Thank you for your e-mail. The University will endeavour to respond to
your request under the Freedom of Information Act within 20 working days
of receipt. However, please note that due to the ongoing disruption caused
by the current Covid-19 pandemic, there may be unavoidable delays in
responding to your request. We would be grateful if you could bear with us
if we are unable to respond within the statutory time-frame, and we
apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause.

We may need to ask you certain questions to clarify your request to ensure
we fully understand what information is being requested. If so, the 20
working day deadline will be calculated once we have received such
clarification. 

The University's A-Z index can help in locating information that is
publicly available on the University's
website: [1]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/index/

Our Publication Scheme is available
at: [2]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/s...

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) annually publish certain
data about students and higher education: [3]https://www.hesa.ac.uk/.
Bespoke datasets can be requested from
Jisc: [4]https://www.jisc.ac.uk/tailored-datasets.

For further information about the University's FOI procedure, please
see: [5]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/secretary/foi/

References

Visible links
1. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/index/
2. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/s...
3. https://www.hesa.ac.uk/
4. https://www.jisc.ac.uk/tailored-datasets
5. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/secretary/foi/

Dear Shahad Ibrahem

Freedom of Information Request (our reference FOI21395)

We refer to your Freedom of Information request dated 12/08/2021.  

You requested the following information:

I am writing regarding the admission policy and selection process for home
applicants to the undergraduate BDS Dentistry between the years 2021-2022
and 2020-2021.

Could I please obtain the data for UCAT scores of candidates shortlisted
for interview for undergraduate BDS dentistry and dental hygiene and
therapy-BSc (Hons) between the academic years 2020-2021 as well as
2021-2022?

University’s Response

Further to Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the “Act”) we
confirm that the information requested is held by the University of
Bristol (the “University”). However, we consider that the applicant data
for the 2021/2022 cycle to be exempt from disclosure under S43 of the Act,
please see below for full details.

The average UCAT score for home applicants invited to interview for course
A206 Dental Surgery (BDS) for the academic year 2020/21 was 2589. For A208
Gateway to Dentistry (BDS) it was 2304. Course B750 Dental Hygiene and
Therapy does not require a UCAT score, therefore there is no data.

Exempt information

The information you requested for the academic year 2021/2022 relates to
the current admissions cycle. The University considers this information to
be exempt from disclosure under section 43(2) of the Act, on the grounds
that disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice the University’s
commercial interests.

Disclosure of the information before the end of the admissions cycle would
give competing higher education institutions an insight into
our admissions strategies. This would enable them to adjust their
marketing, recruitment or offer-making strategies to gain a competitive
advantage over the University, with the aim of increasing their market
share. This would or would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests
of the University, in that students who would otherwise choose to study at
Bristol might be tempted to study elsewhere.

The exemption in section 43(2) is a qualified exemption, which means that
we must weigh the public interest factors in favour of disclosure against
those in favour of applying the exemption.

As a body funded by the state and by student tuition fees, the University
accepts that there is public interest in the University being transparent
in relation to its admissions process, to ensure that public funds are
used fairly and judiciously. The University is very open about
its admissions policies and procedures, and is happy to disclose various
other data in relation to previous admissions cycles. However, the
University operates in an extremely competitive sector. To allow
universities to compete fairly and effectively they must be able to
withhold certain information from public disclosure in order to develop
successful admission strategies. It is not in the public interest to
disclose information that would compromise the University’s ability to
compete in this way.

On balance, the University considers that the public interest in
withholding the information requested in relation to the
2021 admissions cycle, outweighs the public interest in disclosure, and
the exemption in section 43(2) is applied.

The information you have requested regarding offers for the 2021/21
academic year will be available for disclosure from December 2021

Internal Review Procedure

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, then you have a
right under Section 50 of the Act to request an internal review.  All such
requests must be sent to us within 40 days, and must clearly state our
reference number (at the top of this email) and your reason for requesting
an internal review.  We will aim to respond to your request for an
internal review within 20 working days of receipt.

Your request for an internal review should be sent to
[University of Bristol request email], quoting your FOI reference number.
Alternatively, you could post it to:

Director of Legal Services

Secretary’s Office

University of Bristol

Beacon House

Queens Road

Bristol

BS8 1QU

Information Commissioners Office

Should you remain dissatisfied with the final outcome of the internal
review then you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner (the
“ICO”) for an independent review.  The ICO is the Government’s Independent
Body responsible for overseeing the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the
Data Protection Act 2018 and The Environmental Information Regulations
2004.

Please note the ICO will only review cases that have exhausted the
University’s internal review procedure. All correspondence to the ICO must
quote the University’s reference number and your reasons for your appeal. 
The ICO’s contact details are as follows:

The Information Commissioners Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

More information can be found at the ICO’s website
at [1]http://www.ico.org.uk

Kind Regards

Freedom of Information Team

University of Bristol

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ico.org.uk/