Law Admissions - Clearing 2018
Dear Middlesex University,
Please provide the following admissions data in relation to the law-related courses that were offered by your university in UCAS Clearing 2018 (i.e. any courses with course code M1xx):
1. The total number of candidates who applied for one of these courses through Clearing;
2. The number of candidates whose applications through Clearing were accepted.
For the candidates whose applications were accepted through Clearing:
3. The number of candidates who achieved AAA or above at A-level;
4. The number of candidates who achieved AAB;
5. The number of candidates who achieved ABB;
6. The number of candidates who achieved BBB;
7. The number of candidates who achieved BBC;
8. The number of candidates who achieved BCC;
9. The number of candidates who achieved CCC;
10. The number of candidates who achieved CCD;
11. The number of candidates who achieved CDD;
12. The number of candidates who achieved DDD or below.
If no candidate achieved one of the grades, please insert ‘0’ or ‘N/A’ as a response. Please exclude data related to UCAS Adjustment from your response.
Yours faithfully,
George Mounokoliavitz
Please note I am out of the office on annual leave until Monday 22 July.
I will respond to your message as soon as possible on my return.
Thanks,
John.
Dear Mr Mounokoliavitz,
I acknowledge your request for information received on 19 July 2019.
Your request is being considered and if the information is held you will
receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20
working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to
the information not being exempt.
I may contact you if the request needs to be clarified; this is to ensure
that we provide you with the information you require.
Please note that some information you have requested may not be provided
to you; this will only be information that can be withheld by law. In
most cases the reasons will be explained to you along with your copy of
any information that can be released to you.
If for any reason we are unable to provide you with a full response within
the statutory timescale, we will contact you explaining the reasons for
this and giving a revised date by which we will reply.
Please note that the information you supplied with your request will be
retained on file by the University for the purposes of processing your
request and statistical analysis and audit. Your personal information will
only be accessed by authorised University staff and will be held in
accordance with the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.
Best wishes,
John.
John Gilchrist
Data Protection Officer
Middlesex University
The Burroughs
Hendon
London NW4 4BT
T: +44(0) 208 411 4061
E: [1][email address]
W: [2]mdx.ac.uk
[3]cid:image001.png@01D2D630.5B558030
For further information as to how we process personal data:
[4]http://www.mdx.ac.uk/about-us/policies/p...
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.mdx.ac.uk/
4. http://www.mdx.ac.uk/about-us/policies/p...
Dear George,
Further to my previous email we have a clarification that we need you to
address.
When you state Law courses is this just BA Law / LLB, or does it include
all the programmes within the Law faculty?
Thanks,
John.
John Gilchrist
Data Protection Officer
For further information as to how we process personal data:
[1]http://www.mdx.ac.uk/about-us/policies/p...
From: John Gilchrist
Sent: 23 July 2019 16:30
To: George Mounokoliavitz <[FOI #591010 email]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Law Admissions - Clearing 2018
Dear Mr Mounokoliavitz,
I acknowledge your request for information received on 19 July 2019.
Your request is being considered and if the information is held you will
receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20
working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to
the information not being exempt.
I may contact you if the request needs to be clarified; this is to ensure
that we provide you with the information you require.
Please note that some information you have requested may not be provided
to you; this will only be information that can be withheld by law. In
most cases the reasons will be explained to you along with your copy of
any information that can be released to you.
If for any reason we are unable to provide you with a full response within
the statutory timescale, we will contact you explaining the reasons for
this and giving a revised date by which we will reply.
Please note that the information you supplied with your request will be
retained on file by the University for the purposes of processing your
request and statistical analysis and audit. Your personal information will
only be accessed by authorised University staff and will be held in
accordance with the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.
Best wishes,
John.
John Gilchrist
Data Protection Officer
Middlesex University
The Burroughs
Hendon
London NW4 4BT
T: +44(0) 208 411 4061
E: [2][email address]
W: [3]mdx.ac.uk
[4]cid:image001.png@01D2D630.5B558030
For further information as to how we process personal data:
[5]http://www.mdx.ac.uk/about-us/policies/p...
References
Visible links
1. http://www.mdx.ac.uk/about-us/policies/p...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.mdx.ac.uk/
5. http://www.mdx.ac.uk/about-us/policies/p...
Dear John,
The request refers to all undergraduate programmes in the law faculty (that were available in Clearing last year). This may include 'Law with Languages'- or 'Law with studies abroad'-style courses.
Yours sincerely,
George Mounokoliavitz
Dear Mr Mounokoliavitz,
Please see attached the response to your FOI request made on 19 July 2019.
Best wishes,
John
John Gilchrist
Data Protection Officer
Middlesex University
The Burroughs
Hendon
London NW4 4BT
T: +44(0) 208 411 4061
E: [1][email address]
W: [2]mdx.ac.uk
[3]cid:image001.png@01D2D630.5B558030
For further information as to how we process personal data:
[4]http://www.mdx.ac.uk/about-us/policies/p...
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.mdx.ac.uk/
4. http://www.mdx.ac.uk/about-us/policies/p...
Dear Middlesex University,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews. I believe that this is Mr David Maplas, who is Director of Student Affairs at the university's Hendon campus.
I am writing to request an internal review of Middlesex University's handling of my FOI request 'Law Admissions - Clearing 2018'. A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/l....
My request was refused on the grounds of s.44(1)(a) FOIA 2000, on the basis that the release of the data could infringe competition law. The specific ground that was provided was the following: "By disclosing the information it would be placed in the public domain where it would be readily accessible to other institutions in the Higher Education sector; thus it could adversely affect the free competition between institutions."
I would like to request a review on the following grounds:
1. No citation or legal authority was adduced in support of the following assertion: "Competition law is seen to be infringed if parties do not actually agree on an anticompetitive act but exchange information that would lead competitors to understand how and what benchmarks have been set. This would include the release of strategic, or strategically useful, information." This makes it impossible for someone in my position to confirm that the law is indeed correct and whether it has been correctly applied. It also makes any future requests for internal review more difficult, as I do not know which enactment I need to research and apply to the facts of my case.
1A. I note that the Information Commissioner's Office has already found that, because of the lack of an actual agreement (formal or informal) between institutions, s.2(1) of the Competition Act 1998 is not engaged when a university releases information on its marketing spend. The relevant decision can be found here: https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak... (page 4 onwards). I cannot imagine that the release of the number of offers made through Clearing, and the grades achieved by the holders thereof, is materially different. Is Middlesex University therefore seeking to rely on s.2(1), or some other provision?
2. It is unclear as to how the release of data on the grades of Clearing offerholders make some sort of anti-competitive 'copying' by rival institutions more likely. Data on entrants more generally is accessible through the governmental Unistats dataset, which can be requested from HESA for free, and which goes back several years. Data on offer rates, most common subjects studied by current students, and other information on the makeup of the current body, can be found on the university.which.co.uk website. And, finally, further, more detailed information about a university's recruitment practices can be requested from HESA at short notice through a custom request. The point is that much of the information I am requesting is in the public domain.
I look forward to hearing the outcome of this internal review.
Yours faithfully,
George Mounokoliavitz
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now