Medicine (A100) Admission Statistics

The request was partially successful.

Mubashir Shehzad

Dear Lancaster University,

Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, I kindly request for information regarding the Medicine course (A100) for the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 admission cycles.

1) What was the number of places available in the course?

2) How many mature applicants without a degree applied for the course; on the basis of Access to HE Diploma in Medicine?

3)How many of those mature applicants were called for the interviews?

4)What was the interview scoring system?

5)What were the interview scores for those mature students receiving a conditional offer?

6)How many offers were made to those mature students with no degree?

7) What was the work experiences of students given conditional offer?

8) What was the lowest GCSE grades of those mature students receiving an offer?

9) What were their final results from the Access to HE Diploma in Medicine?

10)What was the average BMAT score of offer holders?

11) What was the average BMAT score among these mature offer holders?

Yours faithfully,

Mubashir

Lancaster University

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Departmental Information Officer

Freedom of Information2,

Lancaster University

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Telephone (01524) 65201

 

 

Dear Mr Shehzad

 

I write further to your Freedom of Information request i.d. 1918, and we
give below our response:

 

1) What was the number of places available in the course?

 

54 places (in both academic years)

 

2) How many mature applicants without a degree applied for the course; on
the basis of Access to HE Diploma in Medicine?

 

We don’t keep a systematic record of this information.

 

In 2014/15 admissions cycle, we received over 1600 applications (paper
forms) and do not have any information about the type of applicant kept
electronically. To gather this information would require hand-sifting all
1600+ applications, which would exceed the statutory cost limit equivalent
to £450 (or 18 hours of staff time).

 

In 2015/16 admissions cycle, we moved to an online application system. 
This is not searchable by qualification type. Within the department, we
kept a record of applicants (name, UCAS ID, etc) and in the ‘Comment’
section, the person reviewing the application has sometimes noted the
applicant type. 12 of the 548 applicants in this spreadsheet had a comment
that would indicate that they were an Access type applicant. As assessors
were not obliged to leave a comment about the applicant type, there may be
other applicants for whom this information was not recorded. We could not
assess this without individually searching every application on the online
system, which would exceed the statutory cost limit equivalent to £450 (or
18 hours of staff time).

 

3)How many of those mature applicants were called for the interviews?

 

Again, we didn’t record this information for 2014/15 admissions cycle.

 

For 2015/16, three applicants offering an Access type qualification were
invited for interview, only one of which would class as mature (over 21
years).

 

4)What was the interview scoring system?

 

The interview process at Lancaster Medical School is through multiple mini
interviews (MMI). The MMI consists of 12-14 different 'stations', most of
which will be 5 minutes long. Some stations will consist of a short
interview, where applicants may be asked questions about their career
choice, work experience or suitability for a medical career. At others,
applicants may be asked to read a short paragraph or watch a short video
clip, take some notes and then discuss at a subsequent station. An
additional 20 minute station will involve group work and will assess
applicants’ suitability for our problem-based learning curriculum.

 

It is not possible to provide the scoring system for our MMI stations, as
that would undermine the reliability, fairness and equity of the selection
process. If applicants know exactly how they are being scored, it tends to
skew their behaviour.  We want to assess their skills, values and
attributes without this confounding factor.  Also, this information is not
made available to all applicants and therefore, anyone with this
information could be seen to have an unfair advantage – affecting the
fairness and equity of our selection procedures.

 

5)What were the interview scores for those mature students receiving a
conditional offer?

 

Applicants are assessed by 10 independent assessors. They are assessed at
each MMI station and awarded a score out of 15 for each station. All the
station scores are summed and applicants ranked according to their total
score.

 

2014/15:               Range of scores:  65-137               Offers made
to those with a score of 98 or above

2015/16:               Range of scores:  61-138               Offers made
to those with a score of 105 and above

 

Due to the small numbers of Access type applicants, I do not think it is
appropriate to disclose individual applicant’s MMI scores

 

6)How many offers were made to those mature students with no degree?

 

2014/15:               4 offers made to Access-type applicants

2015/16:               2 offers made to Access-type applicants

 

7) What was the work experiences of students given conditional offer?

 

We do not keep a record of applicants’ work experience. To provide the
information would involve close scrutiny of all the applications (more
than 2150), which would exceed the statutory cost limit equivalent to £450
(or 18 hours of staff time).

 

8) What was the lowest GCSE grades of those mature students receiving an
offer?

 

A mature applicant offering an Access qualification requires 5 grade B
GCSEs, including English, Maths, and the three Sciences (5 points). Most
Access applicants offer more than 5 GCSEs and have a higher score than 5
points but this higher score offers them no advantage in our selection
process.

 

2014/15:               9 points

2015/16:               14 points

 

9) What were their final results from the Access to HE Diploma in
Medicine?

 

Distinction in 45 level 3 credits, including 15 level 3 credits in Biology
and 15 level 3 credits in Chemistry.

 

10)What was the average BMAT score of offer holders?

 

BMAT was only introduced in the 2015/16 admissions cycle.  The average
BMAT score for offer holders was 12.0.

 

11) What was the average BMAT score among these mature offer holders?

 

Two offers made to applicants offering an Access qualification, only one
of whom was over 21 years. I have reservations about quoting their BMAT
score, as they could be identified and this is personal information about
the particular applicant.

 

 

Regards,

 

The Compliance Team

Secretariat

 

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Mubashir Shehzad

Dear Freedom of Information2,

Thank you for providing the information.

Yours sincerely,

Mubashir Shehzad