11 December 2023
By email: [FYI request #24864 email]
Tēnā koe R,
I refer to your information request dated 24 November 2023 made under the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act). You have requested mark and grade distributions for the 200, 300, 400 and 500 level
Dentistry papers offered by the University of Otago in 2023.
Subject to the following comments, please see attached the information you have requested.
• the data is correct as at 7 December 2023.
• we note that DENT553 is a Pass/Fail paper. In 2023, all 83 students passed. This paper is
excluded from the spreadsheet as there are no percentage marks assigned to students.
• We have included papers that are only taken as part of the Bachelor of Dental Surgery with
Honours. These papers are DENT561, DENT563, DENT580 and DENT581.
• 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.
• 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 2023 DENT364 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. However, we note that DENT364 is not part of the standard Bachelor of Dental Surgery
degree, and is available only for approved students admitted under the International Medical
University Partnership Programme.
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
Jo Pearson
Official Information Act Administrator
Office of the Registrar
