BC Achievement Scholarships

On this page:

• How recipients are determined
• Eligibility
• Key Dates

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The BC Achievement scholarship recognizes the 8,000 graduates with the top academic achievement in the province.

For the purpose of this scholarship, academic achievement is based on the subset of grades 10–12 courses that are used to meet graduation requirements (including electives). Most students graduate with more credits than required; only the courses used to meet graduation requirements are considered. Furthermore, the flexibility in the BC curriculum means that this subset of courses varies among graduates.

Recipients receive a $1,250 scholarship voucher that they can use to be reimbursed by the Ministry of Education and Child Care for tuition paid after they are attending a designated post-secondary institution or B.C. authorized trades training provider.

Students have five years to redeem their BC Achievement scholarship vouchers; an expiry date is printed on each voucher and extensions are not possible.

How recipients are determined

For each eligible student, the final percentages from their subset of courses are used to automatically calculate an average; this determines which 8,000 graduates have the top marks to receive this scholarship.

If there is a tie at 8,000, it will be broken using the final percentage from the course used to meet the Language Arts 12 graduation requirement. 

The grades of students within each graduation cohort are different every year so there is no set percentage that guarantees receipt of a BC Achievement scholarship. Furthermore, because this is a highly competitive scholarship, it is possible for students to do very well academically and not secure one.  

Students do not apply for the BC Achievement scholarship. If a student is eligible, their grades will be automatically considered.

Eligibility

For a student to have their grades considered alongside the grades of all other eligible graduates, they must satisfy the following requirements by August 31 of their graduating year:

• meet core eligibility requirements;
• be eligible for a B.C. Certificate of Graduation (Dogwood Diploma);
• fulfill the requirements of the B.C. Graduation Program;
• have no more than one Transfer Standing (TS) or Standing Granted (SG) reported among course marks used to satisfy graduation requirements, regardless of the credit value of the courses; and,
• have for the course used to fulfill the Language Arts 12 graduation requirement a percentage score reported and at least a “B” (73% or above).

Key Dates

August 31: schools must update student records with the Ministry by this date to ensure eligible students are appropriately considered. This includes ensuring citizens and permanent residents are reported with a “C” indicator through the school’s student information system.   

November: notifications are posted to the Student Transcripts Service. Students can login to their account to find out if they are a recipient of the BC Achievement scholarship. Paper scholarship vouchers are mailed to recipients around this same time to the last home addresses reported by schools.