FOI request: Number of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller students

The request was partially successful.

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to make an open government request for all the information to which I am entitled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In order to assist you with this request, I am outlining my enquiry as specifically as possible. If however this request is too wide or unclear, I would be grateful if you would contact me as I understand that under the Act, you are required to advise and assist requesters.

I would like to find out the number of people who define their ethnicity as Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (or equivalent) who are accepted to study at the university each academic year. I would also like to discover whether these figures have changed over the past 10 years.

As such, could the following information please be made available:

a) The number of people who define their ethnicity as Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (or equivalent) who applied to study at the university each year for entry in the academic years 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2010/2011, 2011/2012, 2012/2013, 2013/2014, 2014/2015, 2015/2016, 2016/2017, 2017/2018, 2018/2019.

b) The overall number of people who applied to study at the university each year for entry in the academic years 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2010/2011, 2011/2012, 2012/2013, 2013/2014, 2014/2015, 2015/2016, 2016/2017, 2017/2018, 2018/2019. I would like these figures broken down by ethnicity.

c) The number of people who define their ethnicity as Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (or equivalent) who were accepted to study at the university each year for entry in the academic years 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2010/2011, 2011/2012, 2012/2013, 2013/2014, 2014/2015, 2015/2016, 2016/2017, 2017/2018, 2018/2019.

d) b) The overall number of people accepted to study at the university each year for entry in the academic years 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2010/2011, 2011/2012, 2012/2013, 2013/2014, 2014/2015, 2015/2016, 2016/2017, 2017/2018, 2018/2019. I would like these figures broken down by ethnicity.

Where possible, I would like all application/ acceptance figures to be broken down by undergraduate/ postgraduate study.

I understand that under the Act, I should be entitled to a response within 20 working days. I would be grateful if you would confirm in writing that you have received this request.

Yours faithfully,

Jasmin Gray

Freedom Of Information,, Heriot-Watt University

1 Attachment

Dear Basia Cummings or Jasmine Gray

 

Thank you for your information request regarding student numbers. As a
Scottish University we comply with our own country’s legislation: the
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. 

 

We are currently experiencing a high volume of information requests but we
aim to respond within the statutory deadline, taking into account any
Scottish Bank Holidays.

 

Please visit the pages below to see if the information you require is in
the public domain.

 

[1]https://www.hw.ac.uk/  

 

https://www.hw.ac.uk/services/heritage-i...
 

 

Scottish Information Commissioner Guidelines

 

Further information about timescales for responding to requests for
information and your rights under the Act can be found on the Scottish
Information Commissioner's website:

 

[2]http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR...

 

or by contacting the Scottish Information Commissioner's Office at the
following address:

 

Scottish Information Commissioner, 

Kinburn Castle, 

Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, 

Fife KY16 9DS 

Telephone: 01334 464610 

Fax: 01334 464611 

E-mail: [3][email address]

Website: [4]www.itspublicknowledge.info

 

Kind regards

 

FOISA Team

Information Governance

Governance and Legal Services

Heriot-Watt University

Edinburgh Campus

Riccarton

Edinburgh EH14 4AS

 

[5]E-mail Signature - HWU - YoftheSea - IYOTY

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Freedom Of Information,, Heriot-Watt University

3 Attachments

Dear applicants

 

Thank you for your information request regarding Gypsy, Roma and Traveller
students.  Firstly I should like to apologise for the slight delay in
responding to your request but we are presently handling a very high level
of casework.  We apologise for any inconvenience caused and hope this has
not delayed your research.  Your request has been held under our own
country’s legislation: the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
(FOISA).

 

We should explain at the outset that we do not hold this amount of data as
we have no business reason to hold data spanning 10 years.  We can however
advise you that the Higher Education Statistics Agency ([1]HESA) should be
able to provide you with equality and diversity data, not only for the
period requested but also for all UK Universities.  We hope that this
will prove a useful site for information and your research.

 

In response to your first two questions, we would not hold ethnicity
information students who apply; this information is provided by our
students once they enrol so this data is exempt from release under Section
17 . However, you might be able gather this information from [2]UCAS.  

 

For Q3, we do not have a granular code specifically identifying Gypsy,
Roma and Traveller students.  However we can advise the numbers will be <5
in any given academic year.  We would not have this broken down by either
under and post graduate so this information is exempt from release under
Section 17 of FOISA.

 

In response to Q4, we can provide you with figures for the last 3 academic
years (2 years in the documents enclosed with this reply and one
accessible via the link below) in the format that we report which we hope
you find useful. We would though, recommend that you approach HESA for
this data as they will be able to provide you with UK totals.

 

[3]https://www.hw.ac.uk/services/equality-d...

 

If you have any further questions or require any additional assistance,
please contact us via [4][Heriot-Watt University request email] and we would be more than happy to
assist.

 

Your right to seek review of our decision

 

If you are not satisfied with our response or our reasoning set-out above,
you have forty working days from today in which to request a review of our
decision.  Any request should be put in writing and should be sent to Ann
Jones, Head of Heritage and Information Governance, at the address
detailed at the bottom of this email. The request should:

 

(a) detail your request for a review of our decision to be undertaken;

 

(b) describe the nature of your original request; and

 

(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 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 web page at:

 

[5]http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR...

 

or by contacting the Scottish Information Commissioner's Office at the
following address:

 

Scottish Information Commissioner,

Kinburn Castle,

Doubledykes Road,

St Andrews,

Fife KY16 9DS

Telephone: 01334 464610

Fax: 01334 464611

E-mail: [6][email address

Website:
[7]http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/home/...

 

Contact us

 

Finally, should you wish to discuss the contents of this email, please do
not hesitate to contact me.

 

 

FOISA Team

Information Governance

Governance and Legal Services

Heriot-Watt University

Edinburgh Campus

Riccarton

Edinburgh EH14 4AS

 

[8]E-mail Signature - HWU - YoftheSea - IYOTY

 

 

 

show quoted sections