27 January 2023
By email
: [FYI request #21381 email]
Dear S Cosgrove
I refer to your information request dated 9 December 2022 made under the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act). You have requested mark and grade distributions for the 2022 MICR331, MICR332,
MICR335 and MICR336 papers at the University of Otago.
Subject to the following comments, please see attached the information you have requested.
• we note that the grade and mark distributions for the Semester 2 2022 MICR332 and MICR336
papers have not been finalised yet as there may be special examinations outstanding and the
grades for some students have not been finalised. We are not comfortable releasing the data
before all grades have been confirmed – as this may affect students’ wellbeing and disrupt
students’ performance in special examinations. We are happy to grant your request but will
release the grade and mark distributions for these papers once all student results have been
confirmed – we anticipate that these will be finalised by the end of February.
• 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.
• in the attached grade and mark distributions, we note that students who withdrew from the
papers or received an Aegrotat Pass grade (not a mark) are excluded from the data.
I trust that this information will be helpful. We will be back in touch once the mark and grade
distributions for the 2022 MICR332 and MICR336 papers have been confirmed and are available.
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
Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator
Office of the Registrar