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B.C. Education Ministry resolves 'issue' with Grade 12 provincial exam marks

Revised student transcripts will be posted later today, says Whistler principal
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PHOTO: UNSPLASH

Recent B.C. high school grads can expect an imminent resolution to what the Education Ministry in British Columbia described as an "anomaly" in the results of some province-wide exams written by Grade 12 students last month.

In an email sent early Wednesday afternoon to Whistler Secondary School (WSS) graduates and parents, WSS principal Robin Kirk informed students "the Ministry has now resolved the issue with student assessment marks and the revised student transcripts will be posted later today."

"We recommend that WSS students check periodically to confirm this update has been completed," she added.

Some students experienced "fear and panic" when they logged on to the ministry's online transcript service on July 29 only to find "insanely low" marks on the provincial exams, recent graduate Helena Murray-Hill told the Victoria Times Colonist. The problem relates to the English 12 exam and the exam written by B.C.'s French immersion students.

How low were the posted marks? Murray-Hill told the Times Colonist her English teacher sent an email to his students, noting their final grades dropped an average of 35.5 percentage points after the provincial exam was included. The provincial exam counts for 40 per cent of the final mark.

Two students in his class who had grades of 94 per cent going into the provincial exam received 22 per cent on the test, while one student with a class mark of 98 per cent received three per cent on the final exam.

In a message posted Monday via the ministry's online transcript service, students were advised of the problem and assured that ministry staff was working to identify and resolve the issue as quickly as possible. The ministry said it understands the situation is stressful and added each exam result was being reviewed to ensure student grades are accurately reflected on their transcript.

Grade 12 students planning to attend Canadian universities in the fall are often accepted at their chosen institution based solely on marks from their first two terms of Grade 12 work.

Because those acceptances are generally accompanied by the provision that students' final marks don't drop significantly, Monday's data error issue had some students nervous that the potentially incorrect results from provincial exams could jeopardize their post-secondary plans.

"To ensure that there is no detrimental impact to B.C. students resulting from this delay the Ministry has contacted every post-secondary institution in BC and across Canada, and reached out to NCAA, to update them of this situation," Kirk assured in the email. "The Ministry appreciates your patience and apologizes for the inconvenience and will be working to ensure this does not happen again."

- With files from the Victoria Times Colonist and the Canadian Press

For the original Victoria Times Colonist article, click here.