FOI request about PLAB 1 Candidates from Pakistan
Dear General Medical Council,
I would like to make the following Freedom of Information request please:
PLAB 1 tests are held twice a year overseas; I would like to request the following information regarding applicants for PLAB 1 test from Pakistan in the last 3 years 2015-2017. The tests are held in Islamabad and Karachi, please give a breakdown by test centres.
Please give the result (Pass or Fail) and also give the City or Town information for each applicant who took the test; the information is collected as part of their registered address.
Please also give the PMQ awarding body name of each applicant.
Please give the information in the excel sheet format with the following columns:
Test Date; Test Venue, Applicant City or Town (Registered Address), Applicant PMQ Awarding Body, Result (Pass or Fail).
Please note that none of the information sought above will breach the DPA as no personal identifying information is being asked for.
Yours faithfully,
A Nasir
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Thank you
Information access team
General Medical Council
Email: [GMC request email]
Telephone: 0161 923 6365
Working with doctors Working for patients
The General Medical Council helps to protect patients and improve medical
education and practice in the UK by setting standards for students and
doctors. We support them in achieving (and exceeding) those standards, and
take action when they are not met.
_________________________________________________________________
Unless otherwise expressly agreed by the sender of this email, this
communication may contain privileged or confidential information which is
exempt from disclosure under UK law. This email and its attachments may
not be used or disclosed except for the purpose for which it has been
sent.
If you are not the addressee or have received this email in error, please
do not read, print, re-transmit, store or act in reliance on it or any
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General Medical Council
3 Hardman Street, Manchester M3 3AW
Regents Place, 350 Euston Road, London NW1 3JN
The Tun, 4 Jacksons Entry, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AE
4th Floor, Caspian Point 2, Caspian Way, Cardiff Bay CF10 4DQ
9th Floor, Bedford House, 16-22 Bedford Street, Belfast BT2 7FD
The GMC is a charity registered in England and Wales (1089278) and
Scotland (SC037750)
Dear Mr Nasir
Your information request – F17/8938/SJ
Thank you for your email dated 16 June 2017, in which you ask for
information about applicants for PLAB 1 test from Pakistan in the last 3
years.
How we will consider your request
You’ve asked that we consider your request under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (FOIA). The FOIA gives us 20 working days to respond,
but we’ll come back to you as soon as we can.
Who to contact
Sadie Jones will be handling your request. If you have any questions you
can call her on 0161 250 6889 or her at email [1][email address].
Yours sincerely
Jenny Davis
Information Access Assistant
[2][email address]
0161 240 8178
General Medical Council
3 Hardman Street
Manchester
M3 3AW
Working with doctors Working for patients
The General Medical Council helps to protect patients and improve medical
education and practice in the UK by setting standards for students and
doctors. We support them in achieving (and exceeding) those standards, and
take action when they are not met.
_________________________________________________________________
Unless otherwise expressly agreed by the sender of this email, this
communication may contain privileged or confidential information which is
exempt from disclosure under UK law. This email and its attachments may
not be used or disclosed except for the purpose for which it has been
sent.
If you are not the addressee or have received this email in error, please
do not read, print, re-transmit, store or act in reliance on it or any
attachments. Instead, please email the sender and then immediately delete
it.
General Medical Council
3 Hardman Street, Manchester M3 3AW
Regents Place, 350 Euston Road, London NW1 3JN
The Tun, 4 Jacksons Entry, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AE
4th Floor, Caspian Point 2, Caspian Way, Cardiff Bay CF10 4DQ
9th Floor, Bedford House, 16-22 Bedford Street, Belfast BT2 7FD
The GMC is a charity registered in England and Wales (1089278) and
Scotland (SC037750)
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
Dear A Nasir
Your information access request – F17/8938/SJ
Thank you for your email dated 16 June asking for information regarding
applicants for the PLAB 1 assessment in Pakistan. I’ve considered your
request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
My Response
Within your request, you have specified that you require the: ‘Test Date;
Test Venue, Applicant City or Town (Registered Address), Applicant PMQ
Awarding Body, Result (Pass or Fail).’
