7 July 2023
By email:
[FYI request #23055 email]
Tēnā koe AM
I refer to your request for information dated 9 June 2023 made under the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act). You have requested mark and grade distributions for all 300- and 400-level LAWS
papers offered by the University of Otago in Semester 1 2023.
Subject to the following comments, please see attached the information you have requested. Please
note that there are two pages in the attached spreadsheet (one for each paper year level).
• we note that the mark and grade distributions for the Semester 1 2023 LAWS413 and
LAWS440 papers have not been finalised yet as the grades for some students have not been
finalised. We are not comfortable releasing the data before all grades have been confirmed.
We are happy to grant your request but will release the mark and grade distributions for
these papers once all student results have been finalised – we anticipate that these will be
finalised by the end of July.
• 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 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 grades) could be disclosed. We
therefore withhold this information pursuant to section 9(2)(a) of the Act.
• on occasions where fewer than ten students are enrolled in a paper, we determine that it is
necessary to withhold the mark and grade distributions for these papers. As there were
fewer than ten enrolments in the Semester 1 2023 LAWS480 paper, we have withheld the
mark and grade distribution for this paper to protect students’ 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 and grades) could be disclosed. We therefore withhold this information pursuant to
section 9(2)(a) of the Act.
• in the attached mark and grade 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 back in touch once the mark and grade
distributions for the Semester 1 2023 LAWS413 and LAWS440 papers have been finalised.
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.
Ngā mihi
Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator
Office of the Registrar
