13 February 2024
By email: [FYI request #25329 email]
Tēnā koe H
I refer to your information request dated 4 January 2024 made under the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act). You have requested the mark and grade distributions for al 400-level Psychology papers
over the past 5 years offered by the University of Otago.
Subject to the fol owing comments, please see attached the information you have requested.
The data is correct as at 7 January 2024.
We note that the grade and mark distribution for the 2023 PSYC495 paper has not been
finalised yet as 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 stil wish to receive this information – we expect
that al student grades wil 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 wel being. 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 enrol ed 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 fol owing papers, we have withheld the mark and grade
distributions for these papers to protect students’ privacy and wel being. 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.
o 2019: PSYC425, PSYC429, PSYC430, PSYC437, PSYC438
o 2020: PSYC425, PSYC426, PSYC432, PSYC437
o 2021: PSYC429, PSYC420, PSYC432, PSYC433, PSYC434, PSYC438, PSYC480, PSYC495
o 2022: PSYC425, PSYC433, PSYC434, PSYC437, PSYC438, PSYC480
o 2023: PSYC421, PSYC429, PSYC430, PSYC433, PSYC434, PSYC437, PSYC438, PSYC480
Please note that not al papers were offered each year, therefore we have only provided mark
and grade breakdowns for the years that the papers were offered.
Please note that al final grades for papers completed in Semester 1 2020 were increased by 5
marks to account for disruptions created by COVID-19. In Semester 2 2020, final grades of 47,
48 or 49 were bumped up to 50 (pass).
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 wil 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
Joey Lin
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator
Office of the Registrar
