A Waterford student with a disability who took legal action to win more time to sit her Leaving Cert was celebrating last night after getting six honours and a pass.
Ms Mary Nugent (19), who has cerebral palsy, said she was "really, really happy" at results which included an A2 in history and a B2 in English.
History was one of her favourite subjects but she had found the exam very hard. "I was convinced that I'd failed history so to find I got an A2 was a shock," she said.
Ms Nugent, who hopes to study for a law or arts degree at University College Cork, successfully took the Department of Education to the High Court in March to get adequate extra time to complete her examination papers, breaks during tests and a personal assistant to write her answers.
She still had to overcome several disadvantages, however, compared to other students. She is unable to take notes in class and a note-taker was available to her for only the second year of the two-year Leaving Cert course.
Having to take the Department to court had also put her under a lot of extra pressure, she said, although she only realised this now. "You don't think about these things at the time. I just go and do whatever it is I have to do - and freak out after," she joked.
Ms Nugent collected her results from the Presentation School yesterday morning but was too nervous to open them there. "I didn't open them until I was coming home in the car. All the teachers and the principal, Sister Fidelis, were around me asking me to open them but I wouldn't. My history teacher even followed me in the hope that I would." However, she "just didn't know what to expect" after all of the pressures and wanted to check the results in private.
The Leaving Cert, she said, put "a crazy amount of pressure" on all students but at least it was equitable. "You can go to college in America if you pay for it and that isn't a fair system. This system gives everyone a chance but the pressure it causes is huge."
Describing herself as "shocked and over the moon", she was planning to celebrate last night with her classmates.
Her plans to study at UCC will hinge on the outcome of an interview at the university next month. Should she be accepted, she then has to find the financial means to enable her to attend third-level education.
While she qualifies for financial support from a number of State agencies, this will not be enough to put her through college. Her mother, Ms Moira Nugent, asked why there was not a "one-stop shop" where Mary's needs could be assessed and a decision about funding made.
