11 December 2023
By email
: [FYI request #24879 email] Tēnā koe MG,
I refer to your information request dated 27th November 2023 made under the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act). You have requested mark and grade distributions for the Semester 2 MFCO and POLS
300 level papers offered by the University of Otago.
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 year).
• we note that the grade and mark distributions for the Semester 2 2023 MFCO312 paper have
not been finalised yet as special examinations may be outstanding and the final grades for
some students have not been confirmed. On that basis, we decline this part of your request
pursuant to section 18(g) of the Act, as the information requested is not held by the University
as at today’s date. We would be happy to consider a new request from you at a later date if
you still wish to receive this information – we expect that all student grades will be confirmed
by late February 2024.
• 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 Semester 2 2023 POLS390 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 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
Jo Pearson
Official Information Act Administrator
Office of the Registrar
