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POLICY STATEMENT

The purpose of this policy is to describe the student credentials that will be awarded in the British Columbia school system.

RATIONALE

This policy provides guidelines for awarding the British Columbia Certificate of Graduation; the British Columbia Adult Graduation Diploma; guidelines for awarding the British Columbia School Completion Certificate; and guidelines regarding the Transcript of Grades and the calculation of honours standing.

LEGISLATION/ REGULATIONS

Under the authority of the School Act, Section 168 (2) (b), (2) (t), and (5):

168 (2) The minister may make orders for the purpose of carrying out any of the minister's powers, duties or functions under this Act and, without restriction, may make orders…

(b) subject to subsection (5) determining the general requirements for graduation from an educational program…

(t) that the minister otherwise considers advisable to effectively administer this Act or the regulations…

(5) The minister may, with the minister responsible for public post-secondary institutions, establish the requirements for obtaining the British Columbia Adult Graduation Diploma.

See Ministerial Order 205/95, the Graduation Requirements Order, and Ministerial Order 164/96, the Student Credentials Order, should be referred to in conjunction with this policy.

POLICY

This policy provides guidelines for awarding the British Columbia Certificate of Graduation; policy and guidelines for awarding the British Columbia School Completion Certificate; and guidelines regarding the Transcript of Grades and the calculation of honours standing.

PROCEDURES

British Columbia Certificate of Graduation

The British Columbia Certificate of Graduation or "Dogwood Diploma" is awarded upon successful completion of the provincial graduation requirements.

Guidelines for Awarding the Dogwood Diploma
The Dogwood Diploma signifies that a student has met the requirements for graduation as set out in Ministerial Order 205/95, the Graduation Requirements Order. It will not include specific program information (e.g., honours standing, French Immersion); program-related information will be included on the Transcript of Grades.

The school will submit the appropriate course information to the Ministry, which indicates that a student has satisfied provincial graduation requirements. The Ministry will then prepare and distribute a Dogwood Diploma to the school or district office for authorized signature and distribution to the student.

A student will be issued only one copy of the Dogwood Diploma. Additional copies will be available from the Ministry for a fee, or directly from the school.

A student who graduates from Programme francophone (see the Language Education Policy for information concerning Programme francophone and French Immersion) will receive the Diplome de fin d'etudes secondaires en Colombie-Britannique (French Dogwood Diploma). If the student successfully completes English Language Arts 11 and 12, he or she will also receive the Dogwood Diploma.

A student who graduates from the French Immersion program will receive both the Dogwood Diploma and the French Dogwood Diploma.

The British Columbia Adult Graduation Diploma

The British Columbia Adult Graduation Diploma, the "Adult Dogwood," is awarded upon successful completion of provincial adult graduation requirements.

Guidelines for Awarding the Adult Dogwood
The Adult Dogwood signifies that an adult student (19 years of age, or 18 years and out of school for at least one year) has met the requirements for graduation as set out in Ministerial Order 389/00, the British Columbia Adult Graduation Requirements Order. A student must take at least three courses as an adult, either through enrolment or prior learning assessment, to be eligible to earn credits towards the Adult Dogwood. (See the Adult Graduation Program Policy for further information.)

A student will be issued only one copy of the Dogwood Diploma. Additional copies will be available from the Ministry for a fee, or directly from the school.

British Columbia School Completion Certificate

Effective 2006/07, the policy and procedures for issuing British Columbia School Completion Certificates for students in the 1995 Graduation Program cohort is the same as for students in the 2004 Graduation Program cohort. See “British Columbia School Completion Certificate” in Section 2 of this document for details.

Transcript of Grades (Grades 11-12)

At the end of a student's final school year, or when all graduation requirements have been met, she or he receives a Transcript of Grades indicating all Grade 11 and 12 courses successfully completed, credits earned, achievement levels attained, and whether or not graduation requirements have been met. The Transcript of Grades provides prospective employers and post-secondary institutions with relevant information about student accomplishments.

Translation of the Transcript of Grades into French will be provided by the French Programs Branch of the Ministry upon request by a student.

Honours Standing A graduating student with an outstanding level of achievement will have the phrase "Achievement with Honours" included on her or his transcript. In order to be eligible to receive this designation on the transcript a student must:

satisfy provincial graduation requirements; and obtain a better than "B" average in the best 52 credits which satisfy Foundation Studies and Selected Studies.

Calculating Honours Standing
Letter grades will be converted to a grade point scale (A=4, B=3, C+=2.5, C=2, C-=1), and if the overall grade point average (GPA) is greater than "B" (>3.0) the student will be granted Honours Standing. GPA and Honours Standing will be based on the highest grades of all credits contributing to completion of the provincial graduation requirements.

A student must have at least 28 credits with percentages and letter grades to receive a GPA and Honours Standing.

Up to 24 credits that have "Transfer Standing" and "Standing Granted" grades may be excluded from the calculation.

If a student has elected to take one or more equivalent courses, the course with the highest final grade will be used to determine Honours Standing.

When calculating GPA and Honours Standing, course credit value will be taken into account and letter grades will be weighted accordingly.