8 February 2024
By email
: [FYI request #25244 email]
Tēnā koe A
I refer to your information request dated 19 December 2023 made under the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act). You have requested mark and grade distributions for the LAWS410 paper offered by
the University of Otago from 2015 – 2023, as well as the mark and grade distributions for the
LAWS410 R&W assignment from 2015 – 2023.
We respond below to part of your request but need to extend the due date for responding to the
remainder of your request.
Extension for the mark and grade distributions for the LAWS410 R&W assignment from 2015 – 2023:
The Act requires that we advise you of our decision on your request no later than 20 working days
after the date your request was received. Unfortunately, it will not be possible for us to respond to
your request in its entirety within the time limit. We are therefore notifying you, pursuant to section
15A of the Act, of an extension of the time to make our decision in respect of this part of your request,
to 19 February 2024.
This extension is necessary both (i) because this part of your request necessitates a search through a
large quantity of information and meeting the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with
our operations and (ii) to allow for consultations necessary to make a decision your request.
Unlike mark and grade distribution information for overall paper results, mark and grade distribution
information in relation to internal assessments is not held centrally. We also note that a key member
of staff who holds this information is currently out of the office, and therefore we require some
additional time to complete our response and consult with all relevant parties. We thank you for your
patience – we will endeavour to provide the information sooner if possible.
If you are not satisfied with our extension of time, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. However, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss
any concerns with you first.
Our response to the remainder of your request:
Subject to the following comments, please see attached the information you have requested for the
mark and grade distributions of the LAWS410 paper from 2015 – 2023:
• the data is correct as at 1 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.
• please note that LAWS410 was not offered for all of the years requested, therefore we have
only provided mark and grade breakdowns for the years that the paper was offered.
• in the attached grade and mark distributions, we note that students who withdrew from the
papers or received a Compensation Pass (not a grade or mark) 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.
Ngā mihi
Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator
Office of the Registrar