CONTACT

Eleanor Park

Executive Director

Federation of Canadian Secondary Students | Fédération des élèves du secondaire au Canada

eleanor.park@fcss-fesc.ca

+1 (519) 476-7936

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 2, 2019

In British Columbia, thousands of students are worried about the outcome of the English 12 and Français Langue Seconde examinations.

On July 30th, the incorrect exam results of the provincial exam of Grade 12 students were confirmed by British Columbia’s Education Minister Rob Fleming to have been caused by a technical issue. Over 32,000 students were affected by a human error in the manual process of data transfer between the systems.

The province-wide issue has been resolved as of the 31st of July, confirmed by the ministry. All post-secondary institutions in Canada and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) institutions in the United States of America have been contacted and the issue of the transcripts of students has been resolved. In spite of the quick amends made to the error, students nor parents could be entirely relieved.

Despite students receiving offers earlier in the year based on their marks in the first two terms of the academic year, a majority of these offers were conditional. Depending on certain universities, students were required to maintain their academic average. The English 12 mark is often a prerequisite for many university programs and the provincial exam mark makes up 40% of that grade.

The response from students and families has not been amicable. Many students were only aware of ministry’s attempt to fix the issue through media coverage. Certain students have expressed concern over university acceptances, scholarships, and spots on varsity sports teams. Several students have received notification letters from universities stating a possible revocation of their offers due to the mark discrepancy. On social media, certain pages and chats have been created. For example, the “June Provincial Victims” group chat on Facebook has gained traction for students with conditional offers.

Although marks have been updated, many students are still expressing dissatisfaction with over a 10% discrepancy with their exam and class grade. For many students who have experienced their graduation with celebration, the issue at hand has proven to be a tough reality check.

At the moment, the Federation of Canadian Secondary Students / Fédération des élèves du secondaire au Canada (FCSS-FESC) is standing strong with the students affected by the unprecedented error that has occurred.