Mar. 24, 2020
Dear Students, Parents and Guardians,
In their March 20 press release Continuing Student Learning, Alberta Education announced that Grade 12 diploma exams are cancelled and that under special circumstances, students can request to write a diploma exams. Alberta Education has now provided further details around special circumstances. Please read the important information below:
Special Circumstances
All Alberta school divisions received direction from Dan Karas, Executive Director, Provincial Assessment, on the evening of March 23. Alberta Education shared that due to classes being cancelled and current measures prohibiting gatherings, the administration of diploma exams will be cancelled for April and June 2020, except in special circumstances.
Exemptions and Rewrites
Students currently registered to write diploma exams during the April and June sessions will receive exemptions, without the need to apply for one.
Students who paid a rewrite fee for April or June diploma exams will receive a refund.
Students who planned to rewrite diploma exams in April or June will receive an exemption from the diploma exam, if a new school awarded mark for the April or June terms is submitted. The new school awarded mark will be their official course mark. What this means is that instead of the diploma counting for 30% and the school awarded mark counting for 70% of the official mark, in this case only, the new school awarded mark will count for 100% of the official mark.
Students who were intending to rewrite without taking the course again, will not be able to do so at this time. As soon as classes resume, students may apply to rewrite at the next sitting which currently is set for August 2020.
Special Circumstances
- Home Schooled Students. Some universities specifically ask for standardized test results to be available for home schooled students.
- Adult Students. Students with mature student status may challenge diploma exams, without taking the course. These individuals cannot be exempt from a diploma exam, as they do not have a school-awarded mark.
If you (independent student) / your child (parent/legal guardian):
- registered to write a diploma exam during the April or June Diploma Exam sitting;
AND
- meet/s the criteria for “special circumstances" as defined above;
AND
- want/s to write during the April Diploma Exam sitting;
please do the following:
email schoolimprovementdata@cbe.ab.ca before March 31 for April Exams and before June 3 for June Exams;
provide your / your child's full legal name and CBE ID;
AND
outline in detail why you / your child meet/s the criteria as defined by Alberta Education.
A response to the email, including a decision will be sent before April 1. Emails received after the deadline will not be considered.
Questions
If you have questions, please email schoolimprovementdata@cbe.ab.ca
