THE TIME given to Leaving Cert higher-level exams in Irish, English and a range of other subjects is expected to be cut by 20 minutes.
A report commissioned by the State Exams Commission - due to be published shortly - says the time for higher-level exams in Irish, English, history and geography should be shortened. This, it said, would make the Leaving Cert fairer for all candidates.
At present, the higher-level exams in Irish, English, history and geography are the longest on the exam timetable. Paper two in English clocks in at three hours and 20 minutes while the two Irish papers extend over five hours and 10 minutes.
Students are allowed just under three hours for history and geography.
But the advisory group established by the exams commission says these very lengthy exams should be cut back.
The recommendation will make no difference to students who have already entered the Leaving Cert cycle - those now in fifth and sixth year.
The higher-level exams in question were extended as part of a pilot project in the year 2000.
The plan was that the extra time would make the exams fairer for weaker students by allowing extra time.
But the ASTI has argued that the extra time has actually given an advantage to stronger students. It strongly recommended that the provision be discontinued.
The advisory group - chaired by Prof Áine Hyland, former UCC vice-president - said extra time should be available for weaker students who need it. But it said the decision to allow extra time for all students should be reversed.
Through the scheme known as "reasonable accommodations", the exams commission provides a range of measures to enable students with disabilities to access the certificate examinations.
The Advisory Group on Reasonable Accommodations was established last year to "re-examine policy and practice in the area of reasonable accommodations provided for students in the certificate examinations".
This follows controversy about the huge increase in the number of students in receipt of certain special provisions in exam situations.
This year, almost 11,000 students did not sit Leaving Cert Irish and many of these had gained exemptions in the subject.
Although most of these are genuine, the Department of Education's inspectorate has hinted that the system is also open to abuse.
Since 2001, the number of students receiving a waiver for spelling and grammar has increased by almost 700 per cent. The numbers receiving reading assistance have also increased dramatically.
Much of this rise is due to an increased awareness of specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia and increased provisions and supports in schools for diagnosing and managing such conditions.
Reasonable accommodations include measures that are intended to diminish, as far as possible, the impact of a physical or learning difficulty on a candidate's ability to demonstrate his or her level of attainment. They are not designed to give any advantage to students sitting the exams.
These include the provision of readers and scribes; the production of modified papers; Brailled and enlarged papers; the use of tape recorders and computers; and exemption or waivers in respect of particular components.