The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) were created to provide transparency and openness in Government. FOIA and EIR require public authorities, such as Bournemouth University, to make information available to members of the public. Information can be obtained through our publication scheme or by making a request via our Information Request Form (pdf 347kb).

Our obligation to you

As a public authority we must provide members of the public with a general right of access to all types of recorded information that we hold. There are exemptions from this right of access depending on the type of information requested.

Much of the information we are obliged to provide is accessible on our website or can be assessed through our publication scheme which is reviewed from time to time. If you cannot find the information you are looking for, you can submit a written request to us via our Information Request Form (pdf 347kb). Please see our ‘How to request information’ section below.

Our wholly owned subsidiary companies also have publication scheme guides which you can download:

If we are unable to provide the information to you because an exemption applies, we will explain this to you.

It is the role of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to uphold your right to request recorded information held by public authorities. The ICO enforces our obligations pursuant to the FOIA, EIR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (amongst others) and you will find useful guidance about your rights on the ICO's website. 

Other sources of information:

We may publish any relevant dataset which we hold, together with any updated versions (where possible). We will make such datasets available via our Access to information webpage and, where we are the owner of such works, any re-use of the datasets is subject to the Open Government Licence or such other licence as we specify.  

We will not publish a dataset we think is not appropriate to do so; or in electronic form, where it is not reasonably practicable to do so.

You may also find information about us and other UK higher education providers on the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) website. HESA produce official statistics that are published as open data. Data and analysis information is also available from the Universities and College Admission Service (UCAS). UCAS is an independent charity that provides an undergraduate admissions service. Whilst UCAS is not subject to FOIA in the same way as we are, UCAS has its own publication scheme that may provide you with the information you are seeking.

How to request information:

If you cannot find the information you are looking for, you can make a request to ask us for the information. To make sure we understand what information you are seeking, please complete our Information Request Form (pdf 347kb). If you are unable to complete our form, please email us at [email protected] or send a written request to our Information Office at:

Information Office 
Bournemouth University 
6th Floor Studland House
12 Christchurch Road
Bournemouth  
Dorset BH1 3NA

Please include your full name, contact information, a detailed description of the information your require and how you would like to receive the information.

If you are seeking your own personal data that we hold, you will need to make a subject access request as this is not covered by FOIA.

What we do when we receive your request:

We will review your request and collate the information to prepare a response. We usually have 20 working days to respond to your request. We may need to extend this timescale if we require further information from you, or additional time to carry out the public interest test in relation to one of the qualified exemptions. 

Where you are able to obtain the information from another source (for example, UCAS or HESA), or if it is already published on our website or in our publication scheme, we may consider the information to be exempt from disclosure, but we will tell you why.

For most requests, we will provide the information to you free of charge. In some cases, for example, if you request a CD or physical documents, we may charge you for ‘disbursements’ to cover the reasonable cost of complying with your request. Any charges will be in line with the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 (the Fees Regulations) as updated. 

We may refuse to process your request (or a linked series of requests from the same person or group) if we estimate that the cost of locating and retrieving the information is more than £450 (the current cost limit set by the Fees Regulations). If we hold the information but estimate that the cost of providing it to you will exceed £450 we will:

  • tell you that we hold the information and provide reasonable advice and assistance to you to change or narrow your request, or 
  • refuse your request, or 
  • provide the information subject to you paying the charge. 

If you agree to pay a charge we will first issue a fees notice to you and we will not continue to process your request until all fees are paid in full.

We can refuse to answer requests that are likely to cause a disproportionate or unjustifiable level of distress, disruption or irritation. 

Information that we do not have to release to you (exemptions):

We may not release some information to you if we consider it falls within one or more of the ‘exemptions’ listed in the FOIA. There are two types of exemption – ‘absolute’ and ‘qualified’. 

If we rely on an absolute exemption, for example, pursuant to section 23 – the information was supplied by or relates to a body dealing with security matters - we do not have to release the information to you. If we rely on a qualified exemption, for example, section 43 - the information constitutes a trade secret or its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person - we must first consider the public interest test before deciding whether to release the information. This means we can only withhold the information if the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to you.

You can find out more about information we can withhold on the ICO website.

Requests for personal information by an individual using our Subject Access procedure should be submitted in accordance with our Subject Access Request (SAR) process. 

What you can do if you are not happy with our response:

If you are not happy with the information we provide to you or a decision we make, you should in the first instance contact the individual or department that handled your enquiry to try to resolve your complaint informally.

If you are still not happy with the response received you must make a formal written complaint (request for an internal review) to our Information Office. You can use our Information Request Form (pdf 347kb) or email us at [email protected] or write to the Information Office at: Information Office, Bournemouth University, 6th Floor Studland House, 12 Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH1 3NA.

The Information Office will aim to respond to you within 20 working days of receipt of your complaint. If the Information Office dealt with the original request, your complaint will be referred to our Chief Operating Officer or their nominated alternate for review.  

If you are still dissatisfied with our response, you may make an appeal to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane, Wilmslow
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113