Dyslexia Support School Ireland: Accommodations, RACE, and What to Demand

A dyslexia diagnosis in Ireland rarely comes with a guarantee of support. The school receives the report, may acknowledge it, and carries on much as before. Many families find that years pass before the accommodations that should have been in place from early primary actually materialise — if they ever do.

Here's what an Irish school is required to do for a student with dyslexia, and what to do when they're falling short.

What the Irish Framework Says About Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a recognised specific learning disability, and under the Equal Status Acts 2000–2018, students with dyslexia are protected from discrimination in education. Schools have a legal duty to provide "reasonable accommodation" — meaning practical adjustments to ensure equal access to learning. That obligation exists even without a private assessment, though an assessment makes the case much stronger.

Within the school-based framework, dyslexia support is delivered primarily through:

The Continuum of Support: A student with identified literacy difficulties should progress through the NEPS Continuum — starting with Classroom Support (differentiated teaching by the class teacher), moving to School Support (targeted work with the Special Education Teacher), and potentially reaching School Support Plus (highly individualised, externally-informed planning) if the difficulties are severe and persistent.

Special Education Teacher (SET) hours: The school receives a bulk SET allocation and decides internally how to deploy it. For a student with documented dyslexia and significant literacy needs, the school should be allocating SET time for specific literacy intervention. The most evidence-based programmes for dyslexia — structured synthetic phonics, direct instruction approaches — should be the standard, not general "learning support" that doesn't target the underlying difficulty.

What Should Be in the School Support Plan

For a student with dyslexia, the School Support Plan (SSP) needs to be specific, not generic. Targets like "will improve reading" are useless. An effective SSP for a student with dyslexia should include:

• Baseline literacy data: Standardised test scores (e.g., Drumcondra, WRAT) at the start of the intervention period, specifying reading accuracy, reading fluency, and spelling age
• SMART targets: E.g., "By June 2026, [student] will increase reading fluency from [X] to [Y] words per minute as measured by [specific tool]"
• Named intervention: Which specific programme is being used (e.g., Reading Recovery, Toe by Toe, Barton, phonics-based programme), how frequently, and in what format
• Classroom accommodations: Explicit list of adjustments the class teacher will implement (audio versions of texts, reduced written output requirements, oral responses permitted, extra time for reading tasks)
• Assistive technology: If the student benefits from text-to-speech, speech-to-text, or other AT tools, these should be named in the plan and the school should provide access to them
• Review date: When progress will be measured against the baseline

If the SSP you've been shown contains none of this specificity, request a formal review and bring the above as your framework for what you expect to see.

RACE Accommodations for Dyslexia at State Examinations

The Reasonable Accommodations at Certificate Examinations (RACE) scheme is critical for students with dyslexia approaching state examinations (Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate). Available accommodations include:

• Reader/recorder: Someone to read exam questions aloud and/or record oral answers
• Waiver for spelling, punctuation, and grammar: The examiner does not penalise for these in certain subjects
• Spelling exemption in Irish: Can be applied for under specific conditions
• Extra time: Generally 20 minutes per hour for students with significant processing difficulties
• Use of a computer/word processor: Where written output is significantly impaired
• Rest breaks: For students who fatigue during extended examination periods

For the 2026 examinations, students with a direct intervention accommodation automatically receive an additional 10 minutes per written paper.

RACE applications are managed through the school's RACE co-ordinator and must be submitted in advance — well before the examinations. The application must be supported by relevant assessment evidence. The school's responsibility is to apply correctly and on time. If the school has failed to apply for accommodations that the evidence supports, this is a failure on their part — put it in writing and request immediate corrective action.

Irish Exemptions for Students with Dyslexia

Students with persistent, documented literacy difficulties may qualify for an exemption from the study of Irish. This is governed by Circular 0056/2011 and is available to students who have:

• An assessed reading and/or writing age that is at least two years behind chronological age on a standardised test
• Documented evidence of persistent difficulty across a minimum of two years in the Student Support File

The Dyslexia Association of Ireland (dyslexia.ie) provides detailed guidance on the Irish exemption criteria. The exemption is not automatic — the school must apply for it, and the principal must be satisfied the criteria are met. If your child meets these criteria and the school hasn't applied, request a meeting specifically to discuss this. The exemption can free up significant curriculum time for a student who is already working much harder than peers to manage basic literacy tasks.

Assistive Technology in School

Schools in Ireland are responsible for providing assistive technology as a reasonable accommodation where it meaningfully supports a student's access to learning. For students with dyslexia, the most common AT tools include:

• Text-to-speech software (e.g., Read&Write, Claro, NaturalReader) that reads text aloud
• Speech-to-text for reducing the writing burden
• Digital versions of textbooks that can be read aloud
• Spellcheckers and word prediction

The NCSE can provide assistive technology equipment in some cases through the school — the school makes the application to the NCSE. If AT has been recommended in a private assessment and the school hasn't acted on this recommendation, ask the principal specifically what steps have been taken to request it.

When the School Isn't Providing Adequate Support

The most common failure points are: no literacy-specific intervention programme running, vague SSP targets, no baseline data, and no progress review. The sequence for pushing back:

1. Request a formal SSP review meeting in writing, citing the specific inadequacies you've identified
2. Ask the school to explain the evidence-based rationale for current SET deployment relative to your child's documented needs
3. If SET hours are available but not being deployed adequately, escalate to a BOM complaint
4. If the failure to provide support constitutes a failure of reasonable accommodation under the Equal Status Acts, this can be referred to the Workplace Relations Commission — but exhaust internal procedures first

If the school has a private assessment report and has not incorporated its recommendations into the SSP, reference the requirement under NEPS guidelines that all professional reports must be reviewed and used to inform the Student Support File. Ask in writing what steps have been taken to action the specific recommendations.

The Ireland Special Ed Advocacy Playbook includes template letters for requesting SSP reviews, applying for RACE accommodations, and escalating inadequate literacy support through the formal complaints process.

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