BC Excellence Scholarship

On this page

• Key dates
• Eligibility requirements
• How applications are evaluated
• How to prepare
• Apply
• Questions?

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The BC Excellence scholarship is awarded to 55 high school graduates who have demonstrated service and leadership, both at school and in their communities, and who show aptitude for and commitment to their chosen career or area of post-secondary study.

Students selected for this award receive a $5,000 scholarship voucher from the Ministry of Education and Child Care that they can use to be reimbursed for tuition paid after they are attending a post-secondary institution that is designated by the Province of B.C. (i.e., approved for Canada Student Loans) or a program provider that is approved by SkilledTradesBC.

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

Key dates

• February 17, 2025: online applications for awards year 2025 due by 3:00 pm PST
• Early June 2025: conditional recipients and their schools notified by email
• September 2025: conditional recipients checked against eligibility requirements
• October 2025: paper scholarship vouchers mailed to confirmed recipients

Eligibility requirements

Students selected as conditional recipients of the BC Excellence scholarship must meet the following requirements by August 31 of their graduating year to be confirmed as a recipient and receive their scholarship voucher:

• meet core eligibility requirements;
• be eligible for a B.C. Certificate of Graduation (Dogwood Diploma);
• fulfill the requirements of the B.C. Graduation Program; and,
• have the following final marks.
  • Minimum “B” average in grades 11 and 12 courses required for graduation
  • Minimum "B" (73% or above) in Language Arts 12
  • Minimum “B” average, no more than one "C+" (67% or above), and no marks lower than “C+” in courses that fulfill graduation requirements for Science 11 or 12, Math 11, and Social Studies 11 or 12

Note: students may apply for both the BC Excellence scholarship and the Pathway to Teacher Education scholarship but they can only be awarded one.   

How applications are evaluated

1. Written statements are assessed by a team of B.C. teachers using the marking guidelines (PDF); written statements determine which applications are selected for the shortlist
2. Approximately 80 candidates are shortlisted
3. The resumes for those shortlisted candidates are assessed by a different team of B.C. teachers, using the same marking guidelines; resumes determine which students are selected for scholarships
4. Fifty-five students are selected by consensus as conditional recipients

How to prepare

Students interested in applying for the BC Excellence scholarship in the 2025 awards year are encouraged to get organized well before the application deadline of 3:00 pm PST on February 17, 2025.

• Make a checklist of the following required information that you will need to submit through the online application form. Required information:
  1. Nomination form completed by your school
  2. Written statement
  3. Resume (in mandatory online format, per instructions below)
  4. Reference letters (2)
• Follow these instructions (PDF) for how to prepare the required information in advance; you will not be able to save your work online
• Open the online application ahead of time to ensure your browser is supported
• Submit your application by the deadline
• Ensure that you have a plan to meet all eligibility requirements
• Remember that only those selected as conditional recipients will receive notice (in June)

Apply

Ready to submit? Be prepared to complete the application in one session (i.e., without closing the browser). While you will be able to toggle back and forth in one session, you will not be able to save your application online.

Application Form

Students are encouraged to inform their high schools of any address changes. In the fall, the Ministry mails paper scholarship vouchers to recipients using the home addresses reported by schools.

Questions?

Please contact the Provincial Scholarships Program team: scholarships@gov.bc.ca