Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 507: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills if, in consultation with the State Examination Commission, she has considered providing additional time to some candidates for State exams based on the severity of their disability; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that this applies for State exams in the UK where, in exceptional circumstances, additional extra time may be provided to the candidates; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25559/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations including organising the holding of examinations and determining procedures in places where examinations are conducted including the supervision of examinations. The Commission operates a scheme of Reasonable Accommodations in the certificate examinations. Applications for such accommodations are submitted by schools on behalf of their students.

A range of accommodations are provided to enable students with special needs to access the Certificate examinations. For example enlarged print, Braille translation, modified questions, use of a scribe, a reader, a personal assistant, a tape recorder or word processor, may be allowed depending on needs. Ten minutes extra time per scheduled hour of each question paper may be allowed where the candidate needs the help of a scribe or would otherwise be unable to make adequate use of the mechanical aids provided for recording the answers or is visually impaired*.

The scheme was introduced following the report of an expert advisory group, and the introduction enabled opportunities to be provided for exemptions where a candidate was not in a position to demonstrate achievement in a core area of assessment. At the time, the Advisory Group examined the issue generally of extra time for students, but considered that the amount of time needed could vary substantially by disability category and that there was a fundamental difficulty in developing a system which would facilitate equitable access but not confer an unfair advantage in any case. The Group therefore recommended that the time element of the examination should be made less critical, and that an additional 15-20 minutes should be available for all students in certain examinations. This has been implemented since 2000 by extending the core timetable for Irish, English, History and Geography examinations since 2000. The extra time entitlement for students at * above is offset by this timetabled element.