Make June Diploma Exams Optional for the 2025/26 School Year In Alberta

Ensuring fairness, equity, and student success after strike-related disruption

Why This Petition Matters?

Due to the recent teachers’ strike, January diploma exams were canceled and students received school-awarded marks as their final course grades. Meanwhile, students in the second semester still face June diploma exams, which are formally weighted at 30% of their final mark. 

This mismatch has created a two-tiered assessment system for the same coursework. First-semester students’ final marks are frozen and unaffected by exams. Second-semester students, who learned the same material at the same level, are still subject to a high-stakes standardized test that can significantly lower their final grade.

How Diploma Exams Can Lower Grades

Diploma exams are designed to assess mastery of curriculum outcomes under timed, standardized conditions, and make up 30% of the final grade in Alberta. 

Evidence from Alberta and broader educational research shows that high-stakes exams often result in lower scores compared to teacher-assessed marks. Students frequently report that diploma exams yield marks below their classroom averages—even when they have demonstrated consistent mastery throughout the year (anecdotal posted student experiences reflect discrepancies of 20% or more). 

Academic research on high-stakes testing shows:

High-stakes exams do not consistently improve learning and can depress performance. Longitudinal research on standardized tests found that in the U.S., high school graduation exam policies were often correlated with decreases in college entrance exam performance such as the ACT. 

High-stakes assessments can distort a student’s final grade in ways that do not reflect total learning, often penalizing capable students in a single high-pressure situation. 

These patterns matter because diploma exams weigh significantly on final grades. A student who averaged 88% in all coursework could see their final official mark drop significantly if they score lower on the diploma exam—directly affecting admission to competitive programs.

Impact on Post-Secondary Admissions

Final high school marks (including diploma exams) are a primary metric used by universities and colleges for selection, scholarships, and early offers. However:

Alberta has confirmed universities will accept school-awarded marks when diploma exams are canceled, showing that admissions decisions can be based solely on coursework grades. 

Broad research indicates that standardized, high-stakes tests can disadvantage some students based on test performance rather than overall achievement, leading to inequities in admissions outcomes. 

In Canada and internationally, there is a growing recognition that alternative measures—course grades, portfolios, teacher assessments—can be better predictors of post-secondary success and more equitable than single high-stakes exams. 

If June diplomas proceed as mandatory, students in second semester may face:

Lower final averages compared to peers.

Reduced competitiveness for scholarships and early admissions.

Increased stress and inequity, because identical work is being evaluated under different criteria.

This is especially unfair given the unusual disruption caused by the strike.

If Alberta forces June diplomas without making them optional:

✅ Students will be evaluated under two different assessment systems for the same coursework.

✅ Second-semester students may see lower admission grades than first-semester students through no fault of their own.

✅ Graduates could face inequitable access to programs and scholarships based on a single test result—despite classroom success.

Why Making June Diplomas Optional Is Fair and Evidence-Based

Making diploma exams optional in June for this academic year only would:

📌 Ensure equitable evaluation for all students affected by the strike.

📌 Maintain academic integrity, because universities have already accepted school-awarded marks without issue. 

📌 Reduce stress and inequity associated with high-stakes testing that can disproportionately penalize skilled students.

📌 Align with modern educational practice, which increasingly emphasizes diverse measures of student achievement over single exams.

We call on Alberta Education to make June diploma exams optional for the 2025/26 school year.

Students should be evaluated in a way that fairly reflects what they have learned, without undue disadvantage caused by circumstances beyond their control.

Sign this petition to support fairness, consistency, and student success.