Pathway to Teacher Education Scholarship

On this page:

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

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The Pathway to Teacher Education scholarship is awarded to 20 outstanding high school graduates who have demonstrated a commitment to and aptitude for a career in K–12 teaching.

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 an approved teacher education program in the Faculty of Education at a B.C. post-secondary institution. To qualify, the program must lead to eligibility to apply for a B.C. teaching certificate and teach in the K–12 school system in this province.

Students have seven years to redeem their Pathway to Teacher Education scholarship vouchers; an expiry date is printed on each voucher and extensions are not possible.

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Key dates

• February 15, 2024: online applications due by 2:59 pm PST
• Early June 2024: conditional recipients and their schools notified by email
• September 2024: conditional recipients checked against eligibility requirements
• October 2024: paper scholarship vouchers mailed to confirmed recipients

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Eligibility requirements

Students selected as conditional recipients of the Pathway to Teacher Education 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 Pathway to Teacher Education scholarship and the BC Excellence scholarship but can be awarded only one.  

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How applications are evaluated

1. Written statements are assessed by a team of B.C. teachers using the marking guidelines (PDF)  
2. Approximately 40 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
4. Twenty students are selected by consensus as conditional recipients

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How to prepare (overview)

Students interested in applying for the 2024 awards year are encouraged to get organized well before the application deadline of 2:59 pm PST on February 15, 2024.

• Make a checklist of the required information you will need to submit through the online application form
  • Written statement
  • Resume via mandatory online format
  • Reference letters (2)
• Prepare the required information offline (you cannot save your work in the online form; it must be completed in one session)
• Open the online application (see “Apply” below) 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)

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Required information​

Here are the detailed instructions for how to prepare the required information offline:

1.    Written statement (500 words)

• Save this written statement template (DOCX) to your computer
• Write your statement in the template, following the instructions provided
• Your written statement may build upon a related experience listed in your resume; keep the marking guidelines in mind
• When you are ready to submit your Pathway to Teacher Education application online, upload your written statement into the online application form where prompted 
• The written statement is worth 60% in the overall assessment of the application; all written statements are assessed, and those assessments are used to shortlist applications 

2.    Resume

• Save the sample of the online application (PDF) to your computer
  • You can reference this as you prepare your information and responses offline
• Resumes are worth 40% in the overall assessment of the application; they are only reviewed for those applications that are shortlisted 

3.   Two reference letters (one community-related and one school-related)

• Save these reference letter instructions (PDF) to your computer
• Share the instructions with your two referees and have them return signed letters to you
• Save digital copies
• When you are ready to submit your Pathway to Teacher Education application online, upload your two letters into the online application form where prompted
• The marking team does not mark reference letters but does consider them when reviewing resumes
• Some referees prefer to submit a letter directly to the Ministry; in this case you must include a brief note (PDF) from the referee in place of the reference letter
  • This brief note must include the referees email address and confirmation that they will provide a reference letter to the ministry by the deadline

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Questions?

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