Report to Equality and Diversity Committee
Undergraduate Admissions - October 2010 Entry
Overview
The information below is for all applicants to the University for October 2010 entry and concentrates on the proportion of rejections. The data is inclusive
of all students admitted through Clearing but because of the nature of the application system used during Clearing it does not include any Clearing
applications that did not result in admission.
The data presented is for admission to all full time undergraduate degree courses through UCAS, as this is the responsibility of the Undergraduate
Admissions Office. Admission to the Bridging Year, and the Certificates of Higher Education delivered by the International Academy pathways, is all
administered through the International Academy and data and monitoring information is not readily available to the central admissions function. The
International Academy data included in the table below if for the 4/3 years degree courses only and does not include any pathway programmes. Similarly,
admission to a small number of Health and Human Sciences (HHS) undergraduate programmes is managed by the School of HHS and relevant data
about these courses is not captured here.
In accordance with the recommendations of the Equality Impact Assessment of Admissions and the SUMS Review of Admissions, the central Admissions
Office is currently engaged in a major in a significant project with MIS to re-structure admissions systems and processes in order to provide an equivalent
service to all applicants and to improve the availability of data about admissions activity that is currently managed in devolved units.
The following tables set out data about rejection rates for all applicants, applicants by gender, applicants who have declared a disability, and applicants
by age.
Data on applicant ethnicity is not currently accessible at the point of application. Ethnicity data is currently received by the University as part of the HESA
data requirements, for students who are registered.
Joanne Tallentire
Deputy Director (Admissions)
Communications & External Relations
25 January 2011
Total number of applicants
For information, the table below shows the total number of applicants rejected, by subject.
Applicants for 2010
Art History
Biological Sciences
Computer Science and Electronic Engineering
East 15 Acting School
Economics
Essex Business School
European Studies
Government
Health and Human Sciences
History
Humanities
International Academy
Languages and Linguistics
Latin American Studies
Law
Literature
Mathematics
Philosophy
Psychoanalytic Studies
Psychology
Sociology
US Studies
University Total
Total Applicants
109
1582
767
2167
764
3063
106
961
755
706
56
515
683
26
984
723
482
298
43
980
651
141
16562
Rejected
% of Applicants Rejected
14
530
205
574
155
852
7
240
417
95
8
306
105
2
278
114
64
37
0
188
109
19
4319
12.8%
33.5%
26.7%
26.5%
20.3%
27.8%
6.6%
25.0%
55.2%
13.5%
14.3%
59.4%
15.4%
7.7%
28.3%
15.8%
13.3%
12.4%
0.0%
19.2%
16.7%
13.5%
26.1%
Overall the University rejected 26% of all undergraduate applicants during the October 2010 entry cycle. Rejection rates for 2009, 2008 and 2007 were
19%, 16% and 19% respectively. The higher rejection rate in 2010 is a reflection of the overall increase of 22% in applications for October 2010 entry
compared with 2009. This has afforded the University with the opportunity to be more robust in applying standard entry requirements and more selective
in specific subjects, resulting in an overall increase in rejection rates at the application stage.
Rejection rates vary at subject level, with higher rejection rates typically occurring in subjects where the entry requirements and/or the volume of
applications were particularly high.
Monitoring by Gender
The table below details the total number of applicants and total number of rejections by gender split.
