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External Credits Policy

This policy describes how students earn credit towards graduation through external credentials approved by the Ministry.

External Credits refer to Ministry-approved documented prior learning.  An official list of External Credits approved by the Ministry is provided to schools on an annual basis in which some external credentials are classified as required courses and others as elective courses.  

External credits cannot be granted for courses required for graduation, except for Grade 12 credits, as outlined below.  

Grade 12-level external credentials count towards the required number of Grade 12 level credits needed to satisfy graduation requirements.

There is no limit to the number of credits a student may earn by using the external credentials. However, there may be credit restrictions between credentials where the external courses or programs are deemed to be equivalent.

In order to receive external credits the following procedure must be followed:

  1. The student must take responsibility to communicate the proof of credential and appropriate documentation (certificate etc) to their Grad Advisor for the course they wish to receive external credit for.
  2. If the certificate requires verification, the Grad Advisor will contact the external organization for that verification.
  3. All courses will be assigned a mark of TS (Transfer Standing) if a letter grade or percentage is not determined based on the documentation.

Although external credentials may contribute towards graduation requirements, they may or may not meet general or specific admissions requirements for post-secondary institutions. It is students’ responsibility to verify admissions requirements for the post-secondary institutions they plan to attend.

Students may have earned an approved external credential prior to entering Grade 10. If so, they are awarded credit if they present their credential any time after they enter Grade 10.

For more information about students earning credits through Challenge, Equivalency and External Credentials, please refer to the information on the Ministry of Education website.

Credit from Post-Secondary Courses

This policy describes how students earn credit towards graduation by earning credit for courses at specific Post Secondary Institutions.

Students are entitled to earn "dual credit" if they earn credits toward to a post-secondary credential from a  member post-secondary institution of the British Columbia Transfer System or offered in French through Educacentre. See the Flex Academy Dual Credit Policy for More information.

Post-secondary courses for which credit may be earned must be documented as follows:

Applicable post-secondary level courses count towards the required number of Grade 12 level credits needed to satisfy graduation requirements.

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