Difficulties with anonymous shortlisting of medical school applications and its effects on candidates with non-European names: prospective cohort study

Abstract Objective: To assess the feasibility of anonymous shortlisting of applications for medical school and its effect on those with non-European names. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Leeds school of medicine, United Kingdom. Subjects: 2047 applications for 1998 entry from the United Kingdom and the European Union. Intervention: Deletion of all references to name and nationality from the application form. Main outcome measures: Scoring by two admissions tutors at shortlisting. Results: Deleting names was cumbersome as some were repeated up to 15 times. Anonymising application forms was ineffective as one admissions tutor was able to identify nearly 50% of candidates classed as being from an ethnic minority group. Although scores were lower for applicants with non-European names, anonymity did not improve scores. Applicants with non-European names who were identified as such by tutors were significantly less likely to drop marks in one particular non-academic area (the career insight component) than their European counterparts. Conclusions: There was no evidence of benefit to candidates with non-European names of attempting to blind assessment. Anonymising application forms cannot be recommended. Key messages It is cumbersome to anonymise the current Universities and Colleges Admissions Service form as a candidate9s name may appear up to 15 times Anonymised application forms may still be identified as being from candidates from ethnic minority groups More thorough anonymising of application forms, such as deletion of cultural activities, would edit out some personal attributes and may disadvantage these candidates Anonymous assessment of applications cannot be recommended