Art History
Biological Sciences
Computer Science and Electronic Engineering
East 15 Acting School
Economics
Essex Business School
European Studies
Government
Health and Human Sciences
History
Humanities
International Academy
Languages and Linguistics
Latin American Studies
Law
Literature
Mathematics
Philosophy
Psychoanalytic Studies
Psychology
Sociology
US Studies
University Total
Total
Applicants
109
1582
767
2167
764
3063
106
961
755
706
56
515
683
26
984
723
482
298
43
980
651
141
16562
(No
Gender
on
UCAS
Form)
0
1
0
0
0
8
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
3
0
0
1
2
0
18
F
M
83
674
112
1197
246
1340
83
431
633
295
33
166
502
16
656
463
217
114
37
752
471
96
8617
26
907
655
970
518
1715
23
530
121
411
23
349
181
10
326
260
262
184
6
227
178
45
7927
% Male
of
Total
23.85%
57.33%
85.40%
44.76%
67.80%
55.99%
21.70%
55.15%
16.03%
58.22%
41.07%
67.77%
26.50%
38.46%
33.13%
35.96%
54.36%
61.74%
13.95%
23.16%
27.34%
31.91%
47.86%
%
Female
of total
76.15%
42.60%
14.60%
55.24%
32.20%
43.75%
78.30%
44.85%
83.84%
41.78%
58.93%
32.23%
73.50%
61.54%
66.67%
64.04%
45.02%
38.26%
86.05%
76.73%
72.35%
68.09%
52.03%
Total
Rejected
14
530
205
574
155
852
7
240
417
95
8
306
105
2
278
114
64
37
188
109
19
4319
12
195
33
348
53
358
5
104
350
36
5
91
74
1
170
62
29
11
2
335
172
226
102
494
2
136
67
59
3
215
31
1
108
52
35
26
%
Female
of
Total
85.71%
36.79%
16.10%
60.63%
34.19%
42.02%
71.43%
43.33%
83.93%
37.89%
62.50%
29.74%
70.48%
50.00%
61.15%
54.39%
45.31%
29.73%
133
69
14
2153
55
40
5
2166
70.74%
63.30%
73.68%
49.85%
F
M
%
Male
of
Total
14.29%
63.21%
83.90%
39.37%
65.81%
57.98%
28.57%
56.67%
16.07%
62.11%
37.50%
70.26%
29.52%
50.00%
38.85%
45.61%
54.69%
70.27%
29.26%
36.70%
26.32%
50.15%
The table shows the University overall to have an almost equal gender split in both its applicants and rejections; this has been the case for a number of
years. There is generally a close correlation between the gender split for applicants and the gender split for those rejected. The historic popularity of some
subjects with males and females is evident in the data.
Monitoring by Disability
The table below gives the total number of applicants with a disability and the number of rejected applicants as a number and percentage.
Applicants with disability
All applicants with a disability
F
Art History
Biological Sciences
Computer Science and Electronic Systems
East 15 Acting School
Economics
Essex Business School
European Studies
Government
Health and Human Sciences
History
Humanities
International Academy
Languages and Linguistics
Latin American Studies
Law
Literature
Mathematics
Philosophy
Psychoanalytic Studies
Psychology
Sociology
US Studies
University Total
2
31
1
115
3
14
1
11
24
9
3
4
17
0
10
25
8
4
6
29
12
4
333
M
2
56
30
114
10
30
0
37
7
22
1
12
4
2
8
26
11
20
1
18
9
6
426
Total
4
87
31
229
13
44
1
48
31
31
4
16
21
2
18
51
19
24
7
47
21
10
759
All rejected applicants with a disability
Total Females
Rejected
0
7
0
32
1
4
0
1
16
1
0
4
4
0
2
7
0
1
0
6
3
1
90
Total Males
Rejected
0
14
11
34
2
6
0
10
2
2
1
6
1
1
4
7
2
2
0
4
1
1
111
Total
Rejected
0
21
11
66
3
10
0
11
18
3
1
10
5
1
6
14
2
3
0
10
4
2
201
% Applicants with
Disability Rejected
0.00%
24.1%
35.5%
28.8%
23.1%
22.7%
0.0%
22.9%
58.1%
9.7%
25.0%
62.5%
23.8%
50.0%
33.3%
27.5%
10.5%
12.5%
0.0%
21.3%
19.0%
20.0%
26.5%
Of the total number of undergraduate applicants to the University in October 2010 4.6% declared a disability compared with 6% the previous year. However,
the percentage of applicants with a disability who were rejected has remained almost static at 26.5% for October 2010 entry compared with 26% for 2009
entry. It is worth noting that this represents an increase of 9% compared with 17% in 2008, and it is therefore appropriate to keep the rejection rate for
applicants who declare a disability under review over an extended period of time. In the majority of cases where the percentage of rejections by department
is above the University average, the numbers involved render the figure statistically insignificant given the size of the applicant pool. As in previous years,
the number of applicants to East 15 Acting School who declared a disability is substantial compared with other subjects, but the percentage overall is in the
standard range for all subjects and the volume is therefore proportionate to the very large number of applications received by East 15 Acting School. Gender
does not appear to be a factor in the rejection of applicants with declared disabilities.
