Question

Can I obtain a copy of my answer booklet for the ministerial examination?

Answer

Educational institutions (i.e. schools and school boards) are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of ministerial examinations.

In the case of uniform examinations in the youth sector, produced by the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport, educational institutions are required to keep students’ answer sheets or booklets for a period of one year. No answer sheets or booklets may be eproduced or given to students or their parents. However, students and their parents may consult the answer sheets or booklets, provided they request to do so and are accompanied by the person responsible for pedagogical evaluation at the educational institution, or someone delegated for this purpose.

Requests to have a corrected uniform examination reviewed must be sent to the person responsible for pedagogical evaluation or someone delegated for this purpose at the educational institution.

In the case of examinations in general education in the adult sector, copies of the examination or related materials must never be shown or given to the student after the examination has been administered.

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Question

How can I obtain a copy of my Secondary School Diploma?

Answer

To obtain a copy of your Secondary School Diploma or your Diploma of Vocational Studies, you must send in a written request to the Direction de la sanction des etudes, indicating your name in full, the address where you would like the diploma sent, your permanent code or date of birth, the name of the school you attended and the municipality in which it is located, the year the diploma was issued, and, if applicable, the terminal year (e.g. grade 11). Please make sure to sign your request.

A duplicate of your Secondary School Diploma will be sent to you within five days from the date your request was received, or within ten days if your diploma was issued before 1978.

For a Secondary School Diploma, please send your request to:

Direction de la sanction des études
Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport
675, boulevard René-Lévesque Est
Aile René-Lévesque, 4^e étage
Québec (Québec) G1R 6C8

Tel.: 418 643-1761
Fax: 418 644-6909

You can fill out the form found on the MELS Web site, print it and send it to the Direction de la sanction des études.

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Question

How can I obtain a statement of marks, an achievement record or a statement of competencies?

Answer

To obtain an official copy of your statement of marks, achievement record or statement of competencies, you must do one of the following:

If your statement or record was issued after 1978, you can obtain an official copy immediately by going to the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport with a valid ID. If you choose to mail in your request, you will receive your statement within five days upon receipt of your request, or within ten days if the document was issued before 1978.

For statements or records obtained in secondary education, please send your request to:

Direction de la sanction des études
Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport
675, boulevard René-Lévesque Est
Aile René-Lévesque, 4^e étage
Québec (Québec) G1R 6C8

Tel.: 418 643-1761
Fax: 418 644-6909

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Question

How can I have personal information corrected on my statement of marks, achievement record, statement of competencies or diploma?

Answer

To have your name or date of birth corrected on a statement of marks, an achievement record, a statement of competencies or a diploma, you must do one of the following:

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Question

Why is my achievement record from the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport different from the report card issued by my school at the end of the year?

Answer

• For subjects evaluated by means of examinations set by the Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports:
  
  For subjects that are compulsory and that must be successfully completed in order to obtain a Secondary School Diploma (SSD) or to be admitted to college, the final mark is determined by adding 50 % of the moderated school mark and 50 % of the mark obtained on the ministerial examination, which may be converted.
  
  In order to uphold the value of a Secondary School Diploma, student results must be comparable from one school to another or one group to another. For this reason, school marks (which are made up of different elements) are adjusted using a statistical process called moderation. When school marks are moderated, the effect of certain variables is offset or minimized.
  
  Moderation involves comparing the average and the standard deviation (i.e. the distribution of marks around the average) of the marks obtained by a specific group of students on a uniform examination with the school results for the same group. If the standard deviations differ, the standard deviation for the school marks is adjusted so that it matches the standard deviation for the marks on the uniform examination.
  
  
• For all other subjects, the marks transmitted by the school to the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport appear without any changes on the statement of marks.

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Question

How do I have an error corrected on my statement of marks, achievement record or statement of competencies?

Answer

You can, at any time, submit a request for corrections to the school in which you are enrolled. If you are no long going to school, you can contact the school board or private school where you completed your last course. Adult students can contact the person in charge for evaluation and certification at the adult education centre or at the school board.

If your request concerns a mark obtained on a uniform examination (i.e. an examination set by the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport) that you wrote within the last six months, the school will tell you how to proceed in order to have your examination reviewed.

If your request concerns a local examination (i.e. an examination set by the school), the person in charge of evaluation or delegated for this purpose at the school will forward the correction to the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport.

Once the correction has been made to your school record, the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport will mail you a new transcript.

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Question

What does the number in the “CEN”column on my statement of marks stand for?

Answer

The number that appears in the “CEN”column corresponds to your centile rank. The centile rank is the percentage of students in the entire province who obtained a lower mark in the course.

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Question

Why might some results not appear on my statement of learning?

Answer

After examinations have been administered, schools can correct them and transmit the results to the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport. They may transmit the results gradually, as they finish marking specific examinations.

The Ministère regularly publishes the results by producing statements of learning. Sometimes a statement of learning does not contain all of a student’s results. However, as soon as the Ministère receives a new set of results, it issues a new statement.

If some results seem to be slow in appearing on your statement, please contact your school to make sure that all your results have indeed been sent to the Ministère.

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Question

How can I find out my mark on a ministry examination?

Answer

Your school can tell you how you did on a ministry examination. However, bear in mind that, for all subjects evaluated by means of a uniform examination, your final mark is determined by adding 50% of the moderated school mark and 50% of the mark obtained on the uniform examination, converted if necessary.

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Question

How can I have studies completed outside Québec recognized?

