Dear Xingyuan,

I am writing to acknowledge your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 received by The University of Manchester today, our reference as per the subject line.

The University will respond to your request within 20 working days.

Kind regards,

Polly

Polly Smith | Information Officer | Information Governance Office | Directorate of Compliance and Risk | Professional Services | G.004 | Christie Building | The University of Manchester | Oxford Road | Manchester | M13 9PL | 0161 275 7789 | www.manchester.ac.uk
Please contact me on Teams or email as I may not be working in the office to take your call.

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Dear Xingyuan,

Thank you for your request for information received by The University of
Manchester on 28 March 2022 which was as follows:

1) May I ask that you provide me with the admission statistics for all of
your undergraduate programs for each admission cycle from 2006-07 to
2020-21:

For each individual undergraduate programme: 

By applicant A-level, IB courses and AP course combination:

Minimum, Mean, Maximum Number of GCSE A*s and A-level A*s/IB score/AP
score for all applicants

Minimum, Mean, Maximum Number of GCSE A*s and A-level A*s/IB score/AP
score for applicants who received an offer

Minimum, Mean, Maximum Number of GCSE A*s and A-level A*s/IB score/AP
score for applicants who registered (accepted the offer and registered) 

2) for each undergraduate programme, please provide:

Number of applications

Number of offers

Number of registrations

Split each of the above numbers by

Number of female applicants

Number of white applicants

Number of Asian applicants 

Number of Black applicants

Number of mixed ethnicity applicants 

Number of applicants of other ethnicities

Number of applicants who are Chinese nationals

The University has now considered your request and unfortunately the
information you are seeking cannot be provided at this time. This is
because it is deemed to be exempt from disclosure by virtue of the listed
exemption at Section 43 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 –
Commercial Interests. Further details of this follow in the refusal notice
below.

Refusal Notice

This Refusal Notice has been issued under Section 17 (1) of the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA). Under Section 1 (1) of the FOIA The University of
Manchester confirms that the information requested is held but we are
refusing to provide it in response to your request for the reasons set out
below.

Section 43 (2) – Commercial Interests

Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would,
or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person
(including the public authority holding it).

We are applying Section 43 (2) as a prejudice-based exemption. We may rely
on this exemption if the disclosure would prejudice someone’s commercial
interests (including the University’s own). Commercial interests may be
prejudiced where a disclosure would be likely to:

· Damage its business reputation or the confidence that customers,
suppliers or investors may have in it

· Have a detrimental impact on its commercial revenue or threaten its
ability to obtain supplies or secure finance

· Weaken its position in a competitive environment by revealing market
sensitive information or information of potential usefulness to its
competitors.

It is the latter of these three points that The University of Manchester
feels is relevant to this request. To determine where the public interest
lies with regard to this exemption, we have previously liaised extensively
with relevant staff in the University regarding requests of this nature,
including the Director of Student Recruitment & International Development,
the Heads of Teaching, Learning and the Student Experience in Faculties as
well as the University’s Head of Student Data, Analysis and Records.

All felt that releasing detailed information of the type requested at
course level would impact on the University’s competitive advantage and
would therefore prejudice our commercial interests. Providing such
detailed information on the level of applications, offers and enrolments
at course level would give a new or existing competitor key information
about our programmes. This could enable them to either start a new course
themselves (by identifying a perceived gap in the market which could then
impact on our numbers of applications, offers and/or acceptances) or to
more aggressively compete with us/poach from us (as they identify they
could be able to gain a bigger share of the market which could then impact
on our numbers of applications, offers and/or acceptances). Any disclosure
under the FOIA is considered as a disclosure to the world, so whereas it
may not be your intention to use the information in this way, it must be
an important factor in our considerations.

Public Interest Test

As Section 43(2) is a qualified exemption we are required to carry out a
public interest test to determine if the commercial interest is overridden
by the public interest from a release of the information concerned.

Factors in Favour of Disclosure

There is public interest in disclosing applications and offer data. To do
so would ensure that members of the public can be satisfied that the
University of Manchester is open and transparent. It may also assist
public debate with regard to the issue of student recruitment and offer
making.

Factors Against Disclosure

Universities operate in an ever and increasingly competitive environment
and as such, the University would not wish to disclose information that
would be likely to prejudice our commercial interests and our position
within this environment.

Therefore, we believe that for the reasons outlined above, the balance
lies in maintaining the exemption at this time.

If you feel that The University of Manchester has refused access to
information to which you are entitled, or has not dealt with your request
appropriately under the FOIA, you have a right of appeal.

An appeal in the first instance should be directed to the Information
Governance Office at [1][email address]. You should include: 

·         details of your initial request

·         any other relevant information

You must make this appeal within 40 working days from receipt of your
response. We will not accept appeals received after this date, as per the
Freedom of Information Code of Practice, Section 5.3.

The University will deal with your appeal within a reasonable time, and
will inform you of the projected time scale on receipt of your complaint.
You are also welcome to contact the Information Governance Office with
informal questions about the handling of your request. 

After The University’s internal appeals procedure has been exhausted, you
have a further right of appeal to the Information Commissioner’s
Office. Details of this procedure can be found at [2]www.ico.org.uk.

Kind regards

Sharon

Sharon Glen | Information Officer | Information Governance Office |
Directorate of Compliance and Risk |Professional Services | G7 Christie
Building | The University of Manchester | Oxford Road | Manchester | M13
9PL | Tel +44(0) 161 306 7549| [3]www.manchester.ac.uk

Please contact me on Teams or email as I may not be working in the office
to take your call.

[4]data_matters_logo2-(3)

We are all responsible for protecting personal data held by the
University, including who we share that data with. Stop and think before
you send your email.  For further guidance see:
[5]www.dataprotection.manchester.ac.uk

References

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