Vol. 520 No. 1
395 Mr. Aylward asked the Minister for Education and Science the concessions available within his Department to a student who was absent from school through ill health for two months during the year and is due to sit his Leaving Certificate examination, where medical evidence can be submitted to his Department; and if he will outline the details of such concessions. [15198/00]
The annual certificate examinations can give rise to situations where some human factor, e.g. onset of illness, must be balanced against the requirements of equity to the general body of students. While my Department would wish to do all that it can for students who have to cope with difficulties at exam time there is also the need to apply uniform, and objective criteria to the marking of student's examination work.
Essentially, my Department tries to achieve this balance through making every reasonable provision for candidates to demonstrate their full ability at the actual examination while at the same time applying the marking scheme to the work produced by each student.
The purpose of making special arrangements at examination time is to ensure that a candidate is given every opportunity to demonstrate his-her level of attainment. No arrangements, however, can be made to compensate for an actual lack of attainment. The examination system seeks to measure what a candidate has achieved rather than what a candidate might have achieved if circumstances were different.
