Average Grades & Distributions 2023
Josiah made this Official Information request to University of Otago
The request was successful.
From: Josiah
Dear University of Otago,
I am writing to request information under the Official Information Act 1982.
Specifically, I am seeking the following information:
1. The average grades for all papers offered by the University of Otago in the 2023 academic year.
2. If readily available, the distribution of grades for each of these papers.
If you need any clarification or have any questions regarding this request, please don't hesitate to contact me. I would be happy to discuss the request and clarify any points as needed.
Thank you for your assistance with this matter.
Yours faithfully,
Josiah.
From: Josiah
Dear University of Otago,
I hope this message finds you well.
I am following up on my previous requesting information on average grades and distributions of papers offered at the University of Otago in the 2023 academic year. I would like to clarify that for the second point, I am interested in the standard deviation of the grade distributions. This measure will be sufficient for my needs, and I do not require more detailed breakdowns beyond this.
If you require any further details or if there are any issues with fulfilling this request, please let me know. I am happy to discuss any aspects of the request to facilitate the process.
Thank you once again for your assistance.
Yours faithfully,
Josiah
From: UoO - Official Information Act
University of Otago
Tēnā koe Josiah
I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act request dated 17 July 2024, and your subsequent clarification email of 22 July 2024.
Would it please be possible to confirm the information you are interested in receiving? Firstly, are you interested in receiving:
1. the average grade for each paper offered by the University of Otago in the 2023 academic year (Summer School, Semester 1, Semester 2, Full-Year, and Pre-Christmas Summer School); and
2. the standard deviation for each paper offered by the University of Otago in the 2023 academic year (Summer School, Semester 1, Semester 2, Full-Year, and Pre-Christmas Summer School)
And are therefore no longer wishing to receive the full mark and grade distributions of each paper?
Secondly, the University offers at least 2000+ papers in a calendar year, across undergraduate and postgraduate subjects and qualifications. Would you be agreeable to limiting the scope of your request to 100-, 200- and 300-level papers only? We note that many of our papers offered at postgraduate level are pass/fail only, and therefore we would not be able to provide average grades and the standard deviation for these papers, as students do not receive a percentage mark. Alternatively, if there is a particular subject, programme, division, or level of papers you are particularly interested in, we would be grateful to receive some further clarification from you.
We will wait to hear back from you before we continue to process your request.
Ngā mihi
Kelsey
Kelsey Kennard (she/her)
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator | Kaituitui Pārongo Ōkawa me te Tautukunga
University of Otago | Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka
Office of the Registrar and Secretary to the Council | Te Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te Kaunihera
From: Josiah
Tēnā koe Kelsey,
Thank you very much for your prompt response and clarification of my request. I agree that limiting the scope of my request to 100-, 200-, and 300-level papers will be perfectly acceptable. I am interested in receiving the average grade for each of these papers offered by the University of Otago in the 2023 academic year (covering Summer School, Semester 1, Semester 2, Full-Year, and Pre-Christmas Summer School). I understand and accept that this will exclude postgraduate papers where marks are not given.
If the distribution of grades for these papers is readily accessible in your system, this would be preferable. However, given the large scope of the request, I am happy to receive the standard deviations if this is more realistic to report in a timely manner.
Thank you once again for your assistance and for facilitating this process, it is greatly appreciated. If you need any further details or clarification, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
Ngā mihi nui,
Josiah
From: UoO - Official Information Act
University of Otago
Kia ora Josiah
Thank you for clarifying the scope of your request.
In the event that we cannot provide you with all of the grade distributions, do you have a particular order of preference you would like to receive them in? For example, 100-level papers, then 200-level papers, then 300-level papers? Or particular subject areas or divisions (e.g., Humanities, Sciences, Health Sciences, Commerce)?
Ngā mihi
Kelsey
Kelsey Kennard (she/her)
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator | Kaituitui Pārongo Ōkawa me te Tautukunga
University of Otago | Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka
Office of the Registrar and Secretary to the Council | Te Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te Kaunihera
From: Josiah
Kia ora Kelsey,
Thank you for your continued assistance with my request.
When you mentioned the order of preference, I want to ensure I understand correctly. Are you suggesting that if it's too difficult to provide all the data, you would begin providing the data and you would like an indication of how I would like it prioritised? Or are you saying that you could provide only the mean and standard deviation for groups of papers (e.g., one value for all of the science papers)?
