7 November 2023
By email
: [FYI request #24568 email]
Tēnā koe RS,
I refer to your information request dated 28 October 2023 made under the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act). You have requested mark and grade distributions for the 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022
CHTH224 paper offered by the University of Otago.
Subject to the following comments, please see attached the information you have requested:
• 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 the CHTH224 paper was not offered each year. Therefore, we have only
provided mark and grade breakdowns for the years that the paper was offered. In this case,
CHTH224 was only offered during Pre-Christmas Summer School in 2019 and 2021. We note
that CHTH224 is also being offered this year during Pre-Christmas Summer School.
• 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.
Ngā mihi,
Jo Pearson
Official Information Act Administrator
Office of the Registrar
