University of St Andrews

5.1 Inclusive Short Listing

If a School/Unit consider the following good practice during short lisiting, the possibility of unlawful discrimination is reduced, should a tribunal claim be made by a rejected applicant.

• Wherever possible, more than one person should be involved in short-listing applicants, to reduce the chance of one individual’s bias prejudicing an applicant’s chances of being selected.

• The marking system, including the cut-off score for selection, should be agreed before the applications are assessed, and applied consistently to all applications.

• Where more than one person is involved in the selection, applications should be marked separately before a final mark is agreed between the people involved.

• Selection should be based only on information provided in the application form, CV or, in the case of internal applicants, any formal performance assessment reports.

• The weight given to each criteria in the Person Spec should not be changed during short-listing; for example, in order to include someone who would otherwise not be short-listed. 

 
Avoiding Victimisation during Short Listing:

This could occur if an applicant has been victimised during the process because they have complained about discrimination or helped someone else complain or have done anything to uphold their own or someone else’s equality law.