Exam Accommodations at Second Level
The State Examinations Commission (SEC) is the body responsible for second level examinations in Ireland. It is a non-departmental public body under the aegis of the Department of Education and Skills. They can be contacted as follows:
Address: Cornamaddy, Athlone, Co. Westmeath.
Telephone: 090 6442700
Email: sec_specialneeds@education.gov.ie
Website: www.examinations.ie
Reasonable accommodations, previously termed special arrangements, can be made available to students with dyslexia when sitting State examinations. Arrangements may include the provision of a reader, use of a word processor, use of a tape recorder or scribe, or a spelling and grammar waiver. The accommodations are intended to limit the impact of the candidate’s disability on their exam performance, while not giving the candidate any unfair advantage.
Applications for reasonable accommodations are generally made by the School Principal approx. 12 months before the exams are due to take place. External candidates should apply directly to the S.E.C. Applications must be on the official application form which is available from schools/education providers or directly from the S.E.C.
Students generally need to have literacy attainments at Standard Score 85 (Percentile 16) or lower to be considered for reasonable accommodations.
The options students with dyslexia can apply for are:
- Reader.
- Tape Recorder.
- Word Processor/computer.
- Scribe.
- Exemption from spelling and grammatical components in language subjects (waiver).
We must remember that while reasonable accommodations when taking exams are desirable, they are no substitute for early diagnosis and appropriate help. When applying for reasonable accommodations, it is important to consult with the student and find out what his/her feelings are, e.g. how might they feel about doing their exam in a separate room (which is the case if a student has a reader, tape, scribe or computer). Some students can feel embarrassed about doing their exams differently to their peers.
It is also very important that schools give students an opportunity to practice these alternative methods of exams in end-of-term and mock exams.
Application Procedure – Junior Certificate
Applications for reasonable accommodations in Junior Cert. are usually submitted early in the Junior Cert. year. The application is submitted by the school, with the consent of the parent and student. Students generally need to have literacy attainments at Standard Score 85 (Percentile 16) or lower to be considered for reasonable accommodations. The main burden of responsibility for deciding on whether a candidate should receive reasonable accommodations in Junior Certificate exams now rests with the school. It appears that if the school is convinced that a student needs reasonable accommodation and has the evidence to back this up, in most cases this is accepted by the S.E.C. The school does not have to submit an up-to-date psychological assessment report to the S.E.C. when applying for accommodations in Junior Certificate exams.
Application Procedure – Leaving Certificate
Where approval for an accommodation is approved for Junior Certificate, it does not automatically follow that approval will be granted for Leaving Certificate. A fresh application is required in respect of the Leaving Certificate. The application is submitted by the school, with the consent of the parent and student. The Leaving Certificate application process differs from the Junior Certificate applications in that it is much more detailed and the decision is made by the schools’ psychologist and the S.E.C., not the school.
Application for Leaving Cert. exam accommodations should be made by May of the year prior to the exam year. Again, students generally need to have literacy attainments at Standard Score 85 (Percentile 16) or lower to be considered for reasonable accommodations. An up-to-date psychological report is also required (no more than 2 years old). Schools are also now asked to conduct up-to-date literacy assessments to provide additional evidence of the level of need.
Annotation of Certificates
Currently, if a student has been granted reasonable accommodations which impact on the assessment of their exam, the grades obtained by a candidate will be accompanied by an explanatory note, such as: “all parts of the examination in this subject were assessed except spelling and written punctuation elements”.
The explanatory note has been the subject of an ongoing legal challenge over recent years. In 2006 the Equality Authority ruled that the annotation of certificates was discriminatory. However, the Dept. of Education appealed this decision in the Circuit Court in 2007 and won. The case was referred to the High Court who recently upheld the decision of the Circuit Court. This means that unfortunately, as things stand, annotation of certificates will continue.
It is important to note that post leaving cert and third level qualifications do not annotate certificates.
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