If I were to provide you with a table including all of the requested
information, it would make each applicant identifiable, and therefore we
believe this would breach the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) to provide
this information to you. The link between the university, whether the
applicant passed or failed and information concerning their address could
potentially provide you with identifiable information about an individual
applicant. I have given details of the exemption below.
The exemption
Section 40(2), by virtue of section 40(3)(a)(i)
This exemption applies where the information is the personal data of a
third party and where releasing the information would breach any principle
of the DPA. In this instance disclosure would breach the first principle
of the DPA, which requires the processing of information to be 'fair and
lawful'. I believe the conditions in Schedule 2 of the DPA, which are
about the processing of personal information, are not met and therefore
giving you the information would be unlawful.
Your right to appeal
I'm sorry I couldn’t provide the information you requested. You can appeal
against this decision to Julian Graves, Information Access Manager. If
you want to appeal, please set out your reasons and write to him at the
above address or email [1][email address]. You can also appeal
to the Information Commissioner, the regulator of the FOIA and DPA – we
can provide more details about this if you need them.
Advice and assistance
We have considered what information we could provide to you where it would
be no longer identifiable. We believe that we would be able to provide you
with 2 separate tables, breaking down the information. The first table
would provide you with the number of applicants who took the PLAB 1
assessment, from each university, at each of the PLAB assessment centres
and the date of the assessment. The second table would show the number of
applicants who passed or failed the PLAB 1 assessment, at which PLAB
assessment centre and the date of the assessment. Please let me know if
you would wish to be provided with this information.
Yours sincerely
Sadie Jones
Information Access Officer
[2][email address]
0161 250 6889
General Medical Council
3 Hardman Street
Manchester
M3 3AW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: A Nasir [[3]mailto:[FOI #412565 email]]
Sent: 16 June 2017 11:53
To: FOI
Subject: Freedom of Information request - FOI request about PLAB 1
Candidates from Pakistan
Dear General Medical Council,
I would like to make the following Freedom of Information request please:
PLAB 1 tests are held twice a year overseas; I would like to request the
following information regarding applicants for PLAB 1 test from Pakistan
in the last 3 years 2015-2017. The tests are held in Islamabad and
Karachi, please give a breakdown by test centres.
Please give the result (Pass or Fail) and also give the City or Town
information for each applicant who took the test; the information is
collected as part of their registered address.
Please also give the PMQ awarding body name of each applicant.
Please give the information in the excel sheet format with the following
columns:
Test Date; Test Venue, Applicant City or Town (Registered Address),
Applicant PMQ Awarding Body, Result (Pass or Fail).
Please note that none of the information sought above will breach the DPA
as no personal identifying information is being asked for.
Yours faithfully,
A Nasir
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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[4][FOI #412565 email]
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to General Medical Council? If so, please contact us using this form:
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For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
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If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Working with doctors Working for patients
The General Medical Council helps to protect patients and improve medical
education and practice in the UK by setting standards for students and
doctors. We support them in achieving (and exceeding) those standards, and
take action when they are not met.
_________________________________________________________________
Unless otherwise expressly agreed by the sender of this email, this
communication may contain privileged or confidential information which is
exempt from disclosure under UK law. This email and its attachments may
not be used or disclosed except for the purpose for which it has been
sent.
If you are not the addressee or have received this email in error, please
do not read, print, re-transmit, store or act in reliance on it or any
attachments. Instead, please email the sender and then immediately delete
it.
General Medical Council
3 Hardman Street, Manchester M3 3AW
Regents Place, 350 Euston Road, London NW1 3JN
The Tun, 4 Jacksons Entry, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AE
4th Floor, Caspian Point 2, Caspian Way, Cardiff Bay CF10 4DQ
9th Floor, Bedford House, 16-22 Bedford Street, Belfast BT2 7FD
The GMC is a charity registered in England and Wales (1089278) and
Scotland (SC037750)
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[FOI #412565 email]
4. mailto:[FOI #412565 email]
5. mailto:[GMC request email]
6. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...
7. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
8. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
Dear Sadie Jones (0161 250 6889),
Thank you for your response.
I believe that what I requested would not make any candidate identifiable for example just providing the city field for the residence of an applicant can not enable anyone to identify the individual; however if you feel that is the case then I am happy for you to provide the information as per your suggestion with just one addition please.
You said "We have considered what information we could provide to you where it would be no longer identifiable. We believe that we would be able to provide you with 2 separate tables, breaking down the information. The first table would provide you with the number of applicants who took the PLAB 1
assessment, from each university, at each of the PLAB assessment centres and the date of the assessment. The second table would shows the number of applicants who passed or failed the PLAB 1 assessment, at which PLAB assessment centre and the date of the assessment."
In the first or second table add the number of applicants from each city or town; where the number of applicants is more than 5. For example it could be:
Applicants Registered address Town or City; Number of applicants
Karachi; 54
Lahore; 68
Jhelum; 9
Yours sincerely,
A Nasir
Dear A Nasir
Thank you for your email, confirming you would like me to provide you with
the information that I have suggested.
I’ll look into this for you and get back to you as soon as I can.
Yours sincerely
Sadie Jones
Information Access Officer
[1][email address]
0161 250 6889
General Medical Council
3 Hardman Street
Manchester
M3 3AW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: A Nasir [mailto:[FOI #412565 email]]
Sent: 19 July 2017 13:31
To: Sadie Jones (0161 250 6889)
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - FOI request about PLAB 1
Candidates from Pakistan
Dear Sadie Jones (0161 250 6889),
Thank you for your response.
I believe that what I requested would not make any candidate identifiable
for example just providing the city field for the residence of an
applicant can not enable anyone to identify the individual; however if you
feel that is the case then I am happy for you to provide the information
as per your suggestion with just one addition please.
You said "We have considered what information we could provide to you
where it would be no longer identifiable. We believe that we would be able
to provide you with 2 separate tables, breaking down the information. The
first table would provide you with the number of applicants who took the
PLAB 1 assessment, from each university, at each of the PLAB assessment
centres and the date of the assessment. The second table would shows the
number of applicants who passed or failed the PLAB 1 assessment, at which
PLAB assessment centre and the date of the assessment."
In the first or second table add the number of applicants from each city
or town; where the number of applicants is more than 5. For example it
could be:
Applicants Registered address Town or City; Number of applicants Karachi;
54 Lahore; 68 Jhelum; 9
Yours sincerely,
A Nasir
-----Original Message-----
Dear A Nasir
Your information access request – F17/8938/SJ
Thank you for your email dated 16 June asking for information regarding
applicants for the PLAB 1 assessment in Pakistan. I’ve considered your
request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
My Response
Within your request, you have specified that you require the: ‘Test Date;
Test Venue, Applicant City or Town (Registered Address), Applicant PMQ
Awarding Body, Result (Pass or Fail).’
If I were to provide you with a table including all of the requested
information, it would make each applicant identifiable, and therefore we
believe this would breach the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) to provide
this information to you. The link between the university, whether the
applicant passed or failed and information concerning their address could
potentially provide you with identifiable information about an individual
applicant. I have given details of the exemption below.
The exemption
Section 40(2), by virtue of section 40(3)(a)(i)
This exemption applies where the information is the personal data of a
third party and where releasing the information would breach any
principle of the DPA. In this instance disclosure would breach the first
principle of the DPA, which requires the processing of information to be
'fair and lawful'. I believe the conditions in Schedule 2 of the DPA,
which are about the processing of personal information, are not met and
therefore giving you the information would be unlawful.
