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Provincial exams for Grade 12 students will soon be a thing of the past in Saskatchewan, as the provincial government works to develop its new student assessment program.
According to the Ministry of Education, ending the provincial exams “creates a more equitable system for Grade 12 students,” as Saskatchewan is the only province where some students are required to write the provincial exams in certain subjects, while others are not.
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During the 2023-24 school year, the ministry noted, only 25 per cent of students were required to sit for provincial examinations.
“The discontinuation of Provincial Exams, starting in September 2025, aligns with feedback that I have received directly from school board trustees, teachers and families all across this province,” Education Minister Everett Hindley said in a statement.
“We are pleased that work continues on developing a Saskatchewan Student Assessment program that will help our schools and government in improving student success.”
Shawn Davidson, president of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association, said he welcomed the announcement, which indicates that the government has heard the feedback it was receiving.
“This is an important shift toward more meaningful assessment practices that take the needs of individual students into account while maintaining curricular integrity,” Davidson said, quoted in a statement from the ministry.
The provincewide assessment program was first announced in November, and is meant to provide parents, students and teachers with “a snapshot of student performance in Grades 5 and 9 mathematics and Grades 4, 7 and 10 English language arts as well as a common understanding of what it means to be at grade level,” the ministry added.
The goal is to provide an objective measurement of how students are doing as they progress through the grade levels, in order to guide and assist schools and the ministry when it comes to improving outcomes.
