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The Graduation Program is designed to support all students in acquiring attributes by the time they complete Grade 12, in the areas of intellectual, human and social, and career development.

• Grad Planner Guide

Background

The Ministry of Education undertook a review of the BC Graduation Program in 2002.  The year-long review included consultations with thousands of parents, students, educators, community members and former students who had not completed high school.  It also included reviews of academic literature, position papers and graduation requirements in other jurisdictions.  As a result BC’s Graduation Program was implemented in 2004.

Scope

British Columbia’s Graduation Program 2018 includes Grades 10, 11 and 12.  

Graduation Requirements

The B.C. Certificate of Graduation or "Dogwood Diploma" is awarded to students who successfully complete the provincial graduation requirements.

Students require a minimum of 80 credits to graduate.

Of these 80 credits:

• At least 16 credits must be at the Grade 12 level, including a required Language Arts 12 and Career Life Connections
• At least 28 credits must be elective course credits 
• 52 credits are required from the following:
     >  Career-Life Education (4 credits), and Career-Life Connections (4 credits)
     >  Physical and Health Education 10 (4 credits)
     >  Science 10 (4 credits), and a Science 11 or 12 (4 credits)
     >  Social Studies 10 (4 credits), and a Social Studies 11 or 12 (4 credits)
     >  A Math 10 (4 credits), and a Math 11 or 12 (4 credits)
     >  A Language Arts 10, 11 and a required 12 (12 credits total)
     >  An Arts Education 10, 11, or 12 and/or an Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies 10, 11, or 12 (4 credits total) 
  

In addition, students must also complete three graduation assessments:

• The Grade 10 Numeracy Assessment was introduced in 2018
• The Grade 10 Literacy Assessment was introduced in 2019/20
• The Grade 12 Literacy Assessment will be introduced in 2021/22 

French Immersion/Francophone Dual Dogwood: 

French Immersion students can earn both a British Columbia Certificate of Graduation (Dogwood Diploma) and a Diplôme de fin d’études secondaires en Colombie-Britannique.

To graduate with both diplomas, French Immersion students must meet the graduation requirements for the Dogwood Diploma and, of these 80 credits, they must earn:

• At least 16 credits at the Grade 12 level (including a Français langue seconde-immersion course at the Grade 12 level)
• Français langue seconde-immersion 10 (4 credits)
• A Français langue seconde-immersion course at the Grade 11 level (4 credits)
• Français langue seconde-immersion 12 (4 credits)
• At least 12 credits in Grade 10, 11, or 12 courses that are in French with at least 4 of these credits at the Grade 11 or 12 level

Francophone students can earn both a British Columbia Certificate of Graduation (Dogwood Diploma) and a Diplôme de fin d’études secondaires en Colombie-Britannique.

To graduate with both diplomas, Francophone students must meet the graduation requirements for the Dogwood Diploma and, of these 80 credits, they must earn:

• At least 16 credits at the Grade 12 level (including a required Language Arts 12 course)
• An English Language Arts course at the Grade 10 level (4 credits)
• An English Language Arts course at the Grade 11 level (4 credits)
• A required English Language Arts course at the Grade 12 level (4 credits)
• A Français langue première course at the Grade 10 level (4 credits)
• A Français langue première course at the Grade 11 level (4 credits)
• Français langue première – Français langue et culture 12 (4 credits)

In addition, Francophone students must also complete five Provincial Graduation Assessments, four in literacy and one in numeracy.