Department of Education, Sport and Culture
8 FOI requests | Full disclosure rate: 2937.5%
The Freedom of Information requests to the Department of Education, Sport and Culture reveal an authority deeply entangled in the controversy of the St Thomas' Primary School co-location proposal. A significant portion of the casework (over 14 related cases) focuses on this issue, where the Department frequently employed a 'practical refusal' or 'already public' defense to withhold decision-making correspondence (e.g., 354839, 354847), while simultaneously disclosing granular data on pupil catchments (354959) and the fact that the school paid no rent (467435). This pattern suggests a strategy of transparency on operational metrics but obstruction on political and strategic deliberations. The data also exposes a complex relationship between the state and religious groups; while the Department confirmed regular visits by the Child Evangelism Fellowship (354861), it actively blocked access for the abortion reform group HEAR (354831), highlighting a selective gatekeeping of external influences in schools.
Key Cases
Case 354861 — Reveals the systematic presence of the Child Evangelism Fellowship in Isle of Man schools, providing a detailed breakdown of visit frequencies, which raises questions about the separation of church and state in public education.
Case 354831 — Discloses a specific incident where the abortion reform group HEAR attempted to access pupils at St Mary's School and was declined, offering a rare glimpse into the Department's vetting of controversial external groups.
Case 361143 — Highlights a significant administrative error and subsequent correction regarding public objections to the St Thomas' co-location (initially 403 signatures, corrected to 413), demonstrating the volatility of the consultation process.
Case 467435 — Confirms that St Thomas' School paid zero rent to the Department for the building, parking, and playgrounds over three years, a crucial financial fact in the debate over the school's viability and the co-location proposal.
Case 354883 — Discloses that eight unqualified teachers were employed in training roles across four secondary schools, raising concerns about the quality of education and staffing standards during the 2016/17 academic year.
Related FOI Stories
The St Thomas' Co-location Saga — #354839, #354847, #354849, #358135, #354867
Home Education and Legal Enforcement — #354833, #354857, #354875, #358137, #354911
School Performance Data and Statistical Gaps — #354791, #354801, #354809, #354815, #354925
Religious Influence and External Visits — #354851, #354831, #354861, #354877, #512133
Staffing, Employment, and Discipline — #354805, #354813, #354883, #354945, #354947
| Date | Title | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-10-10 | Request for information regarding the use of supply teachers | Not required to fulfill request |
| A request was made for detailed statistics on supply teacher usage and subject qualifications across Isle of Man secondary schools for five academic years. The Department of Education, Sport and Culture refused the request, citing that the data requires substantial compilation and that specific qualification records are not held. | ||
| 2025-07-22 | Number of meningitis cases recorded by school | Not required to fulfill request |
| A request for a breakdown of meningitis cases in specific schools between July 2021 and December 2022 was refused by the Department of Education, Sport and Culture. The authority cited exemptions regarding personal data protection and the requirement to create new information from existing records. | ||
| 2025-06-20 | Out of area School Pupils | Not required to fulfill request |
| The requester asked for data on out-of-catchment pupils and free transport costs for all schools on the Isle of Man. The Department of Education, Sport and Culture refused the request, stating it was not required to create or derive information by analyzing individual pupil files. | ||
| 2025-04-10 | Student grants | Not required to fulfill request |
| The requester asked for confirmation that the Department of Education, Sport and Culture adheres to the 2019 Act regarding independent university student grants. The authority refused to fulfill the request, stating it was not required to answer questions or provide opinions, and that the information was not adequately described to be located. | ||
| 2024-09-09 | Temporary Workers Employed via Agencies | Not required to fulfill request |
| The requester asked for a breakdown of temporary agency workers by grade for 2023 and 2024, but the Department of Education, Sport and Culture stated it was not required to perform the necessary analysis under the FOI Act. Despite refusing the specific breakdown, the department voluntarily disclosed that 17 temporary workers were employed via agencies between January 2023 and August 2024. | ||
| 2023-07-11 | HBN Primary School | Not required to fulfill request |
| 2017-10-11 | St Thomas' School Options Presentation | Not required to fulfill request |
| The requester asked for full minutes and clarification regarding feasibility studies and relocation options for St Thomas' Primary School, citing previous partial disclosures. The Department of Education, Sport and Culture responded that they were not required to fulfill the request, providing only a letter referencing existing partial extracts rather than the full documents sought. | ||
| 2017-08-31 | Arbory catchment area | Not required to fulfill request |
| A request was made to determine the number of primary school-aged children living in the Arbory catchment area who attend schools outside that area. The Department of Education refused the request, citing that the information is not held in the required format and compiling it would require substantial analysis not mandated by the Freedom of Information Act. | ||