Miss Zoe Allwood
FOI Manager
Olivia Woods
By email
Reference: FOI-2025-94
20 February 2025
Dear Olivia Woods,
Your request was received on 1 February 2025 and I am dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 (‘the Act’).
You asked:
I would like to request the following information regarding this year's application cycle
(2024/2025), specific to the Engineering H100 course and the August Reconsideration Pool
(ARP).
1. The number of students who applied to this course.
2. The number of students who received offers for this course in January.
3. The number of students who were eligible for reconsideration for this course.
4. The number of spaces available to the ARP for this course.
5. The number of offers given out this year for this course through the ARP.
6. The ENGAA scores of the offer holders who were successful through the ARP.
7. The achieved A-Level grades for each of the successful students through the ARP.
8. The number of students who achieved a spot through the ARP that were winter-pooled.
9. The number of students who achieved a spot through the ARP that were not winter-pooled.
10. The colleges that provided places this year through the ARP.
11. The number of places provided by each of the colleges through the ARP.
12. The interview scores of the students successful in receiving a place via ARP
The information requested, insofar as it is held (noting that the current undergraduate applications
cycle is ongoing), is exempt under section 36(2)(c) of the Act because its disclosure would be likely to
prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs, in this case the integrity of the University’s applications
and admissions process which form a fundamental part of its mission as an educational institution. (As
the information requested is statistical in nature, the opinion of the qualified person did not need to be
sought for this application of section 36.) The current undergraduate applications cycle is ongoing and
The Old Schools
Trinity Lane
Cambridge, CB2 1TN
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 764142
Email: xxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx.xx
www.cam.ac.uk
applications are still being submitted and assessed. The University considers that the disclosure of
detailed statistics about applications made within the current cycle would be likely to prejudice the
notion of a fair and confidential admissions process whereby each applicant has the same information
at their disposal and partial granular data is not disclosed to specific members of the public while the
process is ongoing. As this is a qualified exemption, the University has considered whether, in all the
circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public
interest in disclosing the information. The University considers that, while some people might have an
understandable private interest in these statistics, there is no genuine public interest in them when set
against the extensive statistical information available about previous admissions cycles published at
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/apply/statistics, coupled with the prevailing public interest
in maintaining a level playing field in terms of the information available to all applicants.
If you wish to request an internal review of this response, you should contact us quoting the reference
number above. The University would normally expect to receive your request for an internal review
within 40 working days of the date of this letter and reserves the right not to review a decision where
there has been undue delay in raising a complaint. If you are not content with the outcome of your
internal review, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the internal review
procedure provided by the University. The Information Commissioner may be contacted at: The
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
(https://ico.org.uk/).
Yours sincerely,
Zoe Allwood
