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POLICY STATEMENT

See Policy section, below.

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

See Ministerial Order 302/04, the Graduation Program Order

POLICY

The purpose of this policy is to describe the student credentials that will be awarded as outlined in the Graduation Program Order.

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 the Graduation Program 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 after Grades 10, 11 and 12, 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 10, 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 Adult Dogwood. Additional copies will be available from the Ministry for a fee, or directly from the school.

British Columbia School Completion Certificate

The British Columbia School Completion Certificate is awarded to students who meet the goals of their educational program other than graduation. This can include students with Individual Education Plans, or students who meet other criteria established by their Board of Education.

Guidelines for Awarding the British Columbia School Completion Certificate To receive the British Columbia School Completion Certificate, the principal, in consultation with teachers, should ensure that the student has met the goals of his or her educational program, or other criteria established by the Board of Education. In order for the Ministry to prepare a British Columbia School Completion Certificate, the school must submit the demographic data for the student to the Ministry, including the date when the student met the goals of his or her educational program, or other criteria established by the Board of Education. The Ministry will then prepare and distribute to the school or district office a specially designed certificate, distinct from the Dogwood Diploma, for authorized signature and distribution to the student. A student will be issued only one copy of the British Columbia School Completion Certificate. Additional copies will be available from the Ministry for a fee. A French version of the British Columbia School Completion Certificate is available upon request.

Transcript of Grades (Grades 10, 11 and 12)

The Transcript of Grades provides prospective employers and post-secondary institutions with relevant information about student accomplishments.

Schools will report all Grades 10, 11, and 12 courses successfully completed, credits earned, and achievement levels attained to the Ministry of Education at the end of each of Grades 10, 11 and 12 for each school year. Once processes are in place, students will be able to access copies of their unofficial transcripts through the Ministry of Education web site at a reasonable time following the end of the school year. School boards and schools may produce transcripts with authorized signature for students who have not yet met graduation requirements.

Effective 2006/07, schools are required to submit transcript data for students on modified educational programs who receive School Completion Certificates. Transcripts for students on modified programs show all credit and non-credit courses completed, and contains a statement indicating that the student has been issued a School Completion Certificate.

Translation of the Transcript of Grades into French will be provided by the Ministry upon request by a student enrolled in a school governed by the Francophone Education Authority.

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 80 credits for required courses and elective credits.

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 44 of their 80 credits with percentages and letter grades to receive a GPA and Honours Standing (to accommodate students who enter the BC school system after Grade 10).

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.