A student who communicates through eye-gaze technology has been denied the opportunity to complete a National 5 exam.
Romi Loffler from Netherlee, East Renfrewshire hoped to earn a National 5 History qualification, having earned her National 4 qualification last year.
Due to her having Rett Syndrome — a neurological genetic disorder that restricts her speech and movement — she would require reasonable adjustments to complete the exam component.
However, the adjustments requested by her family and college were rejected by Qualifications Scotland (QS).
Because Romi spells through blinking, using eye-gaze technology, she requires accommodations that include being able to complete the exam over an extended period of time with rest breaks. A “bank” of relevant words — so that she wouldn’t have to spell out each word letter by letter — was also suggested.
Romi’s mum, Gael Gordon, told the BBC “if it can be done for GCSEs, I simply don’t understand why it can’t be done for Nat 5.”
Referring to the two cases earlier this year where students used eye-gaze technology to sit GCSE exams, including Patrick who has cerebral palsy and “did all seven of [his] GCSEs over a five-month period with [his] eyes.”
In a statement to the BBC, QS said that they are “committed to making reasonable adjustments so that disabled learners have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and understanding,” while also having “a duty to maintain the integrity of qualifications, so must always ensure that any reasonable adjustments put in place for learners do not impact standards.”
A number of students who have achieved National 5 in History have told The Student they disagree with the decision — with one voicing that they feel that making appropriate accommodations in this case would “not impact the integrity of [their] qualifications whatsoever,” and that it’s “unfair to hold [Romi Loffler] back on account of something she cannot control when she is clearly making the effort to study for and complete the exam like everyone else.”
