Achievement record in secondary school

The achievement record is issued to all secondary school students. It contains many pieces of relevant information on their educational path and on the credits obtained for each subject. This document is different than the report card, which is issued by the schools.

In addition to the upper section reserved for the student’s personal information, the achievement record is divided into two columns.

The left-hand column provides information about the missing requirements for obtaining a diploma and about the diplomas obtained by the student.

Requirements for obtaining a Secondary School Diploma (SSD) in general education in the youth sector (J5 certification system)

The pass mark for each course is 60%. A Secondary School Diploma is awarded to a student who has obtained at least 54 credits in Secondary IV and V, at least 20 of which are in Secondary V or vocational training.
 
In addition, the student must pass the following courses: 

• Secondary V language of instruction
• Secondary IV Mathematics
• Secondary V second language
• Secondary IV Science and Technology or Applied Science and Technology
• Secondary IV History of Québec and Canada
• Secondary IV Arts Education
• Secondary V Ethics and Religious Culture or Physical Education and Health

These standards have been in force since May 1, 2010.

Example list from an achievement record

Here is an example of what might be found on a Secondary IV student’s achievement record: 
 
Credits earned with respect to the extra requirements for a Secondary School Diploma (J5 certification system)
 
Language of instruction: 0/6
Second language: 0/4
Secondary IV History of Québec and Canada: 0/4
Secondary V ERC or PEH: 0/2
Secondary IV or Secondary V CR (54 cr): 32/54
Secondary V CR (20 cr): 0/20
 
In this example, the student has not yet obtained their six credits in Secondary V language of instruction, four credits in Secondary V second language, four credits in Secondary IV History of Québec and Canada and two credits in Secondary V Ethics and Religious Culture or Physical Education and Health.
 
On the other hand, the student has earned 32 of the 54 credits required to obtain their Secondary School Diploma. Finally, as this student is in Secondary IV, they have not yet obtained any of the required 20 credits at the Secondary V level.
 
It can also be noted that Secondary IV Mathematics, Science and Arts Education are missing from the list. This means that the student has already passed "these courses and obtained the credits required for a diploma. Each time a requirement is met, it disappears from the left hand column of the achievement record.

Requirements for obtaining a Secondary School Diploma (SSD) in general education in the adult sector (A3 certification system)

The pass mark is 60% for courses created since 1989 and 50% for certain courses that were created before that date. A Secondary School Diploma is awarded to an adult learner who has obtained at least 54 credits in Secondary IV and V, at least 20 of which are in Secondary V.
 
These 54 credits must include:

• 12 credits in language of instruction, at least 6 of which were obtained in Secondary V
• 8 credits in second language, at least 4 of which were obtained in Secondary V
• 4 Secondary IV or V credits in Social Sciences
• 8 Secondary IV or V credits in Mathematics, Science and Technology, at least 4 of which are in Mathematics 

 The number of credits obtained for language of instruction and second language programs may not exceed 36. The adult learner must also have earned at least one credit in a Secondary IV or Secondary V course offered by an adult education centre since July 1, 2010.
 
These standards have been in force since July 1, 2010.

Diploma awarded

Once a diploma has been awarded, a statement to that effect appears lower down on the page, under the block of credits earned. This statement confirms that a diploma has been awarded in general education in the youth sector, in adult general education or in vocational training. The date indicated is the date the diploma was awarded.
 
If this statement does not appear on the achievement record, the requirements for obtaining a diploma have not been met; therefore no diploma has been awarded.

The right-hand column provides all the information on the results obtained by the student in their Secondary IV or Secondary V courses.

Table of results

The table contains eight columns with the following headings:

• Course code (CODE)
• Title
• Credits (CR)
• Result
• Year
• Month
• Quintile rank (R/5)
• Percentile rank (CEN)

Course code or program code and competency or component code (CODE)

A six-digit numerical code.

Title

The title of each course is indicated here.

Credits (CR)

The number of credits awarded to the student for passing the course is indicated here.

Result

This is the result obtained by the student out of a total of 100. In addition, in certain cases, codes may also be used:

• EQU – A pass was awarded in an equivalent program or course.
• ACC – A pass was awarded for a program or course at a lower level subsequent to the passing of the same program or course at a higher level.
• XMT – An exemption from passing a program or course or part of a program or course was granted.
• ABS – The student was absent when the ministerial examination was administered.
• ECH – The student is failing the program.
• ANN – The examination was cancelled for this student due to plagiarism, fraud or cheating.
• INC – A result is missing for a competency in the program.

Year and month

This column indicates the year and month that the student obtained the result.

Quintile rank (R/5)

The quintile rank is used only in general education in the youth sector. It refers to the result in a course that was fully evaluated by the teacher. The quintile rank (R/5) enables a piece of data to be situated in relation to the rest of the sample, in this case, the student’s result in relation to the rest of their group.

The students’ results are divided into five subgroups. A quintile rank of 1 indicates that the result falls within the subgroup with the highest results. A quintile rank of 5 indicates that the result falls within the subgroup with the lowest results.

Percentile rank (CEN)

The percentile rank is used only in general education in the youth sector. It is used when a ministerial examination is used to evaluate a course. The percentile rank is calculated based partly on the moderated school mark and partly on the mark on the ministerial examination, converted, if necessary. 

The percentile rank is the percentage of Québec students who obtained a lower result for the competency or course. Therefore, a percentile rank of 85 indicates that 85% of the students in the province obtained a result lower than that of the particular student.

In cases where the result indicated on the achievement record differs from that indicated on the school’s report card, the document issued by the Minister takes precedence.

Feel free to contact us by telephone if you have any questions regarding your achievement record.