INFORMATION COMPLIANCE TEAM
University Offices, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JD
Ref: 202404/402
31 May 2024
Reply to request for information under the Freedom of Information Act
Your ref
Email of 3 May 2024
_
The following request is under the FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT, 2000.
I am making a request for the data that shows the breakdown of the decision-making
process, sorted by MAT score and college. The MAT data set in question is the 2017, 2018,
2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 MAT paper, sat by students applying for Computer Science
and Philosophy.
Please could the following information be provided:
Request
For each and every individual college:
1. The average MAT score of those who applied directly to the college.
2. The average MAT score of those who were shortlisted from the college.
3. The average MAT score of those who received an offer from the college.
4. The predicted and achieved A Levels for each applicant from the college.
5. The predicted and achieved A Levels for each offer holder from the college.
Could all colleges be included and this information be given in Excel format please?
Dear Jakub
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request to the University of Oxford. The data is attached in the
spreadsheet.
Your request is for detailed individual level data. We consider that disclosure of this information in the exact
form requested might enable those with access to other information or knowledge to identify individuals and
learn new information about those individuals e.g. those on the same course or at the same college. For this
reason, we have taken a measures to reduce the risk of identification by redaction of data for the MAT scores
for any data for averages of less than 3 students.
In taking these measures, we are applying the exemption in section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA). Section 40(2) provides an exemption from disclosure for information that is the personal data of an
individual other than the requester, where disclosure would breach any of the data protection principles in Article
5 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We consider that disclosure of the information requested
in the exact form requested would breach the first data protection principle, which requires that personal data
is processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner. Disclosure would be unfair to the individuals concerned,
2
as it would be contrary to their reasonable and legitimate expectations. They would not reasonably expect that
information relating to their application to Oxford would be made public under the FOIA without their consent.
For the disclosure of personal data to be lawful, it must have a lawful basis under Article 6 of the GDPR. There
are six possible lawful bases in Article 6; we do not consider that any of them would be satisfied in respect of
the disclosure.
The exemption in section 40(2) is an absolute exemption and is not subject to the public interest test provided
for in section 2(2)(b) of the FOIA. To the extent that the public interest is relevant in this case, the University
considers it is satisfied by the information provided.
INTERNAL REVIEW
If you are dissatisfied with this reply, you may ask the University to review it by e-mailing
xxx@xxxxx.xx.xx.xx. A request for internal review should be submitted no later than 40 working days from the date of this letter.
THE INFORMATION COMMISSIONER
If, after the internal review, you are still dissatisfied, you have the right under FOIA to apply to the Information
Commissioner for a decision as to whether your request has been dealt with in accordance with the FOIA. You
can do this online using the
Information Commissioner’s complaints portal.
Yours sincerely
FOI Oxford
Information Compliance Team
