BC Excellence Scholarship

On this page

• Key dates
• Eligibility requirements
• How applications are evaluated
• How to prepare
• Required documentation
• 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 can be reimbursed for paid tuition at a post-secondary institution designated by the Province of B.C. (approved for Canada Student Loans) or a program provider that is approved by SkilledTradesBC.

Students have 5 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, 2026: Applications for 2026 scholarships due by 3 pm
• Early June 2026: Conditional recipients and their schools notified by email
• September 2026: Conditional recipients checked against eligibility requirements
• October 2026: 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
• 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, 157KB); written statements determine which applications are selected for the shortlist
2. Approximately 80 candidates are shortlisted for further consideration
3. Resumes for shortlisted candidates are assessed by a different team of B.C. teachers
4. Reference letters are used for consideration when scoring resumes
5. Fifty-five students are selected by consensus as conditional recipients

How to prepare

Students interested in applying for the 2026 BC Excellence scholarship are encouraged to get organized well before the application deadline of 3 pm on Tuesday, February 17, 2026.

• Make a checklist of the required information you will need to submit through the online application form (see Required Documentation below)
• Prepare and complete each document offline; you will not be able to save your work halfway through the online submission process
• 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

Required documentation

Here are the detailed instructions for the 4 types of documentation you will need to have ready to complete your application.   

1. Nomination form signed by your school

• Complete and save a copy of the nomination form (PDF, 346KB)
• Ask your principal or school head to sign the form and return it to you (make sure it has an ink or electronic signature); each school may only nominate one student
• Save or scan the signed copy and have it ready to upload as part of your application

2. Written statement

• Complete and save a copy of your written statement, following these written statement instructions (PDF, 158KB)
• Review the marking guidelines (PDF, 157KB) to understand how the statement will be assessed
• Be ready to copy and paste your written statement into the application form

3. Resume

• This is not a standard resume format; complete and save a document following these detailed resume instructions (PDF, 289KB)
• Review the marking guidelines (PDF, 157KB) to understand how the resume will be assessed
• Be ready to copy and paste the information from your resume into the application form

4. Two reference letters

• Save these reference letter instructions (PDF, 299KB)
• Share the instructions with your two referees and have them return signed letters to you (make sure each has an ink or electronic signature) 
• Scan or save digital copies of both letters
• Be ready to upload both letters as part of your online application
• Some referees may prefer to submit a letter directly to the ministry; in this case, you must upload to the application a brief, informal note from you in its place that states your referee will email their reference directly to scholarships@gov.bc.ca by the deadline

Apply

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

Apply for the BC Excellence scholarship

Students should 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 at scholarships@gov.bc.ca