I have a visual impairment with a visual acuity of 6/48. What does that mean? I can see from 6m what a fully sighted individual would see from 48m. I also use a white cane to aid with mobility. This makes some everyday tasks such as reading and navigating steps a little bit harder. This means I also have to approach my education a little bit differently. For example, I have to type notes and use a camera to view the whiteboard. I am in my final year of secondary school at Waterpark College, Waterford, and sitting my Leaving Certificate in June 2025, which will include sitting my mock exams next month.
You might not be aware that there are two companies in Ireland that supply exam papers for the mock Junior and Leaving Cert exams. Neither of these companies currently supply modified or enlarged exam papers for visually impaired students like me. By modified, I mean questions should not involve a diagram or graph as these cause difficulties when you are visually impaired. Instead I should be supplied with a question of equal marks and difficulty. This is an accommodation allowed to a student with a visual impairment as per Department of Education.
The enlarged text required for me to read the paper comfortably unusually makes diagrams and graphs less distinct and blurry due to the enlarging process, such as mapwork in geography and maths graphs. It isn’t practical to include them in exam questions.
I find it shocking that modified or enlarged papers are not provided by these companies to students with visual impairments; out of the 406,393 students who were in secondary school in the 2022/2023 school year, 6 per cent were visually impaired, according to the Central Statistics Office data. I cannot help but feel unseen and ignored. There is no onus on the supplying companies to accommodate the needs of students with disabilities. I have contacted them and have yet to get a response. The Department of Education and State Examinations Commission must – and do – accommodate all students.
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The situation was similar when I completed my junior cycle mocks in 2022. I felt I was not on an even playing field compared to my peers. It meant that for subjects such as geography, maths and science, I could not complete some questions as I had to attempt questions containing graphs and diagrams. This leads to loss of marks through no fault of my own. Therefore, a student with a visual impairment does not actually get to practise for their real exam like everybody else.
For my mock exams next month, modified and enlarged papers will still not be available from the suppliers. I would have hoped this might have changed in the interim. I have to rely on the willingness of my teachers to create modified papers for me. This is not acceptable as some students will not have that level of support from their school and will be left with a format that is not accessible to them and subsequently can affect their marks. In this day and age is it beyond reason that modified/enlarged papers are readily available should a school request them? The Department of Education, the State Examinations Commission and the National Council for Special Education could help to formulate modified papers as they already provide them for the State exams. It is all about inclusion and not ignoring a cohort of student.
We feel invisible and powerless. I have the right to the same opportunities as my sighted peers to allow me to reach my full potential. While I understand this is a complicated issue, every year that passes results in a group of students feeling ignored, frustrated and voiceless. I would like to see an open conversation about this topic in the hope that progress can be made to rectify the issue. Even if it is too late to change my experience, I hope that this article can start the process of changing it for others.
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My low vision impacts my education greatly for very obvious reasons that range from simply navigating the school to accessible technologies and reading materials and to simply being able to follow classwork on a whiteboard or having enlarged course materials being arranged for me without the constant reminder to do so. I can have all the ability and determination but need the right format to make my work possible. I have faced many challenges during secondary school but the lack of understanding and willingness to include the needs of visually impaired students is a significant barrier and unnecessary and unforgiveable in 2025.
For this issue to be resolved it will take understanding, conversations and inclusion. I hope that in the future this is an issue that visually impaired students do not have to worry about. I hope that we are all given the same opportunities as our peers to reach our full potential, it’s the least we deserve.
Anna Brazil is a Leaving Cert student at Waterpark College, Waterford
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