Student who left Leaving Cert exam due to medical emergency permitted to re-sit paper

A Leaving Cert candidate who was forced to leave his history exam after developing acute appendicitis has been granted permission to sit an alternative paper next month.

The student’s mother was initially told last week that he was not entitled to sit deferred exams in July on the basis that he had started the exam.

State Examinations Commission rules stipulate that while candidates who experience a serious medical condition are entitled to sit deferred exams, this does not apply to those who have commenced an exam.

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“These are not second-chance examinations and are not available once a candidate has commenced an examination or completed an examination in the main sitting, even [if] the candidate maintains that they were unwell while taking the examinations,” according to an SEC document, published earlier this month.

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The student had to leave the history exam midway through, was taken to hospital in “extreme pain” according to his mother, and underwent surgery.

The student’s situation attracted considerable publicity online after his mother shared details of his story on social media on Friday.

A number of Government Ministers, including Minister of State for Special Education Josepha Madigan and Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris, pledged to make inquiries on the mother’s behalf.

It is understood that over the weekend education authorities told the family that if the student applied through the school to sit deferred exams, he would be eligible.

On Saturday, the boy’s mother confirmed that he has since been offered the chance to sit an alternative paper during a deferred set of exams in July.

These deferred exams are aimed at students who could not attend the June exams due to bereavement, Covid-19 or a medical emergency.

Informed sources told The Irish Times the fact the student had clear medical evidence of the need for the emergency procedure meant an exception was being made in this instance.

The boy’s mother said that while she was thankful for the messages of support, the rules need to change to ensure more flexibility is shown in the case of “genuine, easily provable emergencies”.

Epilepsy Ireland echoed her sentiments and said that while the case was not epilepsy-related, it showed why further provision “must be made for students who have medical emergencies during their exams”.

The organisation has been campaigning for such flexibility for several years.

The rules state that students who experience a serious accident, injury or illness which renders them unable to attend for their exams may be eligible for deferred exams, depending on the timing, nature and severity of their condition.

For exam integrity reasons, the SEC says the threshold for evidence is high, and that evidence will be required from a medical consultant or from a hospital.