Vol. 544 No. 4
238 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science his policy for granting concessions to non-national persons in subjects which require English composition in answering examination questions; the nature of the concession granted; and the way in which an examinee can apply to secure the concession. [29087/01]
In the interests of equity and fairness across the entire body of candidates, and to ensure the credibility of the examination system, the work done by students must ultimately be assessed according to the same strictly objective criteria. This is achieved by having a common marking scheme apply to the work of all candidates in a subject, and at the same time by ensuring that every effort is made to ensure that full credit is given in accordance with the marking scheme for the work done. My Department instructs all examiners who have a difficulty in accessing the information given by a candidate to refer the script to their supervising examiner. This approach is intended to ensure that, notwithstanding any presentational or readability difficulties, every effort is made by the examiner to ensure that the candidate is given credit for all work done.