Your right to appeal
I'm sorry I couldn’t provide the information you requested. You can
appeal against this decision to Julian Graves, Information Access
Manager. If you want to appeal, please set out your reasons and write to
him at the above address or email [1][email address]. You can also
appeal to the Information Commissioner, the regulator of the FOIA and DPA
– we can provide more details about this if you need them.
Advice and assistance
We have considered what information we could provide to you where it
would be no longer identifiable. We believe that we would be able to
provide you with 2 separate tables, breaking down the information. The
first table would provide you with the number of applicants who took the
PLAB 1 assessment, from each university, at each of the PLAB assessment
centres and the date of the assessment. The second table would show the
number of applicants who passed or failed the PLAB 1 assessment, at which
PLAB assessment centre and the date of the assessment. Please let me know
if you would wish to be provided with this information.
Yours sincerely
Sadie Jones
Information Access Officer
[2][email address]
0161 250 6889
General Medical Council
3 Hardman Street
Manchester
M3 3AW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[2][FOI #412565 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[3]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[4]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Working with doctors Working for patients
The General Medical Council helps to protect patients and improve medical
education and practice in the UK by setting standards for students and
doctors. We support them in achieving (and exceeding) those standards, and
take action when they are not met.
_________________________________________________________________
Unless otherwise expressly agreed by the sender of this email, this
communication may contain privileged or confidential information which is
exempt from disclosure under UK law. This email and its attachments may
not be used or disclosed except for the purpose for which it has been
sent.
If you are not the addressee or have received this email in error, please
do not read, print, re-transmit, store or act in reliance on it or any
attachments. Instead, please email the sender and then immediately delete
it.
General Medical Council
3 Hardman Street, Manchester M3 3AW
Regents Place, 350 Euston Road, London NW1 3JN
The Tun, 4 Jacksons Entry, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AE
4th Floor, Caspian Point 2, Caspian Way, Cardiff Bay CF10 4DQ
9th Floor, Bedford House, 16-22 Bedford Street, Belfast BT2 7FD
The GMC is a charity registered in England and Wales (1089278) and
Scotland (SC037750)
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[FOI #412565 email]
3. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
4. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
Dear A Nasir
Your information request – F17/9004/SJ
Thank you for your email. I have now had chance to look into your request.
I have attached a table with the number of applicants who took the PLAB 1
assessment, from each university, at each of the PLAB assessment centres
and the date of the assessment.
Also, please see the below table which provides the number of candidates
that passed or failed the exam, the date of the exam and the location of
the exam.
PLAB Assessment 1 Number of Number of
- Date candidates who candidates
Location passed who failed
12 March 2015 Islamabad 95 38
Karachi 20 11
05 November 2015 Islamabad 148 49
Karachi 27 9
15 March 2016 Islamabad 160 34
Karachi 29 9
15 November 2016 Islamabad 167 41
Karachi 38 10
16 November 2017 Islamabad 155 82
Karachi 23 15
Unfortunately, we do not hold information about doctors registered address
at the time of their PLAB 1 assessment. We may be able to provide you with
information regarding current registered addresses, however, we would not
be able to link them to the information that I have provided to you, this
is because we think that this would potentially provide you with
identifiable information about an individual applicant.
I hope that you find this information useful.
Yours sincerely
Sadie Jones
Information Access Officer
[1][email address]
0161 250 6889
General Medical Council
3 Hardman Street
Manchester
M3 3AW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: A Nasir [[2]mailto:[FOI #412565 email]]
Sent: 19 July 2017 13:31
To: Sadie Jones (0161 250 6889)
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - FOI request about PLAB 1
Candidates from Pakistan
Dear Sadie Jones (0161 250 6889),
Thank you for your response.
I believe that what I requested would not make any candidate identifiable
for example just providing the city field for the residence of an
applicant can not enable anyone to identify the individual; however if you
feel that is the case then I am happy for you to provide the information
as per your suggestion with just one addition please.
