27 March 2024
By email
: [FYI request #25953 email]
Tēnā koe WM,
I refer to your information request dated 1 March 2024 made under the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act). You have requested mark and grade distributions for all 200-Level Finance papers in offered
in 2023 by the University of Otago.
Subject to the following comments, please see attached the information you have requested.
• the data is correct as at 21 March 2024.
• we note that the grade and mark distributions for the Semester 2 FINC202 and FINC206
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.
• a 200-level Finance paper (“paper code”) was also offered during Summer School in 2023. For
completeness, we have included the mark and grade distribution for this paper.
• on occasions where fewer than five students have failed a paper (i.e. received a grade of Fail
D, Fail E, Fail or Failed Compulsory Assessment), 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 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.
Yours sincerely
Jo Pearson
Jo Pearson
Official Information Act Administrator
Office of the Registrar