Diploma exams – Overview

Overview

Eligibility

The following students may take an Alberta Grade 12 diploma exam:

• students who have completed instruction in a diploma exam course
• students who want to improve a diploma exam course mark
• mature students
• non-funded visiting students

Courses

Diploma exams are available for the following courses:

• Biology 30
• Chemistry 30
• English Language Arts 30–1
• English Language Arts 30–2
• Français 30–1
• French Language Arts 30–1
• Mathematics 30–1
• Mathematics 30–2
• Physics 30
• Science 30
• Social Studies 30–1
• Social Studies 30–2

French language exams

All diploma exams, except English Language Arts 30–1 and English Language Arts 30–2, are translated into French.

If you are in a Francophone or alternate French Language Arts program, you may choose to write a diploma exam in English or in French, regardless of your language of instruction.

If you studied a course in French, your teacher may assume that you will write the diploma exam in French.

Course-specific information

There are some differences between exam requirements for French 30, French Language Arts 30–1, and Français 30–1.

• French 30 is a second-language course for non-Francophone students. There is no diploma exam for French 30
• French Language Arts 30–1 is an advanced French course designed for students in an alternate French Language Arts program. If you are enrolled in French Language Arts 30–1, you must write the French Language Arts 30–1 diploma exam to get a final diploma course mark
• Français 30–1 is a French language and literature course for students in Francophone programs. If you are enrolled in Français 30–1, you must write the Français 30–1 diploma exam in order to get a final diploma course mark

Digital tests and exams

Alberta Education is transitioning to a new digital platform for provincial student assessments, meaning that eventually students will write diploma exams and provincial achievement tests in a digital environment rather than pencil and paper.

The transition to digital assessments will be done in an incremental and measured way to allow school authorities, administrators, teachers, and students time to learn and interact with the new platform. 

Information for teachers, parents and students

For the 2024-25 school year, Alberta Education is in touch with school authorities directly to offer them opportunities to participate in a variety of optional implementation activities. Teachers, parents and students can navigate the assessment platform and access practice exams and resources. Questions and feedback may be directed to [email protected]. If you have questions about whether your school will be administering digital assessments this school year, please contact your school principal.

Information for school principals

Principals can contact the [email protected] to request access for their school so they can set up their account and add other administrators and teachers. Once teachers have been added and set up their account, they can administer practice written response assignments. Instructions on using the system can be found in this user guide.

Student results

Student results are available on myPass approximately 3 weeks after writing diploma exams.

The Results Statement, which lists your most recent school and diploma exam marks, is not an official transcript. An Alberta Official High School Transcript of Student Achievement is available for a fee. Learn more about high school transcripts.

If you repeat a course or rewrite a diploma exam, your transcript will show the highest school-awarded and diploma exam marks earned. You must request and pay for a new transcript if you upgrade your marks.

To ensure protection of privacy, course marks and exam marks cannot be read to students over the phone. Telephone requests and payments are not accepted.

Marking and weighting

Marking

Diploma exams are marked by teachers at a central location. Personal identification, including the name of your school, is removed from each exam booklet before it is marked.

The machine-scorable answer sheets are marked by scanning machines. Written assignments are marked independently by 2 or more teacher markers. These markers must meet specific qualifications in order to mark diploma exams.

Weighting

The weighting of diploma exams have returned to 30% effective September 1, 2023.

Calculating official final marks

70% of the final mark comes from course work. The remaining 30% comes from the diploma exam. To pass a diploma exam course, you must earn a final combined mark of at least 50%. For example, if you get a mark of 68% from your school and 60% on the diploma exam, your official final mark is 66%.

If you’re a mature student, as defined in the Guide to Education, you’re not required to have a school-awarded mark. If you pass the diploma exam and have no school-awarded mark, you’ll automatically receive credit for the course. If you have a school-awarded mark and it’s lower than your diploma exam mark, your final mark will be the diploma exam mark only. If your school-awarded mark is higher than your diploma exam mark, the two marks will be weighted 70/30.

Rigour of diploma exams

The diploma exam program is committed to maintaining high standards, no matter what weighting system is used. The quality of the exams remains high, as do expectations for student learning.

Diploma marks and school-awarded marks

School-awarded marks and diploma examination marks complement each other.

We designed diploma exams to assess student achievement on the objectives of the curriculum. Diploma exams have some key benefits. Most importantly, they are consistent, giving an assessment standard that stays the same over time and across the province.

However, some learning outcomes cannot be measured well by these timed tests. Teachers work closely with students on a daily basis, and use many different kinds of assessments, which can assess a broader range of students’ knowledge and skills.

The scope of what the diploma exams and teachers measure are not the same. However, the two sets of marks should be reasonably close, since both are assessing the same program of studies. As well, teachers help set the standards of achievement for diploma exams, so that we can make sure the province’s expectations are similar to those of most teachers.

To assist students, teachers, and parents in understanding what the provincial standards for each diploma exam look like in the classroom, Alberta Education has published documents for each subject called Information Bulletins on the Writing Diploma Exams page.

Contact

Connect with Diploma Programs:

For Diploma Exam format, content, confirming standards, marking and results reporting, contact:

Phone: 780-422-9065
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Email: [email protected]

For Diploma Exam security, rules, schedule and policy issues, contact:

Phone:780-427-1857
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Email: [email protected]