Hi.
Does anyone now how I can find out what the Canadian equivalates are to the English school grades. My son wants to finish his education off in Canada and we need there "translation".
PLEASE CAN SOME ONE HELP ME!!!!

If he is applying to university I believe you can apply with the world education services who will translate the grades.

Where are you going, and what level has he finished so far?

Is he going into a regular school, or are you looking at further education? This may make a difference.

If he is under 18 and is looking to enter High School, they will let you know where he slots into their system - if he has already done GCSE's, for example, they may allocate him some credits towards his high school diploma - all kids stay at school to 18.

If he is over 18 and has finished school, then there are several organisations across the country who will assess your certificates/transcripts for a fee and give you a statement with the equivalencies.

For example, in Alberta and Saskatchewan you can use IQAS, or as another poster mentioned there is the World Education Services (WES) - and there are several more who's names escape me right now.

If you use IQAS, as an example, they can prepare several different types of assessment - ask for the one called Assessment for Education Institutions - and they will break down the studies he has already done into subjects. This might be important when he needs to prove specific subjects for Admission Requirements in further education programs.

Finally, just make sure that the post-secondary institution actually accepts the assessment you have just bought!

And finally, finally - many post-secondaries will also have a department who will assess the documents themselves - also for a fee, of course. Where I work, they charge $250 I think and it takes a few weeks - but the IQAS assessment is only $100 but could take 8-12 weeks to get back.

Hope that helps

Be very careful with the English/Canada education and equivalents.

Let me give you an example.....

I have a B.Eng(Hons) in electrical engineering that will not be recognised because degree programs in Canada are 4 years and not 3.

Research this throughly before making any decisions regarding education in Canada.

Take care

FYI - 90% of undergrad degree programmes offered in the Nation du Quebec are 3 years - they are accepted throughout Canada.

I enquired at various educational establishments, colleges/universties/schools etc and was informed I had to return to University for 6months to a year to update my degree.

I spoke to another guy who lives in Vancouver with a degree in electronic engineering and he encountered the same problem.

Maybe it's just an English/Canada thing?

The reason I think this happens time and time again is that degrees here are 4 years. But the first year seems to be "general" studies. It's like a basic cover-all course that leads to a more in depth study of the school Diploma subjects, especially English, Maths and the Sciences. So - "A" levels then ...

I think the UK "A" levels are like the first year of Uni here - so that is why many UK degrees are only 3 years. But no-one really recognises them here.

It works out the same in the end really - both country's students actually spend 3 years on their specialist subject - but Canada has a superior attitude 'cos their students actually spend 4 years "at" university.

And they still cannot spell!

I had my qualifications assessed by WES (World Education Services) in Toronto - it costs a bit, but wasn't particulary complicated, it just involves getting academic transcripts sent from each educational institution you went to direct to WES.
My three year LLB Hons Law was assessed as equivalent to a four year Canadian LLB Hons.
Don't worry, properly obtained UK qualifications are recognised and accepted in Canada. Of course, they may well favour Canadian qualifications as Canadian institutions are more familiar with them...