Administration and marking of ministerial examinations

Every year, the Ministère publishes an official timetable for the examination sessions. Educational institutions must fully respect this timetable. Educational institutions are responsible for administering the examinations and must provide the required premises and supervisory personnel. The Ministère provides the examination materials.

Examination sessions are slated for January, June and August of each year.

To be admitted to an examination set by the Ministère, students must have been legally enrolled in a school, and must have taken the corresponding program or have received equivalent instruction at home following an exemption from school attendance.

Furthermore, an educational institution cannot refuse admission to an examination to a student on the grounds of too many absences or low marks.

Depending on the examination, the responsibility for marking is shared by the Ministère and the educational institutions according to the following procedures:

Secondary V French, Language of Instruction: centralized marking at the Ministère.

Secondary IV Mathematics, Secondary IV Science and Secondary V French as a Second Language: the responsibility for marking is shared by the Ministère and the educational institutions. The multiple-choice part of these examinations is marked by optical reader at the Ministère and the constructed-response part is marked by the student’s teacher.

Other examinations, such as those for Secondary IV History of Québec and Canada and Secondary V English as a Second Language, are marked entirely by the student’s teacher following a marking guide produced by the Ministère.