/15
16
0
0
Abertay University is a registered Scottish charity, no. SC016040
Academic year
No. of exchange
No. of exchange
No. of exchange
students Sem. 1
students Sem. 2
students on year
abroad
programme
2015/16
32
22
8
2016/17
39
35
14
2017/18
55
31
6
2018/19
39
59
5
2019/20
56
42
6
2020/21
0
0
0
2021/22
21
30
Under 5
2022/23
32
24
Under 5
2023/24
26
37
0
Note regarding low numbers
We have redacted numbers under 5 in the table above, as these have potential to
identify living individuals, which would count as personal data covered by the UK
General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
The University is required to consider legislative tests applying to personal data
when a request is received. This includes where information, either on its own or in
combination with other information, might lead to the identification of individuals
and/or the disclosure of personal data about them, or their ‘special categories’ of
personal data.
The University considers that to release the information requested would not be fair
or lawful to the data subject(s) or would otherwise breach the Data Protection
Principles (Article 5, General Data Protection Regulation). The University has
therefore applied the exemption for personal data in section 38(1)(b) of the Freedom
of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and has withheld some of the requested
information. Where applicable under the legislation, the University has also
considered that the public interest test favours the withholding of the information on
the basis that whilst there is a public interest in the public knowing about the student
experience, there is a greater public interest in ensuring the welfare, rights and
freedoms of its students are protected from unlawful release of personal information
that might identify them.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (“HESA”) has provided more information on
redacting/disguising low numbers and data protection. HESA routinely does this and
Abertay University is a registered Scottish charity, no. SC016040
is the UK higher education sector’s leading statistical reporting and research body.
Their information on low numbers is available to you at:
https://www.hesa.ac.uk/about/regulation/data-protection/rounding-and-suppression-
anonymise-statistics
For more information, please refer to the Information Commissioner’s Office
guidance at:
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-
gdpr/
This concludes the University’s response.
Your right to seek a review of how your information request was managed
If you are not satisfied with our response or our reasoning set out above, you have
40 working days in which to require a review of our decision. Any such request
should be put in writing and should be sent to the University Secretary, Abertay
University, at the address provided below.
Vice Principal (Strategy and Governance) and University Secretary
Abertay University
Bell Street
Dundee
DD1 1HG
Tel (01382) 308000
E-mail
: xxx@xxxxxxx.xx.xx
The request should:
(a) detail your request for a review of our decision to be undertaken
(b) describe the nature of your original request
(c) explain the reasons why you are dissatisfied with our response
If you remain dissatisfied with how your request for information has been dealt with,
you also have the right, in terms of section 47 of FOISA and section 17 of the EIRs,
and within 6 months, to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a
decision as to whether we have handled your request properly.
Information relating to your right to seek review is available from the Scottish
Information Commissioner's website:
http://www.itspublicknowledge.info
or by contacting the Scottish Information Commissioner's Office at the following
address:
Abertay University is a registered Scottish charity, no. SC016040
Scottish Information Commissioner,
Kinburn Castle,
Doubledykes Road, St Andrews,
Fife KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610
E-mail
: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxxx
Website
: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info
Or via the SIC’s online appeals service:
https://www.itspublicknowledge.info/appeal
If you are unhappy with the Commissioner’s decision, you also have the right to
appeal further to the Court of Session, on a point of law only, under section 56 of
FOISA. Please refer to the Commissioner’s website (details above) for further
information about your right of appeal to the Court of Session.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Processing
Abertay University
Abertay University is a registered Scottish charity, no. SC016040