The Dyslexia Association of Ireland has called for students with dyslexia to be allowed up to 25% extra time to complete Junior Cycle and Leaving Cert examination papers.
The State Exams Commission said it sanctioned almost 24,000 accommodations last year for students deemed by their schools to need assistance in exams.
Around 10% of the Irish population have dyslexia.
Emma McManus, a Leaving Cert student at Elphin Community College in Co Roscommon, is stressed about the upcoming exams. In the mock exams, she ran out of time on her history paper.
"I ran out of time and didn't get the scores I want – that I know I can get. I had the knowledge to do it," she told the RTÉ News At One.
DAI said the Irish education system is out of step with much of Europe in not offering extra time to students with dyslexia in state exams as a reasonable accommodation.
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"It's the equivalent of glasses if you are short-sighted. This is a way they can access the exam on a level playing field," said Donald Ewing, Head of Education and Policy at DAI.
While many third-level institutions offer extra time to students with dyslexia, this is not available at the second-level.
"That often shocks and surprises parents of children, when they find that this accommodation is not even on the table," Mr Ewing said.
Mr Ewing said the standard practice for students with reading and writing difficulties is to be afforded 25% extra time in state exams.
He said: "So on a two-hour exam the option is that a young person might be able to spend half an hour extra."
In a statement, SEC said that individual schools recommend students for available exam accommodations and the exams commission generally accepts these recommendations.
Almost 8,000 students had a reading assistant in 2022, up almost a thousand from the 2019 figure.
A total of 615 students were allocated a scribe to help with writing, that is down 340 in 2019.
There was a large increase in the number of students allowed the use of or word processor and almost 13,000 students were given a spelling and grammar waiver in language subjects.
That is up 5,000 on 2019, according to SEC figures provided to RTÉ News.
But other than in very limited cases, such as visual impairment, extra time was not available.
"Additional time in which to complete the written or practical examinations is not an accommodation that can be sanctioned in its own right under the RACE scheme," the SEC statement said.
Anne Bohan of Assist Dyslexia in Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim said two decades of teaching dyslexic students has convinced her that they require more time than other students to complete exam papers.
Ms Bohan said: "They process slower, so it takes them longer to decode long passages, such as in the English exam.
"In a lot of cases the short-term memory will have dropped the knowledge, so they will have to re-read. In every case, they are being disadvantaged."
Is extra time being considered?
The SEC told RTÉ News that while its advisory group recognises that extra time could allow a student to provide additional information on a question, it could "confer unfair advantage on some candidates."
The commission said the only way to know which students would benefit would be a professional screening of each candidate.
The Dyslexia Association of Ireland says the SEC guidance on this needs to change.
Donald Ewing said while there is a need to preserve the integrity of the exams, balance is needed.
"That is making sure we're meeting the needs of all learners, and not just those that learn in a more neurotypical way," he said.
Emma McManus believes even a few minutes of extra time would greatly help.
"Anything at this stage would make a difference I feel. It’s a setback really when you font have enough time to do something, when you know you can do it," she said.
