Athlone students 'shocked' as their extra exam time goal becomes reality

Our Lady's Bower student Sive O'Brien has expressed her shock as the Government announced plans to allow extra time for State exams from June 2026.

Fifth year students Sive, 17, and her classmate Madison Moore, 16, completed a project entitled 'It’s Time for Extra Time', which highlighted the need for additional exam time for students suffering from learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

The pair were invited to Leinster House in May of this year by Deputy Micheál Carrigy to share their findings with members of Government, during which they received an incredibly warm reception.

“It was a really good experience. We really enjoyed it, the whole day was very good. We got to talk to a lot of politicians, including the Minister for Education,” Sive said.

“They really understood the importance of our project. There was not one politician in there that was against it. A lot of them said how shocking the information that we showed was, and how there really should be extra time.”

On Friday, July 5, it was announced that students with dyslexia and other learning differences will be entitled to extra time in their Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate exams from June 2026.

“I'm shocked that it is happening! It's been something that not only myself and Madison were campaigning for, but also lots of organisations,” Sive shared, adding that many of her peers doubted the plan ever coming to fruition.

“I know so many people for example that struggle with dyslexia that could benefit, and to finally hear that it is happening - it's amazing.”

The duo completed their research throughout the academic year 2024/25 while they were in Transition Year in the Our Lady’s Bower secondary school.

They had support from teacher Ms Rachel Hogg, the Disability Officer in the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) in Athlone, and the team at Dyslexia Ireland.

“The main reason we started our research was because I knew how it affected me, and I knew it affected many others. The amount of people in Ireland who have dyslexia is huge, and we wanted to have fairness and equality in the testing system.”

Sive extended her thanks to Ms Hogg and all the teachers at Our Lady's Bower for their support, and to TUS and Dyslexia Ireland for assisting them in their research. She also expressed her gratitude for her parents, who were a great support throughout.