BC Achievement Scholarships

We’re sure you’ll agree that every academically well performing student deserves a little extra help in completing their post-secondary course – a little extra financial help we mean. After all, sometimes even the brightest minds can get deterred from pursuing higher education of money doesn’t favor them, forcing them to give up on their dreams even before they can start making them come true in earnest. 

Well, if you can identify with this and are looking for that financial push to complete your higher education, you’re in luck. The provincial government of British Columbia offers BC Achievement Scholarships to 8,000 students every year who have top academic scores. 

So are you ready to know more about this funding program? Keep reading! 

BC Achievement Scholarships – Eligibility, How to Apply

Eligibility Criteria 

Wondering if you’re one of the lucky 8,000 students who could be getting this scholarship? We can’t tell you that for sure, but we can certainly help you make a very educated guess in this regard. The eligibility criteria listed below will help you understand if you make the cut, so you can look at other student funding options if need be. Without further ado, let’s get started on the eligibility criteria – 

• Being a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident, at the very least, is a must. In fact, your high school should have that on record for background checks. 
• You also need to be a resident of British Columbia.
• You should have been enrolled in the very same school year for which this scholarship will be given. As for the schools you could be enrolled in should be one of the following – 
  • A British Columbia public school, including a Distributed Learning School 
  • A Group 1, 2 or 4 British Columbia Independent School 
  • A Continuing Education Center 
  • Under the tutelage of a registered homeschooler who’s associated with a public, independent or distributed learning school in the province 

• You must meet all the graduation requirements that the provincial government sees fit. 
• You should be considered eligible be a Dogwood Diploma or a BC Certificate of Graduation. 
• Meet all the requirements as presented by the BC Graduation Program. 
• You should not have more than one reported Standing Granted or Transfer Standing as a part of your course marks. This can be used to validate your graduation requirement, irrespective of the credit value of the courses you had taken up in high school.
• Finally, you must score at least a B grade (73%) in your Language Arts 12 graduation.

Note – You must not here that your final percentage of your subset courses are used to calculate an average, which then determines if you have the required marks to be a recipient of this scholarship. 

In case of a tie for the 8,000^th student, the final percentage of your Language Arts 12 course will be taken into account. 

It’s also vital to note here that there is no fixed percentage that guarantees you will receive this award. The competitive nature of this scholarship means that not all high scoring students will make the cut. 

How To Apply 

Checked out the eligibility criteria? We really hope you make the cut! That said, we know you want to know how to apply for this scholarship program. Well, the good news is that no application is required. Your school will be responsible for updating student records with the ministry by August 31^st of each year so eligible candidates can be chosen. This is also inclusive of adding a C indicator against students who are citizens or permanent residents in their records. 

As for knowing if you’ve gotten it, you’ll have to create an account at Student Transcripts Service here. Notifications will be posted on this site in November and you can log in to check if your name appears on the list of the recipients. 

How Much You Can Get 

Well we don’t want to beat around the bush here. You’ll be happy to know that each of the 8,000 students who qualify for this funding program will receive $1,250 each. You will receive it as a voucher and you can use this amount as reimbursement by the Ministry of Education and Child Care to fund your tuition fee at an eligible post-secondary school in the province. You can check the list of the schools here. 

Other Student Aid Options 

If you’re unsure whether you will qualify for this scholarship program, you can try pursuing other avenues of student funding instead. All students of British Columbia can apply for BC Access Grant, BC Student Loans, BC Bursaries, Irving K. Barber Scholarship Programs and more. The choice is yours.