Released on April 4, 2025
The Government of Saskatchewan will be winding down the Grade 12 provincial examination program at the end of August 2025 as work continues to develop a provincewide student assessment program.
Discontinuing provincial exams creates a more equitable system for Grade 12 students in Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan is currently the only province where some students are required to write provincial examinations in certain Grade 12 subjects while others are not. In the 2023-24 school year, only 25 per cent of students needed to complete a provincial exam.
"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. "We are pleased that work continues on developing a Saskatchewan Student Assessment program that will help our schools and government in improving student success."
Adults and home-based learners will be able to enroll in Grade 12 courses through the Saskatchewan Distance Learning Centre or applicable post-secondary institutions to earn Grade 12 credits.
"School boards welcome this announcement and appreciate that the government has listened to feedback on this matter," Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) President Dr. Shawn Davidson said. "Our membership passed resolutions in 2011 and again in 2021 that called for the elimination of provincial examinations for Grade 12 students. This is an important shift toward more meaningful assessment practices that take the needs of individual students into account while maintaining curricular integrity."
The Ministry of Education continues to collaborate with education partners on the Saskatchewan Student Assessment program (SSA) announced in November 2024. When implemented, SSA will provide parents, students and teachers 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 SSA program is being developed as part of the Provincial Education Plan.
The goals of the SSA program are to provide a fair and objective measure of how students are doing, help guide instruction and assist schools, school systems and government in improving student achievement.
Further information about the SSA program is available at saskatchewan.ca/assessment.
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