Digital Exam Papers

I am delighted to hear that visually-impaired Leaving Cert students will soon have access to digital exam papers.

The State Examinations Commission (SEC) has finally agreed to roll out a pilot project to allow visually-impaired students access to digital versions of their exam papers. Up until now, many students with visual impairment relied on digital material during the course of their day-to-day schooling but then did not have access to the same when doing a state examination. Under the new pilot scheme, students with a visual impairment will now have access to read-only PDFs. The SEC will now contact students directly whose particular circumstances bring them within the scope of the pilot.

This had been an issue I raised recently with the Minister for Education at the Committee on Disability Matters (here), and while there is lots more to do – around the use of pictures in orals for visually impaired students, the entitlement to extra time, to scribes – overall this is a huge step in the right direction and will improve access to educational attainment for our visually-impaired community.

I am and will remain committed to continue this work towards making our state exams more accessible.

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