If you have submitted a Freedom of Information request please accept this
email as acknowledgement that your request has been received. You should
expect a response from us within 20 working days.
Data Protection & FOI
Legal Services
UCL

Dear Amy,

 

I am writing in response to your request for information received by UCL
on 1 June.

 

Please find attached below a response to each of your questions, in
addition further information is attached.

 

1)What is the average number of A* at GCSE for the medicine applicants who
received an offer in the application cycle of 2014-2015 and the
application cycle of 2013-2014.

In Admissions we did not record the number of A* grades achieved by
applicants. In the 2014-15 cycle, we scored GCSE profiles as “below
average”, “average” or “above average”. An average profile included
predominantly A and A* grades. Over 80% of the profiles assessed were
average or above. In the year before that (2013-14) the applications were
paper-based and no such scoring was recorded.

 

2)To what extent are GCSE grades important for the selection process of a
medicine applicant at UCL and could a really good BMAT score and IB
prediction compensate for about 6-8 A* at GCSE?

The GCSE profile is no more or less important than any of the other
criteria assessed. Having said that, the GCSE profiles do not do much to
distinguish candidates, since the majority of candidates offer similarly
strong profiles. An overall assessment of the whole application is made,
but a “weakness” in any aspect of the application (including a weak GCSE
outcome) might reduce the competitiveness and therefore likelihood of
being selected. I am not sure why it is felt that other scores would be
needed to “compensate” for having 6-8 A* grades at GCSE, which would be a
normal GCSE profile.

 

3)Have students with 6-8 a* GCSE grades been accepted before?

Yes, this is a normal GCSE profile that many students achieve.

 

4) What factors are taken into consideration for an offer to be made to a
student?

All published selection criteria. See attached “select” PDF.

 

5) Could you attach a copy of the sheet that the tutors have when
interviewing  a student?

See attached “Scorecard” PDF.

 

6) Do the admission officers mind about GCSE re-sits?

Needing to resitting GCSEs due to low original grades will result in the
application being disadvantaged and the competitiveness of the application
may be adversely affected.

 

7) What were the average BMAT scores for the application cycle of
2014-2015?

The average BMAT scores for all who applied were 4.8 in section 1, 4.6 in
section 2, 3.0 A for the essay. The average BMAT scores for students who
received an offer were 5.5 in section 1, 5.4 in section 2 and 3.5 A for
the essay.

 

8) What were the standard offers for medicine applicants that were IB
students and how many IB students received offers in the application cycle
of 2014-2015?

The IB offer in 2014 was 38 points overall with a combined score of 18
achieved in three Higher Level subjects, which must include at least 6 in
Higher Chemistry, 6 in Higher Biology and at least 5 in the third Higher
subject. We keep detailed information on the offer-holders who accept our
offer as their Firm choice, but we don’t routinely track those who decline
the UCL offer or go elsewhere. Consequently we can accurately count the
Firm offer-holders and say how many of them held the IB by looking back at
that year’s recorded data but to ascertain which of the Insurance or
Declined offer-holders held IB would require going back and searching
through those applications individually. This would be a significant
undertaking and may exceed the £450 ‘appropriate limit.’ This figure, is
specified by regulation, representing the cost of one person spending 18
hours determining whether we hold the information, and locating,
retrieving and / or extracting it. Alternatively we are able to provide an
estimated that the number of offer-holders studying IB would be 40-50
students.

 

You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including
for non-commercial research purposes. The information may also be used for
the purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for
example by publishing or issuing copies to the public, will require the
permission of the copyright owner.

 

If you are unhappy with our response to your request and wish to make a
complaint or request a review of our decision, please email
[1][email address]. Emails should include the words ‘Internal
Review’ in the subject and be marked For the Attention of the Vice Provost
Operations, alternatively you should write to:

 

Vice Provost Operations

University College London

1-19 Torrington Place

London WC1E 7HB

 

Please note, complaints and requests for internal review received more
than two months after the initial decision will not be handled.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you may
apply directly to the Information Commissioner at the address given
below.  You should do this within two months of our final decision.

 

If you have any queries or concerns, please contact me using the details
provided in this letter and including the request reference number.

 

Further information on the Freedom of Information Act is available from
the Information Commissioner’s Office:

 

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

SK9 5AF

 

Telephone       01625 545700

[2]www.ico.gov.uk

 

 

Regards,

 

 

Alex Daybank

Data Protection & FOI

Legal Services

University College London

 

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