Monitoring by Age
The table below details the total number of applicants and total number of rejections by maturity – over 21s are formally defined as mature applicants.
Applicants with Age
Art History
Biological Sciences
Computer Science and
Electronic Engineering
East 15 Acting School
Economics
Essex Business School
European Studies
Government
Health and Human Sciences
History
Humanities
International Academy
Languages and Linguistics
Latin American Studies
Law
Literature
Mathematics
Philosophy
Psychoanalytic Studies
Psychology
Sociology
US Studies
University Total
Total
Applicants
Applicants
with no
DOB
Over
21
Under
21
%
Over
21
%
Under
21
Total
Rejected
Over
21
Under
21
% Over
21
Rejected
% Under
21
Rejected
109
1582
767
2
7
0
15
188
167
92
1387
600
13.8%
11.9%
21.8%
84.4%
87.7%
78.2%
14
530
205
5
111
75
9
419
130
35.7%
20.9%
36.6%
64.3%
79.1%
63.4%
2167
764
3063
106
961
755
706
56
515
683
26
984
723
482
298
43
980
651
141
16562
0
0
20
0
0
1
1
0
2
0
0
15
1
8
1
0
1
4
0
63
421
65
522
9
78
422
46
6
61
102
6
150
74
34
31
43
88
93
15
2636
1746
699
2521
97
883
332
659
50
452
581
20
819
648
440
266
0
891
554
126
13863
19.4%
8.5%
17.0%
8.5%
8.1%
55.9%
6.5%
10.7%
11.8%
14.9%
23.1%
15.2%
10.2%
7.1%
10.4%
80.6%
91.5%
82.3%
91.5%
91.9%
44.0%
93.3%
89.3%
87.8%
85.1%
76.9%
83.2%
89.6%
91.3%
89.3%
0.0%
90.9%
85.1%
89.4%
83.7%
574
155
852
7
240
417
94
8
306
105
2
278
114
64
37
188
93
21
223
0
31
264
6
1
29
32
2
60
26
13
10
30
481
134
629
7
209
153
88
7
277
73
0
218
88
51
27
158
16.2%
13.5%
26.2%
0.0%
12.9%
63.3%
6.4%
12.5%
9.5%
30.5%
100.0%
21.6%
22.8%
20.3%
27.0%
16.0%
83.8%
86.5%
73.8%
100.0%
87.1%
36.7%
93.6%
87.5%
90.5%
69.5%
0.0%
78.4%
77.2%
79.7%
73.0%
84.0%
109
19
4318
39
5
1076
70
14
3242
35.8%
26.3%
24.9%
64.2%
73.7%
75.1%
100.0%
9.0%
14.3%
10.6%
15.9%
As proposed in the undergraduate admissions report to EADC in February 2010, data about the rejection rate of applicants by age is presented to EADC for
the first time. In view of this it is not possible to comment on any similarities or differences with data from previous years. It is notable that the rejection rate
for under 21s, who are the vast majority of applicants, is consistently much higher than for over 21s, i.e. mature applicants. The only outlier is Health and
Human Sciences, with a marginally higher rejection rate of mature applicants than under 21s. However, this is also the department that receives a higher
number of applications from mature students than from under 21s. This is no doubt a feature of the specific course offering, including Nursing degrees which
are likely to attract more mature students who are returning to study later in life. It is common for such applicants to have an educational background which
may not be sufficiently strong to meet the standard entry requirements.