BC Graduation Requirements

Dogwood Diploma 

The B.C. Certificate of Graduation or "Dogwood Diploma" is awarded to students who successfully complete the provincial graduation requirements.

Students require a minimum of 80 credits to graduate.

Of these 80 credits:

  • At least 16 credits must be at the Grade 12 level, including a required Language Arts 12 and Career Life Connections
  • At least 28 credits must be elective course credits 
  • 52 credits are required from the following: 
    • Career-Life Education (4 credits), and Career-Life Connections (4 credits) 
    • Physical and Health Education 10 (4 credits)
    • Science 10 (4 credits), and a Science 11 or 12 (4 credits)
    • Social Studies 10 (4 credits), and a Social Studies 11 or 12 (4 credits)
    • A Math 10 (4 credits), and a Math 11 or 12 (4 credits)
    • A Language Arts 10, 11 and a required 12 (12 credits total)
    • An Arts Education 10, 11, or 12 and/or an Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies 10, 11, or 12 (4 credits total)
    • Indigenous-focused (4 credits) 

In addition, students must also complete three graduation assessments:

  • The Grade 10 Numeracy Assessment was introduced in 2018
  • The Grade 10 Literacy Assessment was introduced in 2019/20
  • The Grade 12 Literacy Assessment will be introduced in 2021/22 

​​​​​Adult Diploma

An adult high school diploma is the British Columbia Adult Graduation Diploma (BCAGD), also known as the “Adult Dogwood.”  It is for adult learners (18 years of age and older) who want to take courses in order to complete high school and obtain their adult high school diploma.

Getting Your High School Credential

To graduate with an Adult Dogwood, students must have:

  • A required Language Arts 12 course
  • A Math 11 or 12 course 
  • At least three additional Grade 12 electives, or a Grade 11 Socials Studies course and two additional Grade 12 electives

Courses and credits can be counted from either or both the public secondary and post-secondary systems.

​Adult learners are not required to complete the Graduation Numeracy or Literacy Assessments to graduate with the Adult Dogwood. ​​