| No College Entrance Examination in Canada |
College Entrance Examination is a significant event for high school students in China and even for all over the society of China. However, in Canada, the college entrance examination is a very strange concept, even when a Canadian high school student who will study in a college is asked about the results of college entrance examination, he/she will be confused to answer the problem.
There is no College Entrance Examination in Canada. It is unnecessary for the high school students in Canada who want to study in universities to take part in the entrance examination, so most Canadian students know little about the College Entrance Examination. In June per year, when Chinese high school students are busy with the College Entrance Examination, high school graduates in Canada may have received admission to universities, some may hesitate on how to select before distinguished universities.
Even though there is no College Entrance Examination, it is still uneasy for high school students to study in distinguished universities in Canada. The Canadian universities have admission systems of their own. For Canada Federal has no special educational management institutions, and the educational management is taken charge of by the governments of provinces, which result into difference in educational systems in primary schools and middle schools, and the universities have different requirements in admission.
In China, the course from high school to university is called “examination”, if the access to universities of high school students in Canada is also called “examination”, we can find the “examination” patterns are widely divergent, even there are differences between provinces.
Even though there no College Entrance Examination required, the high school students in Canada who want to study in universities need to submit applications, which is similar to the voluntary reporting filled by Chinese students. Even there are few differences; basic requirements for admission in Canadian universities are the same. Generally, the candidates shall submit three documents: application form, high school report and application charge. In the application form, basic information and preferable majors of the candidate shall be listed. With the three documents submitted to the universities, what the candidates will do is to just wait for notice of admission.
Canadian universities enroll students independently. The students can submit applications directly to the universities for admission. Except that all universities will handle the applications by themselves, some provinces will gather to handle the applications. For example, Ontario has an application center to handle the applications for universities in Ontario.
The best advantage to handle the applications together is to enhance the efficiency, if a student applies for admission by several universities simultaneously, the application center can review the application qualifications one-off, which saves not only the time but also the charges. For current-year high school students in Ontario, the university application center can provides them with various conveniences and instructions to high schools. However, the application center only checks whether the application documents are complete and qualified, but the final admission shall depend on the university. Such style seems like China’s college enrollment mode.
With the development of network technology, more and more Canadian universities receive applications online. The Ontario university application center is developing network as well. In addition, Britain Colombia has also established a special high school post-education application service center, which takes charge of the on-line enrollment of universities and colleges and even private education institutions in the province. Not only the high school students in Canada but also those in other countries, who want to enter the province for study, they also can submit applications through the institution.
Although the application is a key point for study in Canadian universities and even it is the most important process for Canadian high school students to enter the universities, yet it is not the key factor for the access to the universities expected. Each university has the admission standards of its own, and the study capability of a student is the most important base for the decision of each university.
Though the educational systems in primary and middle schools differ in Canadian provinces, and Canadian universities have different requirements on students, in a whole, they are largely identical but with more differences. Take Ontario as an example to show the admission conditions in Canada: if a high school student in Ontario wants to study in a university, he/she must provide a diploma issued by the high school, and have studied courses of a university or preparatory colleges.
Following regulations in Ontario, 30 credits will be required at least for the diploma, of which, 18 credits are required and other 12 credits are elective. In addition, the student studying in Grade two shall pass the examination in reading and writing. Additionally, the student shall participate in the 40h community activities at least fore the diploma.
Although there are differences in requirements from those in China, it is very easy to understand for requirements in diploma, yet the preparatory courses in universities or colleges show the larger differences with those in China.
Following the existing education systems in Ontario, the high school will start in Grade 9, totaling 4 years. In Grade 9, main courses like math, Chinese (English), science, geography and so on are divided into theory and application. Theoretical courses focus on abstract concepts for continuous study in future, and the application courses focus on the application of concepts. In grades 11-12, the courses are divided into different types such as preparatory courses for work, preparatory course for academies, preparatory courses for college and preparatory courses for university and so on, and we can find out the differences from their names. The contents of preparatory courses in grade 12 are equivalent to those in high schools or grade one in universities in China. Besides, there are basic courses for universities including English, history, biology, physics, philosophy and so on.
General requirements of Canadian universities for admission: the candidates shall study 6 preparatory courses of universities or colleges at least, and special requirements may be given for the courses studied.
For the schools outside Ontario in Canada, names of courses may differ, but the contents of course in the last-year in high school are basically the same. There are special university preparatory courses in Quebec, where the course contents are a little similar to those in grade 11 and 12 in Ontario.
With the two requirements met, the “legal” conditions of admission to for a university are met only, and the universities shall depend on the study capabilities of the students. Due to no college examination available, the universities can review the study capabilities of the students through the school reports obtained in high schools. The results of college preparatory courses are main reference. For example, University of Toronto, a first-class in Canada, the average results for college preparatory courses of the students shall rank the first 1/3 in the class. The average results of some hot specialties shall exceed 90 scores.
Except the college examination, the result assessment modes of high schools in Canada differ with those in high schools of China. For example, in the high schools, Ontario, the results of all courses depend on the spare-time results and final results, and the spare-time results occupy 70% and the final results 30%. The check on the final results may be done via examination or schoolwork. For the students in grades 9 and 10, if the results are less than 50 scores, which will be regarded as failure but not recorded, and only the best scores are recorded in school reports. However, for the students in grades 11 and 12, the results, failing or not, courses completed or not, will be recorded.
The high schools in Ontario may have reasons of their own to review the study capabilities of students, however, many doubt whether it can reflect the actual levels of students correctly and fairly. The check modes in some provinces are different from those in Ontario, for example, in Vancouver, Britain Colombia, there are uniform examination for students of grade 12. The subjects of courses are identical with the college preparatory courses; the final results of students in the subjects shall depend on the school reports and uniform examination. School reports take 60%, and the uniform results take 40%. It is considered that in Britain Colombia, the study capabilities of students can be reflected via uniform examinations under the same standards so as to enable students to enjoy fair treatment in admission.
With high school diplomas and results of college preparatory courses, the Canadian high school students can apply for admission to universities. The students can determine when to apply and register. Universities in Canada have three semesters including winter, spring and autumn, where students may be recruited, and most students are registered in autumn. The students enrolled in autumn shall submit applications before late March, and receive the notice of admissions in early June. |
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