2 December 2022
By email:
[FYI request #21039 email]
Dear Whom It May Concern
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 all 300 and 400 level LAWS
papers in Semester 2 2022.
We note we contacted you 9 November 2022 to clarify whether you would also like Full-Year 300
and 400 level LAWS papers included with your request. Your response of 9 November 2022
confirmed that you were also requesting the grade and mark distributions of Full-Year 300 and 400
level LAWS papers.
Subject to the following comments, please find attached the information you have requested. Please
note that there are two sheets in the attached document (one for Full Year papers, and one for
Semester 2 papers).
• we note that the grade and mark distributions for LAWS301, LAWS398, LAWS463, LAWS490,
LAWS498 and LAWS499 have not been finalised yet as there may be special examinations
outstanding and grades for some students have not been finalised. We are not comfortable
releasing the data before all grades have been confirmed – as this may affect students’
wellbeing and disrupt students’ performance in special examinations. We will release the
grade and mark distributions for these papers once all student results have been finalised –
we anticipate that these will be finalised over the coming weeks.
• 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.
• we also note that we decline providing the mark and grade distribution for the Semester 2
LAWS480 paper as there were low enrolment numbers in this paper. 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 also withhold this information pursuant to section 9(2)(a) of the Act.
• 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. We will be in touch with regards to the remaining
information once the grade and mark distributions for the unfinalised papers have been confirmed
and are available.
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
