B.C. Excellence Scholarship

On this page:

• Key dates
• Eligibility requirements
• How applications are evaluated
• How to prepare
• Required information
• Apply
• Questions?

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The B.C. Excellence scholarship is awarded to 55 high school graduates who have demonstrated service and leadership, both at school and in their communities, and who show aptitude for and commitment to their chosen career or area of post-secondary study.

Students selected for this award receive a $5,000 scholarship voucher from the Ministry of Education and Child Care that they can use to be reimbursed for tuition paid after they are attending a post-secondary institution that is designated by the Province of B.C. (i.e., approved for Canada Student Loans) or a program provider that is approved by SkilledTradesBC.

Students have five years to redeem their B.C. Excellence scholarship vouchers; an expiry date is printed on each voucher and extensions are not possible.

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Key dates

• February 15, 2024: online applications due by 2:59 pm PST
• Early June 2024: conditional recipients and their schools notified by email
• September 2024: conditional recipients checked against eligibility requirements
• October 2024: paper scholarship vouchers mailed to confirmed recipients

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Eligibility requirements

Students selected as conditional recipients of the B.C. Excellence scholarship must meet the following requirements by August 31 of their graduating year to be confirmed as a recipient and receive their scholarship voucher:

• meet core eligibility requirements;
• be eligible for a B.C. Certificate of Graduation (Dogwood Diploma);
• fulfill the requirements of the B.C. Graduation Program; and,
• have the following final marks.
  • Minimum “B” average in grades 11 and 12 courses required for graduation
  • Minimum "B" (73% or above) in Language Arts 12
  • Minimum “B” average, no more than one "C+" (67% or above), and no marks lower than “C+” in courses that fulfill graduation requirements for Science 11 or 12, Math 11, and Social Studies 11 or 12

Note: students may apply for both the B.C. Excellence scholarship and the Pathway to Teacher Education scholarship but they can only be awarded one.   

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How applications are evaluated

1. Written statements are assessed by a team of B.C. teachers using the marking guidelines (PDF)
2. Approximately 80 candidates are shortlisted
3. The resume for those shortlisted candidates are assessed by a different team of B.C. teachers, using the same marking guidelines
4. Fifty-five students are selected by  consensus as conditional recipients

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How to prepare (overview)

Students interested in applying for the 2024 awards year are encouraged to get organized well before the application deadline of 2:59 pm PST on February 15, 2024.

• Make a checklist of the required information you will need to submit through the online application form 
  • Nomination form completed by your school
  • Written statement
  • Resume via mandatory online format
  • Reference letters (2)
• Prepare the required information offline (you cannot save your work in the online form; it must be completed in one session)
• Open the online application (see “Apply” below) ahead of time to ensure your browser is supported   
• Submit your application by the deadline
• Ensure that you have a plan to meet all eligibility requirements
• Remember that only those selected as conditional recipients will receive notice (in June)

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Required information

Here are the detailed instructions for how to prepare the required information offline:

1.    Nomination form completed by your school

• Save this nomination form (PDF) to your computer
• Ask your principal or school head to sign the form and return it to you
• Save a digital copy
• When you are ready to submit your B.C. Excellence application online, upload your signed nomination form where prompted

2.    Written statement

• Save this written statement template (DOCX) to your computer
• Write your statement in the template, following the instructions provided
• Your written statement may build upon a related experience listed in your resume; keep the marking guidelines in mind 
• When you are ready to submit your B.C. Excellence application online, upload your written statement into the online application form where prompted 
• The written statement is worth 60% in the overall assessment of the application; all written statements are assessed, and those assessments are used to shortlist applications

3.   Resume (in mandatory online format)

• Save the sample of the online application (PDF) to your computer
• You can reference this as you prepare your information and responses offline
• The resume is worth 40% in the overall assessment of the application; only resumes from shortlisted applications are reviewed

4.   ​Reference letters (2)

• Save these reference letter instructions (PDF) to your computer
• Share the instructions with your two referees and have them return signed letters to you
  • One community-related (such as a community leader, coach, instructor, volunteer supervisor, or employer)
  • One school-related (such as a teacher, counsellor, school principal, or vice-principal)
• Save digital copies
• When you are ready to submit your B.C. Excellence application online, upload your two letters into the online application form where prompted
• The marking team does not mark the reference letters but does consider them when scoring resumes
• Some referees prefer to submit a letter directly to the Ministry; in this case you must include a brief note (PDF) from the referee in place of the reference letter
  • This brief note must include the referees email address and confirmation that they will provide a reference letter to the ministry by the deadline

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Apply

• Ready to submit? Be prepared to complete the application in one session. You cannot save your progress.

  • Apply for the B.C. Excellence scholarship

• Students are encouraged to inform their high schools of any address changes. In the fall, the Ministry mails paper scholarship vouchers to recipients using the home addresses reported by schools

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Questions?

Please contact the Provincial Scholarships Program team: scholarships@gov.bc.ca.