12 September 2019
By email:
[FYI request #10781 email]
Dear Ms Roe,
Please find the fol owing answers to your Official Information Act request of 18 August 2019.
How many people (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) informed Admissions that `Alternative Category' was
not appearing as an application in their eVision during the finite window [for the MB ChB
programme]? How many of those people went on to successfully submit `Alternative Category'
application?
The University of Otago does not hold this information. Health Sciences Admissions Office staff
reported that a number of applicants seek assistance with their applications every year (for example,
due to being in the wrong part of the application form or confused regarding which category to apply
under). Additional y, in 2017 a system issue was identified which initial y prevented some students from
applying under the Alternative category; this issue was subsequently resolved.
These matters will have been advised and managed via telephone, email, in person, or using other
support channels. Information on individual student contact is not recorded in our systems, except
incidentally (for example where an applicant sends an email). For this reason we cannot determine with
any accuracy the number or identity of students who might have made contact, nor the subsequent
behaviour of those people. Therefore, pursuant to section 18(g) of the Official Information Act, I refuse
this part of your request. I advise of your right to seek review of this decision via complaint to an
Ombudsman.
Please can you inform New Zealanders what proportion of `Alternative Category' applicants are cul ed
via pre-screening (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) [for the MB ChB programme]?
The following figures are for numbers of applicants who chose the alternative category in their
application and the number of applicants that were invited to an interview.
Year
Applied to Alternative Category*
Invited to Interview for Alternative Category
2015
152
48
2016
109
53
2017
142
35
2018
113
42
2019
112
39
*Note, in a small number of instances, an applicant may have applied to the incorrect category and had
their category corrected through the screening process.
Yours sincerely,
Claire Gallop
Manager, Policy and Compliance, Office of the Registrar