Printed from https://fyi.org.nz/request/31596-mb-chb-rural-origins-sub-category-accounting-for-years-of-school-attendance on September 24, 2025 05:39

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MB ChB rural origins sub-category + accounting for years of school attendance

Mana made this Official Information request to University of Otago

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From: Mana

Dear University of Otago,

Could you please confirm whether Wakefield Primary School, 66 Edward Street, Wakefield 7025, would have been considered under the for rural category entry into 2025 MB ChB?

According to the GCH map, the school appears to fall under U2 classification. However, I attended Wakefield Primary School from 2008 to 2014 and would like to confirm whether the school was classified as rural during that time period.

If so, would attendance at Wakefield school during those years have met the eligibility criteria for the Rural Origins sub-category for entry into the 2025 MB ChB programme?

Yours faithfully,

Mana

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From: UoO - Official Information Act
University of Otago

Tēnā koe Mana

I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act request dated 15 July 2025.

If we have any further questions or need to seek further clarification on any points, we will be in touch soon. Otherwise, we will seek to respond to your request as soon as practicable and no later than 20 working days after the date your request was received (by 11 August 2025). If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of this timeframe.

Ngā mihi
Bill

Bill Frewen (he/him)
Manager Policy and Compliance | Kaiwhakahaere Kaupapa Here mete Tikaka Mahi

Office of the Registrar and Secretary to the Council | Te Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te Kaunihera University of Otago | Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka

Email | Īmera [University of Otago request email]

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From: UoO - Official Information Act
University of Otago

Attachment Mana OIA Response 2.0.pdf
344K Download View as HTML

Kia ora Mana,

Please find attached the University of Otago's response to your Official Information Act request dated 15 July 2025.

Ngā mihi,

Jo

JO PEARSON (she/her)
Official Information Act Administrator

Office of the Registrar and Secretary to the Council | Te Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te Kaunihera
University of Otago | Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka

New Zealand | Aotearoa

Email/Īmera [University of Otago request email]

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From: Mana

Kia ora,

Thank you very much for your response. In previous OIA's, the University has been able to confirm whether attendance at a particular school during certain years met the rural eligibility criteria for entry into earlier years of the MB ChB programme.

As evidenced by: https://fyi.org.nz/request/25001-mb-chb-...

Could you please confirm whether the same information can be provided for Wakefield Primary School for attendance between 2008–2014, for entry into 2024 and 2025 MB ChB? If this information can no longer be provided, could you please clarify what has changed in the process or policy that prevents this?

Thank you for your time with this,

Ngā mihi - Mana

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From: UoO - Official Information Act
University of Otago

Tēnā koe Mana

I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act request dated 12 August 2025.

If we have any further questions or need to seek further clarification on any points, we will be in touch soon. Otherwise, we will seek to respond to your request as soon as practicable and no later than 20 working days after the date your request was received (by 9 September 2025). If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of this timeframe.

Ngā mihi
Bill

Bill Frewen (he/him)
Manager Policy and Compliance | Kaiwhakahaere Kaupapa Here mete Tikaka Mahi

Office of the Registrar and Secretary to the Council | Te Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te Kaunihera University of Otago | Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka

Email | Īmera [University of Otago request email]

Link to this

From: UoO - Official Information Act
University of Otago

Tēnā koe Mana

I refer to your request for further information dated 12 August 2025. We thank you for your patience.

The further information you have requested is not contained in existing reports held by the University, but can only be determined by a small team within the University applying specialised and complex skills. Accordingly, we have declined to provide the requested information as the information would need to be created, and is not held, under section 18(g) of the Act. On past occasions where we may have provided this information, we did so when workloads allowed, which unfortunately is not currently the case.

We would however invite you to consider contacting our AskOtago service via [email address], or to book an appointment with a Student Development adviser see: https://www.otago.ac.nz/course-advice/ap....

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.

Ngā mihi
Bill

Bill Frewen (he/him)
Manager Policy and Compliance | Kaiwhakahaere Kaupapa Here mete Tikaka Mahi

Office of the Registrar and Secretary to the Council | Te Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te Kaunihera University of Otago | Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka

Email | Īmera [University of Otago request email]

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