2 December 2022
By email:
[FYI request #21034 email]
Dear Rayner
I refer to your information request dated 4 November 2022 made under the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act). You have requested grade and mark distributions of BIOC192, HUBS192, POPH192,
MAOR102, MAOR110, STAT115 and MATH130 in Semester 2 2022.
Subject to the following comments, please find attached the information you have requested.
• We note that the grade and mark distributions for the Semester 2 compulsory HSFY papers
(BIOC192, HUBS192, POPH192) have not been finalised yet. Once special exams have taken
place for these papers and all students results have been finalised, we will be happy to
release the grade and mark distributions for these papers. These are scheduled to take place
in mid-February 2023. We are not comfortable releasing the mark and grade distributions
for these papers before special examinations have taken place – as this may affect students’
wellbeing and disrupt students’ performance in the special examinations.
• we also want to ensure we protect the health and safety of our students. Given that the
Semester 2 compulsory HSFY papers are part of a competitive process for admission into
restricted entry health science professional programmes, we do not wish for the early
disclosure of this information to be used for improper gain or advantage, pursuant to
sections 9(2)(c) and 9(2)(k) of the Act. We are concerned that if students view the marks
before special examinations are completed, they may try to infer selection to the health
science professional programmes based on incomplete data.
• on occasions where fewer than five students have failed a paper (i.e. received a grade of Fail
D or Fail E), we have determined that it is necessary to withhold the marks and specific
grades for these students to protect their privacy and wellbeing. We consider that
withholding this information is necessary to protect against the identity of these students
being determined or inferred, and their personal information (i.e. their marks) could be
disclosed. We therefore withhold this information pursuant to section 9(2)(a) of the Act.
• as requested, the attached data contains the mark and grade distributions for students who
were enrolled in HSFY only.
• in the attached grade and mark distributions, we note that students who withdrew from the
papers are excluded from the data.
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