Answer

If you are an adult student and have studied outside Canada, or are a student under 18 and have obtained a diploma outside Canada, you must contact the Ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles (MICC) in order to have your studies assessed. Fill out the form “Request for an Évaluation comparative des etudes effectuées hors du Québec,” available on the MICC Web site at http://www.micc.gouv.qc.ca/ or by contacting an MICC office.

If you are an adult and have studied in Canada but outside Québec, contact the reception and referral services of an adult education centre and show them your original statement of marks.

If you do not have a Secondary School Diploma, a Québec school will assess your scholastic learning based on an examination or another evaluation tool related to a program of study offered in Québec schools. In general education in the youth sector and in vocational training, no equivalents are granted for courses taken outside the Québec school system.

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Question

How can I have work experience recognized?

Answer

If you are an adult and wish to undertake vocational training, you may receive recognition for prior experiential learning. To start the process, contact a vocational training centre, or visit the MELS’s vocational training Web site at <http://www2.inforoutefpt.org/rac/>.

In general education in the adult sector, the reception and referral service of a school board is authorized to recognize prior learning. This service uses various means for recognizing experiential learning: examinations for courses related to Québec programs of study, Secondary School Equivalency Tests, the Prior Learning Examination, the General Development Test and the Four Spheres of Generic Competencies.

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Question

What should I do if I cannot take a uniform examination?

Answer

As soon as you know that you will be unable to take a uniform examination, you should contact your school to explain why. The school may then ask the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport for authorization to administer an examination outside of the official timetable and will inform you of the date set for it in the next examination session. The school may also submit to the Ministère, if applicable, a request for an equivalence for an authorized absence.

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Question

Is it possible to retake a uniform examination?

Answer

Every year, the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport organizes three examination sessions: one in January, one in June and one in August.

If you fail a uniform examination or wish to improve your mark, you may be permitted to attend a subsequent examination session. However, you must meet the requirements established by the school.

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Question

What are the requirements for passing “Français, langue d’enseignement, 5^e secondaire”?

Answer

In accordance with the Basic school regulation for preschool, elementary and secondary education, the pass mark for “Français, langue d’enseignement” (129-536) is 60 percent.

Furthermore, given the importance attributed to French as the language of instruction, students must demonstrate sufficient mastery of each of the three competencies of the program, namely “écriture” (129-510), “lecture” (129-520) and “communication orale” 129-530). At the end of Secondary V, students must obtain a final mark of at least 50 percent in each part.

In Secondary V, the competency related to writing is evaluated by means of a uniform examination and by teacher evaluations, according to the standards and methods of assessment approved by the administration of the school. The final mark for writing is determined by adding 50 percent of the moderated school mark and 50 percent of the mark obtained on the uniform examination corrected by the Ministère and converted, if necessary. However, if the mark obtained using this method of calculation is less than the mark obtained on the uniform examination, then it is replaced by the mark obtained on the uniform examination.

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Question

Under which conditions can the credits for a vocational training course count toward a Secondary School Diploma (SSD)?

Answer

In accordance with section 32 of the Basic school regulation for preschool, elementary and secondary education and section 30 of the Basic adult general education regulation, credits earned in a vocational training program leading to a Diploma of Vocational Studies or to an Attestation of Vocational Specialization are taken into account when awarding the SSD. The system will first determine whether the vocational training credits satisfy the SSD requirements stipulated in the certification system in effect for general education in the youth sector. If they do not, the system will determine whether these credits meet the SSD requirements under the Basic adult general education regulation.

Credits for a course in a vocational training program may also count toward an SSD if the student has passed the course without being formally enrolled in the program.

Please note that in order to transmit to the Charlemagne system a result obtained by a student in a vocational training course that was taken as part of, or outside, a program of study, schools must first transmit a declaration of that student’s attendance at a vocational training centre. Schools must therefore transmit two declarations of attendance to the Charlemagne system for students enrolled in general education in the youth or adult sector in order to be authorized to transmit a vocational training result.

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Question

If a student fails the Secondary IV English or French, language of instruction, course but passes all the other courses, is he or she subject to the J4 or the J5 certification system?

Answer

In order to ensure the quality of the education and management indicators that the Ministère makes available to the school system, language of instruction is a priority when considering the placement of students. Thus, for the 2008-2009 school year, students who, in June 2008, have passed one or more Secondary IV courses but have failed the language of instruction course must, as of September 30, 2008, be declared as being enrolled in Secondary IV under the J5 certification system. These students will most likely not meet the requirements for a Secondary School Diploma (SSD) at the end of the 2008-2009 school year. They will thus be declared as Secondary IV students, but will take those Secondary V courses that follow the prerequisite Secondary IV courses they passed in June 2008.

For the purposes of promotion by subject as provided for in the Basic schoolregulation for Secondary Cycle Two courses, a student's enrollment in a grade level must be declared separately from enrollment in a certification system. Please note that ALL students declared as enrolled in general education in the youth sector are entitled to receive an SSD if they satisfy the requirements (J4 certification system) before May 1, 2010. Contrary to the preceding provisions, students declared as enrolled in Secondary V in 2008-2009 even though they will not meet all the SSD requirements by the end of the school year must satisfy all the J5 certification requirements (before May 2010). However, if these students succeed in earning all the credits required under the J4 certification system before May 1, 2010, they may receive certification under the J4 system following a request submitted to the Direction de la sanction des études.

As of May 1, 2010, new requirements for the awarding of an SSD will come into effect and will apply to all students regardless of the certification system in which they have been declared. In accordance with section 2.3.4 of the 2008-2009 Directives, “Students who are declared as Secondary V students in General Education in the youth sector for the 2008-2009 school year and who are not awarded a diploma in June 2009 will be subject to the certification rules in force on May 1, 2007 (J4), until June 2010.

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