Exam body to explain why disabled students refused support

The State Examinations Commission has bowed to pressure from the Ombudsman for Children and disability rights organisations over a lack of transparency and said it would provide an explanation to disabled Leaving Cert students who are refused exam support in the 2016 exams.

Following more than 60 complaints from parents, Ombudsman for Children Niall Muldoon has been critical of the administration of the Reasonable Accommodation in the Certificate Examinations (Race) scheme for exam support and expressed concern about the nature of some school-based assessment tests which are used to determine a candidate's eligibility.

The issue has also been raised in the Dáil by seven TDs from across the political spectrum. Disability rights advocates are now calling for broader changes to the scheme, including giving schools and teachers more say in which students are granted supports.

Mr Muldoon is in discussions with the SEC, which is reviewing its procedures. No date has been given for when the full set of recommendations will be made public.

Increased rate

Figures obtained by

The Irish Times

under the Freedom of Information Act show the number of Leaving Cert students seeking supports under the Race scheme has risen year on year, from 6,342 in 2009 to 8,617 in 2014. There has been a significantly increased application rate from students with dyspraxia, as well as from students with autism-spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In 2015, some 8,854 Leaving Cert students applied for reasonable accommodations; 7,761 (87.7 per cent) were granted them.

Most applications made by schools for Junior Cert students are accepted, with only 17 refusals from 8,850 applications. However, the system is more rigorous for the Leaving Cert. The overall number of refusals for readers during exams – almost entirely at Leaving Cert level – has risen from 5.79 per cent in 2008 to 10.5 per cent in 2012 and 15 per cent in 2015. The number of refusals for spelling and grammar waivers has doubled over the same period.

This year, the appeals committee granted or part-granted 21 per cent of all appeals, the highest number on record; in 2014, it granted or part-granted less than 7 per cent of appeals.

Special centres

In total, the SEC made 19,502 reasonable accommodations for exam candidates in 2014. This required the use of special exam centres; the number of these centres has increased from 1,800 in 2001 to more than 9,950 in 2014.

The SEC says the Race scheme is not subject to budgetary restrictions and money is found for all students who require support. They said “even though candidates may have a specific difficulty with reading, writing or spelling, they may not require the provision of any special facilities provided that they can read the examination papers at the required level and write legibly”.

Rejection rates of applications for scribes have stayed steady, from 7.5 per cent in 2008 to 7.1 per cent this year, while just under 14 per cent of students seeking a spelling and grammar waiver had their application rejected in 2015.

The cost of running special centres for students with disabilities or injuries rose from €4.7 million in 2008 to €6.3 million in 2011, before dropping to €4.5 million in 2012. The centres cost about €4.5 million in 2013 and 2014.

The increased number of applications reflects a growing awareness of disability and indicates most students who need support get it from the SEC; before this scheme, many children with learning difficulties or disabilities never completed their education.

The Irish Times also requested information on the category of disability or injury of students who apply to the Race scheme and the number of students who had only been granted part of their request.

These were not provided on the grounds that the information is not centrally recorded. The Irish Times is appealing this decision.