GUIDANCE  DEPARTMENT

AN EXPLANATION OF THE QUEBEC CREDIT SYSTEM.
 

(November 2009: Please note that a new 'regime' is moving through Quebec schools. Some of what follows may therefore be outdated. I will update as and when I receive new information.)

Students in Quebec do Kindergarten (optional) to grade 6 in an Elementary School.

High School consists of Secondary 1 (grade 7) to Secondary 5 (grade 11). At the end of high school, our graduates receive a SECONDARY FIVE CERTIFICATE. On their transcripts, you will note a comment which says "Certificate accorde"

If it says "Partial", then the student is still missing some pre-requisite to graduate.

After High School, the most common route to further education for our students is to attend CEGEP ('College General and Professional') for two years (in effect, grade 12 and 13, though with a university structure), and then the student is eligible to attend University (three year program). For other alternatives, Click Here.
 

HIGH SCHOOLS ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO CYCLES

Cycle One

This is grade 7 to grade 9 inclusive. (Until recently, grade 7 and 8.) This tends to be a more structured environment, with teachers seeing the students several times a day.

This is grade 10 and 11. Most courses here are for credit, (See Credit System), and the CEGEP's look exclusively at these two years when evaluating a student.

 

MARKS

Most Quebec schools use a numerical grade.

A ranking is generally available from Lakeside Academy, but GPA is simply not calculated at our school.

under 60%: failure

60%-70%: A bare pass

CEGEP cutoffs for most programs (students' average) is high 60s (and up). Probably equivalent to a 'D" in most systems.

70%-80%: An 'average' mark is probably in the low 70s.

Might be equivalent to a 'C'.

80%-90%: An excellent mark.

Our Honour Roll is 80% and up. Might be equivalent to a 'B'.

90%-100%: An exceptional mark.

Relatively few students receive over a 90%. Would be equivalent to an 'A'. Our top student in a given grade generally has an average of 90% to 95%.

 

EXPLANATION OF CODES

E.g. Math 436

4 = grade (Secondary 4, or fourth year of high school) (Grade 10)

3 = Sometime means nothing. In this case, there is a 416, which is a more basic Math course.

6 = This course is worth 6 credits.

In our system, with a six day cycle, this means that the course is generally taught every day. This would mean 180-183 classes per year. Each class at Lakeside Academy is 50 minutes long.

 

ENRICHED COURSES AT LAKESIDE ACADEMY

FRENCH

We offer two levels of French at Lakeside Academy.

REGULAR:

This is the official French program for Quebec Anglophones.

IMMERSION & INTERNATIONAL BACCALAURETTE:

This is a program for students who followed a fairly intensive French Immersion program at Elementary School. These students are generally fluently bi-lingual.

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My name is Bruce Corbett and my e-mail address is bcorbett@lbpsb.qc.ca

Copyright © 1999 Bruce Corbett.
Last Revised:5/12/2009