You said "We have considered what information we could provide to you
where it would be no longer identifiable. We believe that we would be able
to provide you with 2 separate tables, breaking down the information. The
first table would provide you with the number of applicants who took the
PLAB 1 assessment, from each university, at each of the PLAB assessment
centres and the date of the assessment. The second table would shows the
number of applicants who passed or failed the PLAB 1 assessment, at which
PLAB assessment centre and the date of the assessment."
In the first or second table add the number of applicants from each city
or town; where the number of applicants is more than 5. For example it
could be:
Applicants Registered address Town or City; Number of applicants Karachi;
54 Lahore; 68 Jhelum; 9
Yours sincerely,
A Nasir
-----Original Message-----
Dear A Nasir
Your information access request – F17/8938/SJ
Thank you for your email dated 16 June asking for information regarding
applicants for the PLAB 1 assessment in Pakistan. I’ve considered your
request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
My Response
Within your request, you have specified that you require the: ‘Test Date;
Test Venue, Applicant City or Town (Registered Address), Applicant PMQ
Awarding Body, Result (Pass or Fail).’
If I were to provide you with a table including all of the requested
information, it would make each applicant identifiable, and therefore we
believe this would breach the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) to provide
this information to you. The link between the university, whether the
applicant passed or failed and information concerning their address could
potentially provide you with identifiable information about an individual
applicant. I have given details of the exemption below.
The exemption
Section 40(2), by virtue of section 40(3)(a)(i)
This exemption applies where the information is the personal data of a
third party and where releasing the information would breach any
principle of the DPA. In this instance disclosure would breach the first
principle of the DPA, which requires the processing of information to be
'fair and lawful'. I believe the conditions in Schedule 2 of the DPA,
which are about the processing of personal information, are not met and
therefore giving you the information would be unlawful.
Your right to appeal
I'm sorry I couldn’t provide the information you requested. You can
appeal against this decision to Julian Graves, Information Access
Manager. If you want to appeal, please set out your reasons and write to
him at the above address or email [1][email address]. You can also
appeal to the Information Commissioner, the regulator of the FOIA and DPA
– we can provide more details about this if you need them.
Advice and assistance
We have considered what information we could provide to you where it
would be no longer identifiable. We believe that we would be able to
provide you with 2 separate tables, breaking down the information. The
first table would provide you with the number of applicants who took the
PLAB 1 assessment, from each university, at each of the PLAB assessment
centres and the date of the assessment. The second table would show the
number of applicants who passed or failed the PLAB 1 assessment, at which
PLAB assessment centre and the date of the assessment. Please let me know
if you would wish to be provided with this information.
Yours sincerely
Sadie Jones
Information Access Officer
[2][email address]
0161 250 6889
General Medical Council
3 Hardman Street
Manchester
M3 3AW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[3][FOI #412565 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[4]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[5]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Working with doctors Working for patients
The General Medical Council helps to protect patients and improve medical
education and practice in the UK by setting standards for students and
doctors. We support them in achieving (and exceeding) those standards, and
take action when they are not met.
_________________________________________________________________
Unless otherwise expressly agreed by the sender of this email, this
communication may contain privileged or confidential information which is
exempt from disclosure under UK law. This email and its attachments may
not be used or disclosed except for the purpose for which it has been
sent.
If you are not the addressee or have received this email in error, please
do not read, print, re-transmit, store or act in reliance on it or any
attachments. Instead, please email the sender and then immediately delete
it.
General Medical Council
3 Hardman Street, Manchester M3 3AW
Regents Place, 350 Euston Road, London NW1 3JN
The Tun, 4 Jacksons Entry, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AE
4th Floor, Caspian Point 2, Caspian Way, Cardiff Bay CF10 4DQ
9th Floor, Bedford House, 16-22 Bedford Street, Belfast BT2 7FD
The GMC is a charity registered in England and Wales (1089278) and
Scotland (SC037750)
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[FOI #412565 email]
3. mailto:[FOI #412565 email]
4. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
5. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
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