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

FOI, Manchester Metropolitan University

Thank you for your email.  
The University aims to respond to all Freedom of Information requests
within 20 working days of receipt.  If this is not possible, we will
contact you within 20 working days to explain why and will provide you
with an alternative response date.
Please note that the 20 working day timescale under the Act starts to run
the following working day after the date the request is received.
Regards
[Manchester Metropolitan University request email] 
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FOI, Manchester Metropolitan University

1 Attachment

Dear Basia

 

Sincere apologies for the omission, we are currently reviewing our FOI
casework for 2018, and it appears the response below was not issued at the
time of your request.

 

Please find below the information held by the University in the categories
you requested.  Please note that we do not hold all the data you have
requested and that, where numbers are small, we have had to modify the
data/response to prevent the potential identification of individuals. 
This is because ethnicity is special category/sensitive personal data
under current data protection legislation.

 

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.

 

We do not hold data for the years 2008/09 to 2012/2013.

 

Between the years 2013/14 and 2018/19 there were a total of 12
undergraduate applicants who defined their ethnicity as Gypsy, Roma and
Traveller (or equivalent).

Between the years 2013/14 and 2018/19 a total of 9 postgraduate applicants
defined their ethnicity as Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (or equivalent).

 

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. 

Year/Study 2008/2009 2009/2010 2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019
Level
UG 47455 53487 61552 68370 56489 58893 64653 63847 63226 60523 55357
PG 11565 15643 15883 15394 14979 15808 16652 16937 17749 19732 15979

 

 

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.

We only hold data from 2013/14 to 2018/19.  Within this period there were
8 undergraduate applicants accepted to study who defined their ethnicity
as Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (or equivalent) and 6 postgraduate
applicants.

 

d) 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. 

Study 2008/2009 2009/2010 2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019
Level
UG 10202 11870 12835 12827 10391 11632 11138 11911 11369 10934 9894
PG 2014 5162 4381 4058 3773 4146 4326 4571 5245 5528 3974

We do not categorise applicants by ethnicity and have only been able to
confirm applicants who have defined their ethnicity as Gypsy, Roma and
Traveller manually, due to the small numbers involved.

 

Regards

 

Michelle Gretton | Information Governance Officer

Legal Services | Manchester Metropolitan University

Email: [1][Manchester Metropolitan University request email]  

All Saints Building | Oxford Road | Manchester | M15 6BH | United Kingdom
| mmu.ac.uk

[2]Manchester Metropolitan University

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request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of this decision,
you should write to the Director of Legal Services, All Saints Building,
Manchester, M15 6BH, or at [email address].  If you are not content with
the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information
Commissioner for a decision.  Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision
unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Legal
Department.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF.

 

 

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