Tēnā koe SS

I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act request.

If we have any questions or need to seek 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 15 March 2024). If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of this timeframe.

Ngā mihi
Kelsey

Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator | Kaituitui Pārongo Ōkawa me te Tautukunga

Office of the Registrar | Te Tari o Te Pouroki
University of Otago | Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo
New Zealand | Aotearoa
Email | Īmera [University of Otago request email]

Tēnā koe SS

I refer to your information request dated 17 February 2024 made under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act). You have requested information in relation to entry to the Degree of Bachelor of Dental Surgery Advanced Standing for domestic students at the University of Otago.

The Act requires that we advise you of our decision on your request no later than 20 working days after the date your request was received. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to meet that time limit. We are therefore writing to notify you, pursuant to section 15A of the Act, of an extension of the time to make our decision in respect of your request, by a further five working days - to Friday 22 March 2024.

This extension is necessary to allow for consultations necessary to make a decision on your request. We thank you for your patience and apologise for the delay. We will endeavour to respond sooner if possible.

If you are not satisfied with our extension of time, you have the right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. However, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss any concerns with you first.

Ngā mihi
Kelsey

Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator | Kaituitui Pārongo Ōkawa me te Tautukunga

Office of the Registrar | Te Tari o Te Pouroki
University of Otago | Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo
New Zealand | Aotearoa
Email | Īmera [University of Otago request email]

Tēnā koe SS

I refer to your information request dated 17 February 2024 made under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act). You have requested information in relation to entry to the Degree of Bachelor of Dental Surgery Advanced Standing for domestic students at the University of Otago.

We have decided to grant your request. However, it is taking a bit of time to investigate and collate this information for you due to staff workloads and the fact that admissions information relating to entry to the BDS programme via the Advanced Standing pathway is not stored in the same location as other admissions information relating to entry to the BDS programme in our central records system. We will back in touch with regards to this information once the data has been confirmed and is available.

We note that there are no guaranteed places for the BDS Advanced Standing category. This is a very competitive category for which we receive a large number of applications and offers to successful domestic category applicants are dependent on there being a space in the third year of the BDS cohort the year following application. For this reason, we note that some information may need to be withheld for privacy reasons, pursuant to section 9(2)(a) of the Act, if there are low numbers for any of the questions you have asked. It is the University's standard practice to not report on information when it relates to fewer than five individuals. Where there are low numbers, there is a risk of individuals being identified and their personal information being revealed.

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
Kelsey

Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator | Kaituitui Pārongo Ōkawa me te Tautukunga

Office of the Registrar | Te Tari o Te Pouroki
University of Otago | Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo
New Zealand | Aotearoa
Email | Īmera [University of Otago request email]

Tēnā koe SS

Thank you for your patience. Further to our email of 22 March 2024, please see attached the information you have requested.

Ngā mihi
Kelsey

Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator | Kaituitui Pārongo Ōkawa me te Tautukunga

Office of the Registrar | Te Tari o Te Pouroki
University of Otago | Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo
New Zealand | Aotearoa
Email | Īmera [University of Otago request email]