Diploma exams are about a third of the final mark in an Alberta Grade 12 diploma course. What that means, which courses have one, and what happens if the two marks don't match.
In an Alberta Grade 12 diploma course, the diploma exam is worth about a third of the final mark and the school-awarded mark the rest. They're blended into one number that appears on the transcript.
The weighting has changed more than once — it was half the mark before 2015 — so a figure you saw a few years ago may no longer be right. Alberta publishes the current one in the Diploma Examinations Program General Information Bulletin.
Ten: English Language Arts 30-1 and 30-2, Social Studies 30-1 and 30-2, Mathematics 30-1 and 30-2, Biology 30, Chemistry 30, Physics 30, and Science 30.
Math 30-3 and Mathematics 31 do not have a diploma exam.
The school-awarded mark and the diploma mark are measuring the same curriculum, so they should land reasonably close. When they're far apart, that's information — and it usually arrives late.
Post-secondary offers go out on the strength of school-awarded and interim marks. The blended mark arrives afterward. A student whose school mark is well above their diploma result finds out in the summer, after offers are made and sometimes after they're conditional on a final average.
Usually not knowledge. The exam is a different environment: three hours, no notes, no help, unfamiliar question wording, and time pressure. A student who's been well supported on assignments and hasn't practised working unaided is meeting all of that for the first time on the day.
Exam schedules, registration deadlines, rewrite rules and fees are on alberta.ca, and students register through myPass. The Diploma Examinations Program General Information Bulletin is published free each year and is the authoritative source.
The gap is the specific problem this was built around. If assignment marks look fine and test marks don't, that pattern is worth taking seriously well before June.
Sources: Alberta Education and Childcare, alberta.ca, and the Diploma Examinations Program General Information Bulletin. Requirements vary by institution and change — always confirm with the school, the institution's own admissions page, or a school counsellor before making a decision.
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