Ideally, I would appreciate the mean and distribution for each paper (e.g., LAWS301 had a mean of B+/6, and 5 students with A+/9, 4 students with A/8...), or mean and standard deviation (e.g., LAWS301 had a mean of B+/6 and SD of 1.8). Whichever is easiest to provide from your system.
If your clarification was consistent with this and just regarding the sorting of the data, I would prefer it sorted by division, but I am happy to receive it in whichever order is easiest for you to provide and sort it myself afterward.
Thank you once again for your support. I would appreciate clarification as if it is about prioritisation, I would need to carefully consider this.
Ngā mihi nui,
Josiah
From: UoO - Official Information Act
University of Otago
Kia ora Josiah
Apologies for any confusion.
My email request for clarification below was specific to the grade distributions of individuals papers (i.e., number of students to receive A+, A, A-, etc...), and NOT the mean and standard deviation. We are already in the process of collating the mean and standard deviation of each paper offered during the 2023 academic year.
The intent of my email was to double check whether there were any specific departments/divisions/subjects you had a particular interest in for the full grade distributions. Given the number of papers offered by the University in 2023, it could take some time for us to process this part of your request, and we may need to release the information to you in stages. Therefore, I had wondered whether you would have liked any of these paper grade distributions prioritised. If you do not have a specific preference, we can continue to process your request as it currently stands.
Ngā mihi
Kelsey
Kelsey Kennard (she/her)
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator | Kaituitui Pārongo Ōkawa me te Tautukunga
University of Otago | Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka
Office of the Registrar and Secretary to the Council | Te Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te Kaunihera
From: Josiah
Kia ora Kelsey,
Thank you for your clarification and your ongoing efforts to complete this request.
I understand now, and I appreciate the work in collating the mean and standard deviation for each paper. Regarding the prioritisation of the full grade distributions, I have a particular interest in the most enrolled divisions so would appreciate it if they could be prioritised in the following order:
1. Health Sciences
2. Humanities
3. Sciences
4. Commerce
However, if there is an approach to priority that is more efficient to process, I am happy to go with that.
Thank you once again for your support and I look forward to receiving the data.
Ngā mihi nui,
Josiah
From: UoO - Official Information Act
University of Otago
Tçnâ koe Josiah
I refer to your two requests for information made under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act). In your first request, you have requested
information in relation to grade distributions, average grades, and the
standard deviation for all papers offered by the University in 2023, and
in your second request, you have requested information in relation to
entry to the University’s Health Sciences Undergraduate Professional
Programmes in 2024.
The Act requires that we advise you of our decision on your requests no
later than 20 working days after the date your requests were received.
Unfortunately, it will not be possible for us 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
requests, by a further seven working days – to Friday 23 August.
This extension is necessary because your requests have necessitated a
search through a large quantity of information and meeting the original
time limit would unreasonably interfere with our operations. We are
currently working on our responses to your requests, but due to the large
amount of information requested across both of them, it is taking us some
time to pull it all together. We thank you for your patience – we will
endeavour to provide the information sooner if possible.
If you are not satisfied with our extension of time on either of your
requests, 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.
Ngâ mihi
Kelsey
[1]University KELSEY KENNARD (she/her)
of Otago Official Information and Compliance Coordinator | Kaituitui
Pârongo Ôkawa me te Tautukunga
University of Otago | Ôtâkou Whakaihu Waka
Office of the Registrar and Secretary to the Council | Te
Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te Kaunihera
[2][email address]
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From: Josiah
Tēnā koe Kelsey,
Thank you for your update and for keeping me informed about the progress of my requests. I appreciate the complexity and the volume of information required and understand the need for an extension under these circumstances.
I acknowledge the new deadline of Friday, 23 August, and appreciate your efforts and commitment to providing the requested information as soon as possible. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you require any further clarification or if I can assist in any way to expedite the process.
Ngā mihi nui,
Josiah
From: UoO - Official Information Act
University of Otago
Josiah OIA Response 23 August 2024.pdf
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Josiah OIA Data.xlsx
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Tēnā koe Josiah
Thank you again for your patience. Please see attached the University of Otago's response to your Official Information Act request dated 17 July 2024.
Ngā mihi
Kelsey
Kelsey Kennard (she/her)
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator | Kaituitui Pārongo Ōkawa me te Tautukunga
University of Otago | Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka
Office of the Registrar and Secretary to the Council | Te Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te Kaunihera
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