Background:

Students may earn credits toward graduation in a variety of ways. In addition to earning credits by successfully completing courses, students may earn credits through Challenge.

All students enrolled in Grades 10, 11, and 12 in the District are entitled to undertake a challenge process to assess their prior learning for any Ministry authorized graduation program course offered by any district in the Province that school year, as well as any Board Authorized (BAA) course taught in the District that school year, provided the student has not already completed the course through previous enrolment.

International Students must comply with the challenge procedures set out in the Ministry’s International Student Graduation Credit Policy.

The Ministry of Education and Child Care may make determinations about equivalency that apply to all students. Such determinations will be listed in the Handbook of Procedures for the Graduation Program or online Course Registry.

District course challenge practices are in keeping with current Ministry of Education and Child Care Course Challenge guidelines and comply with the Ministry’s Equivalency and Challenge Policies.

Procedures:

1. Students can challenge to receive credit for Ministry-Authorized, Board/Authority Authorized or Locally Developed Grade 10, 11 or 12 courses if they:

1.1 Are currently enrolled or registered as a home schooler in the District.

1.2 Have not completed the course or its equivalent learning outcomes through previous enrollment.

1.3 Can give compelling evidence that they will succeed in the challenge.

2. Students are not eligible to challenge a specific course if they have already:

2.1 Challenged it and received a passing grade.

2.2 Completed it through previous enrolment.

2.3 Been granted equivalency for it.

3. Prior to engaging in a challenge process, principals or designates must review and assess any documentation of prior learning that a student presents in order to determine if credit can be awarded through equivalency. Refer to Ministry of Education Policy, Earning Credit through Equivalency, Challenge, External Credentials, Post-Secondary Credit and Independent Directed Studies.
4. Students must be able to demonstrate their readiness to challenge a course based on factors such as a recommendation from a previous teacher, or from evidence that relevant learning has been acquired outside the regular classroom setting. The demonstration is not to be an onerous process. School staff, in consultation with students and parents, are to make the decision about readiness.
5. Principals or designates must document the Challenge assessment delivered to each student, including a pre-Challenge Equivalency review, and the documentation must be made available to Ministry auditors if requested. Examples of assessment strategies that could be used in a Challenge process include such things as hands-on demonstrations, oral performances, interviews, written examinations, or presentations of a collection of work.
6. Credit awarded through Challenge is measured by the same standards used for students who have taken the course through enrollment. A Challenge is considered successful when a student has achieved at least a C- and fifty percent (50%).
7. In some subject areas, students may be able to participate in a course challenge procedure through the Coast-Metro Challenge Consortium.

Authority:

• Ministerial Order 302/04, Graduation Program Order (PDF)
• Earning Credit through Equivalency, Challenge, External Credentials, Post-Secondary Credit and Independent Directed Studies.
• International Student Graduation Credit
• 2023 BC Graduation Program Handbook of Procedures

March 2024