High School Graduation Rates and Student Achievement Statistics

Grade 12 Provincial Tests – Results by School Division

Data updated October 2019

Students seeking credit in 40S language arts (English Language Arts and French) and mathematics courses (Essential, Applied, and Pre-Calculus Mathematics) write Grade 12 provincial tests at the end of each semester. These tests count for 20 per cent of students’ final course grades, and reflect the learning outcomes described in the respective curricula.

Interpretive Notes on School Division Results

  • Statistics that refer to 25 students or fewer have been omitted.
  • No results are available for mathematics tests in school year 2012-2013 when new mathematics tests based on new curricula were administered in the context of a provincial pilot process. Due to this change in curricula, results for Applied Mathematics and Pre-Calculus Mathematics prior to 2013 and those after 2013 are not directly comparable. Also, the Essential Mathematics test replaced that of Consumer Mathematics. Thus, only results from 2014 are shown for Essential Mathematics.
  • Of all students writing any 40S mathematics test, about 47 percent wrote the Essential Mathematics test, 36 percent wrote the Pre-Calculus Mathematics test, and 24 percent wrote the Applied Mathematics test. The proportions of students taking each of the mathematics courses and, therefore, writing each test, varies from division to division. Therefore, the results are not suitable for direct comparison regarding mathematics achievement across divisions. Students can take one or more 40S mathematics course and there is a separate test for each course.
  • A common English Language Arts test is administered to students, regardless of the course focus (Comprehensive, Transactional, Literary).
  • Many student factors have an impact on choices about the courses they take and about their performance on provincial tests. Schools support the learning, growth and wellbeing of students in many ways beyond those that can be measured by a test. For these reasons, the quality of the schools in a school division cannot be determined by comparing test results.
  • A student’s success in Grade 12 depends to a large degree on their learning in earlier grades. Therefore, the quality of teaching at Grade 12 cannot be determined by comparing test results.