State exam policy to be more 'inclusive'

The State exams commission is to review overall policy on special arrangements made for pupils with learning difficulties.

The State exams commission is to review overall policy on special arrangements made for pupils with learning difficulties.

In 2006, some 12,000 so- called "reasonable accommodations" were made for exam students.

Typically, spelling and grammar waivers in language subjects are provided to cater for students with dyslexia - with annotation of the certificates.

In other cases, a reader or scribe could be provided for a student, or a hearing-impaired student could be exempt from the aural component of language subjects.

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Some of the measures require the establishment of special exam centres.

The accommodations 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. Current policy and practice on reasonable accommodations are based on the work of an earlier group which advised on this matter in 2000.

In announcing the establishment of the group the chairman of the State Examinations Commission, Richard Langford, said: "We are fully committed to providing an examinations and assessment system with the highest possible standards of inclusiveness, equity and fairness."

Seán Flynn

Seán Flynn

The late Seán Flynn was education editor of The Irish Times