Online job application form - is this legal?! (university, required)

[chilaili]

This is a question for people familiar with applying to very old institutions in the UK such as University Presses. I recently looked at an online application form for one of these organisations and was shocked. I haven't applied for a job in the UK in 20 years so maybe my memory is faulty or this is peculiar to this type of organisation but when I got to the webpage for Self-Identification, the following required fields were listed there:

Date of Birth
Sexual Orientation
Religious Beliefs

If I were filling these in I did have the option (on the last two) to select Prefer Not to Answer, but I was kind of stunned to see the questions on there in the first place. Friends in the UK have assured me that these questions are not legal in the UK but there must be a reason why this organisation had them on there and apparently wasn't being taken to court for it. Any ideas?

Oh and the dropdown list for Racial identity had about a dozen different options. Is that usual?

[Jezer]

It is probable that those self identification fields are not for the application itself, but for a separate survey, determining the demographics of those applying, or at least it should be.

It is illegal here in the UK to ask for any of that information on the application form itself.

Mind you, I haven't applied for a job in ages, and I am unlikely to do so again.

I just dug up this riveting read;

https://www.gov.uk/employer-preventi...crimination-is

[Noggin of Rum]

They ask those questions for demographic auditing of the application and interview process.

It will not figure into the criteria that determine your suitability for employment, and usually those who decide whether or not you should get the interview/job will not see those details.

[chilaili]

I get that, but I can't believe they're allowed to require people to answer what their sexual orientation or religious beliefs are, even if it's just for demographic information. Those questions were not optional - you HAD to answer them.