20 December 2023
By email
: [FYI request #24863 email]
Kia ora S,
I refer to your information request dated 24 November 2023 made under the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act). You have requested mark and grade distributions for all Semester 2 2023 300-level and
400-level Law papers offered by 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 2023 LAWS354, LAWS415,
LAWS424, LAWS454, LAWS463 and LAWS498 papers have 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 still wish to receive this information – we expect that all student grades will
be confirmed by late February 2024.
• We note that LAWS499 does not generate a mark/grade result.
• 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.
• On occasions where fewer than ten students are enrolled 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 Semester 2 2023 LAWS478 and LAWS480 papers, we have
withheld the mark and grade distribution for this paper to protect students’ 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 and grades) 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 or 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
Jenny Shaw
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator
Office of the Registrar