THE NUMBER of students gaining "special accommodations" - such as a spelling and grammar waiver - in the Leaving Cert has almost doubled in the past four years, according to new figures.
The figures from the State Examinations Commission (SEC) also show a continuing increase in the number of students gaining exemptions from particular subjects.
In recent years, the Department of Education inspectorate has expressed concern about the high number of students gaining an exemption from Irish.
An expert group will report shortly on the wider issue of these and other forms of assistance - known as reasonable accommodations - in the exams.
The new figures also show how parents of children with dyslexia and other learning needs have become more aware of their rights.
Yesterday, the SEC pointed out how these accommodations are designed to allow each candidate demonstrate his/her ability. They are not intended to compensate for lack of attainment, according to the SEC.
This year, the number of students taking the Leaving Cert - which begins on Wednesday - is marginally up, at 53,345. But this figure is still at historically low levels; some 68,000 students sat the exam in 1995.
The decline in Leaving Cert numbers is expected to continue until about 2012, when demographic changes should see a sharp increase in candidates.
The biggest single exam in the Leaving Cert will be ordinary level maths which will be taken by almost 40,000 students. Only about 10,700 students will sit higher level maths. The number sitting several higher level subjects is also surprisingly low.
These include chemistry (6,770), history (5,321), physics (6,240) and economics (4,000). Some 15,000 will sit higher level Irish, but more than twice this number, 33,500, will sit higher level English.
This year, most students will have a more "user-friendly" timetable, with the main "heavy" papers in English and Irish spread out over the first week.
The exams are a huge logistical challenge for the SEC, including:
Arranging for examinations in 89 curricular and 15 non-curricular subjects.
Engaging 692 drafters, setters and translators to develop 250 different test components - including oral tests, aural recordings, practical briefs, project briefs, portfolio and coursework items as well as the written examination papers.
Producing three million examination papers, made up of 34 million A4 pages.
Arranging for the recording of some 90,187 oral tests.
Engaging 4,600 superintendents to oversee 4,600 ordinary examination centres.
Engaging 6,061 examiners to mark the examinations.
Examining some 1.9 million individual test items including written examination scripts, art and craftwork pieces, project and practical pieces, in 89 subjects.
Generating 962,536 individual grades leading to the award of 111,181 examination certificates.
Returning 350,000 marked scripts to schools for viewing.
Exams will also be given in several "non-curricular" languages.
The most popular of these is Polish (179 exam candidates) and Lithuanian (135).
