IRELAND IS OUT of step with almost all other European jurisdictions when it comes to giving second-level students with dyslexia extra time as a reasonable accommodation during their exams. Unusually, extra time is the norm for third-level exams here. For those sitting their Junior and Leaving Certificate exams, this offer is not available. 

The introduction of extra time was even recommended by the State Examinations Commission’s own expert advisory group in 2009, but it was never actioned. As it happens, 2009 was the year many students sitting their Junior Cycle next June will have been born. And yet, sixteen years on, they are still waiting.

At Dyslexia Ireland, we have been campaigning on this most urgent issue over the last few years. We are calling on the State Examinations Commission (SEC) to introduce this accommodation to the existing scheme of Reasonable Accommodations in Certificate Exams (RACE).

It must be done urgently, so that candidates with dyslexia and other learning difficulties can finally work on a level playing field on the most important days of their education.

Support but no action

In May 2023, Dyslexia Ireland launched an online petition on this issue. It gained over 10,000 signatures in 48 hours. It now has over 33,000 signatories, many of whom have commented to say they had assumed this accommodation was already available and were shocked to hear it was not. We have also had overwhelming cross-party political support and a specific pledge in the current Programme for Government to introduce extra time. We even had Minister of State Neale Richmond speaking in the Seanad in July confirming significant progress. But still, nothing is officially in place.

At our last meeting with the SEC in August, to our disappointment, they could not confirm any changes to the RACE scheme for the 2026 exams. We did get some assurances of non-specific potential iterative changes, and the suggestion that it was a case of ‘when and not if’. But in the same meeting, the SEC reported that they are first undertaking a lengthy external fact-finding research exercise that is unlikely to report back until 2027.

The SEC will be publishing its guidance on the RACE scheme for the 2026 exams in the coming days. This will provide official confirmation on exactly what accommodations will be on offer this year. However, only days away from publication, we are left wondering if we should expect any changes at all at this point. 

On a SEC webinar for schools last week, officials were still unable to confirm whether extra time will be accessible this year – despite many teachers on the webinar asking this direct question. The frustration from schools was palpable.

‘Stressed out’

Last Thursday, Dyslexia Ireland appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Youth. We were lucky to be joined by Sive O’Brien, a Senior Cycle student at Our Lady’s Bower Secondary School in Athlone. As a young dyslexic, Sive has been campaigning herself on the need for extra time, including an impressive presentation in Leinster House last May where she shared research conducted as part of her BT Young Scientist Exhibition project.

Sive shared her own personal experience of running out of time in all of her Junior Cycle exams, and not being able to demonstrate all her knowledge due to time pressure and the stress this creates. She made a most compelling case for the immediate introduction of extra time, to the acclaim of all the Committee members. Her evidence was moving and humbling.

“We need these accommodations for young students to be able to stay up with their peers. There’s so many people out there who are wondering and who are stressed out because they’re not receiving these vital accommodations,” Sive told the Committee. “It will help so many people around this country.”

The Committee was very supportive of our call for extra time. Its members expressed this strongly to the Department and SEC officials who subsequently appeared before the same meeting, where they were questioned about their lack of action and urgency on this issue. The SEC suggested that they needed extra time to work on this issue. The irony was not lost on the room.

Gaslighting

It is perhaps an understatement to say that Dyslexia Ireland are disappointed at the pace of change. The assurance of ‘when not if’ from the SEC feels increasingly like gaslighting, and it is cold comfort for yet another year of students facing into their exams without the appropriate accommodations. It is also little solace for families supporting young people with the stress of exams on what is still an un-level playing field.

We are left wondering what to say to our members when they call, email or comment on social media. What to say when they ask: Why more delay? Why yet another review? Why more and more stress for our young people? Why can young people with these additional needs not have extra time now?

It is curious how, in a functioning liberal democracy, change is so hard and timelines are so long, even for issues where expert advice, public support and political will are all in alignment. A TD recently expressed their frustration to us in a private conversation, commenting with exasperation: “It’s just so hard to get anything done.”

For those of us with Third or Sixth Year dyslexic students in our households, the urgency is real and the issue rather simple. We need the introduction of extra time, and we need it without any more delay. We are calling on the SEC and the Department of Education and Youth to act now. It’s about time. 

Donald Ewing is a chartered educational psychologist and head of education and policy with Dyslexia Ireland.