21 December 2022
Hubert Hiffenberg
By email:
[FYI request #20657 email]
Dear Hubert
I refer to your information request dated 23 November 2022 made under the Official Information
Act 1982 (the Act). You have requested information in relation to the high school decile of students
who entered the 2022 Bachelor of Dentistry (BDS), Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPhty), Bachelor of
Pharmacy (BPharm) and Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science (BMLSc) programmes at the
University of Otago. This is a continuation of your Official Information Act request dated 29
September 2022, where you requested this information for the 2022 Bachelor of Medicine and
Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) programme.
Please see below our responses to each of your questions.
1. Of those entering the BDS, BPhty, BPharm and BMLSc programmes in 2022 (via any
pathway), of which you have the data on which high school they attended, can you please
provide a summary by decile of the number of entrants.
Subject to the following comments, please see the below tables which show the number of students
who entered the 2022 BDS, BPhty, BPharm and BMLSc programmes, broken down by secondary
school decile.
• where there are low numbers of students entering the 2022 programmes from specific
secondary school deciles, we have determined that it is necessary to withhold the actual
number of students to protect their privacy and wellbeing. This is consistent with section
9(2)(a) of the Act. We consider that withholding this information is necessary to protect
against the identity of these students being determined or inferred. Therefore, where there
are fewer than five students entering the programmes from specific secondary school
deciles, we have either grouped these students together, or indicated using “<5” (“fewer
than five”).
• the data is inclusive of all admissions categories for each programme. Further information
on admissions categories can be found at the Guidelines for Admission for each programme:
o
BDS
o
BPhty
o
BPharm
o
BMLSc
• a school decile of “not applicable” may include home schooling, correspondence schools,
schools which are no longer open, or domestic and international students attending
overseas schools.
Students Entering 2022
Students Entering 2022
School Decile
School Decile
BDS Programme
BPhty Programme
1
0
1
0
2 - 4
7
2 - 4
9
5
0
5
8
6
5
6
17
7
13
7
19
8
10
8
24
9
14
9
19
10
11
10
26
Not applicable
6
Not applicable
10
Total
66
Total
132
Students Entering 2022
Students Entering 2022
School Decile
School Decile
BPharm Programme
BMLSc Programme
1
0
1
0
2
0
2
0
3 - 5
9
3
<5
6
11
4
6
7
8
5
<5
8
12
6
8
9
15
7
7
10
21
8
8
Not applicable
9
9
8
Total
85
10
<5
Not applicable
<5
Total
45
2. Are you also able to provide data on which former high schools had the most entrants into
the programmes in 2022?
We have determined that is necessary to withhold the details of the schools where fewer than five
former students entered the 2022 BDS, BPhty, BPharm and BMLSc programmes. Of all secondary
schools that were attended by entrants to these programmes, none of these schools provided five or
more students to each of the programmes. On that basis, this part of your request is refused
pursuant to section 9(2)(a) of the Act. We consider that withholding this information is necessary to
protect against the identity of these students being determined or inferred.
I trust that this information will be helpful. In the above cases, we consider that good reasons exist
for withholding information, and this is not outweighed by other considerations which would make
it desirable, in the public interest, to make the information available.
If you are not satisfied with our response to your information request, section 28(3) of the Act
provides you with the right to ask an Ombudsman to investigate and review this response. However,
we would welcome the opportunity to discuss any concerns with you first.
Yours sincerely
Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator
Office of the Registrar
