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1260 Riverwood Gate, Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, V3B 7Z5| Phone: 604-941-5401| Contact Us
Terry Fox Secondary School
School District No. 43 (Coquitlam)
English Provincial Exam Help
 

The English Provincial Exams are difficult, but with some practice and following various steps/stages, you can build your skills to become a superstar. The sooner you start your review and preparations, the better your chances of success (in other words, don't leave your preparations until the last week before the exam).

Stage 1

1. Begin by reviewing the Table of Specifications and Description of the Exam (including the weighting of the various parts of the exam and overview of the sections)  Reading Categories, Key Words, Terms and Devices, and the Scoring Guides for the exam to ensure that you understand the basics.

2. Next, review the Samples Passages and Questions which helps you learn the types of reading and questions that you will encounter on the exam.

3. Now that you have reviewed the information, take the most recent Online Practice Exam at a time that you can work uninterupted for 3 hours. By visiting the Past Provincial Exams and Keys area on the BC Ministry of Education site and proceeding through the various steps, you can assess e-Exams.

4. Once you are finished the exam and submit it for marking, copy/paste your results into a MS Word document or email. You will have your results for the multiple choice, and you can then ask an English teacher to mark your response and provide targetted feedback on how you can improve.

Stage 2

1. Once you have your exam marked and checked by an English teacher with feedback on the written portions, visit the Student Samples area on the BC Ministry of Education site and read the Exam Question & Scoring guide and then the Student Sample for each of the three sections.

2. Using your knowledge from the Student Samples you have read and the feedback from an English teacher, look over your previous exam and review what you will do differently on your next exam.

3. Now it's time to take the the next most recent Online Practice Exam at a time that you can work uninterupted for 3 hours. Once you are finished the exam and submit it for marking, copy/paste your results into a MS Word document or email. You will have your results for the multiple choice, and you can then ask an English teacher to mark your response and provide targetted feedback on how you can improve.

4. Now that you have two exams, it is time for a comparison of the highs and lows from each of the two exams. Using the Exam Calculations & Plan, figure out your range of highs and lows and if nothing were to improve, could you live with your lowest exam mark when combined with your current in-class mark.

Stage 3

1. Now that you have taken two Practice Exams, it's time to figure out your strengths and weaknesses: which part of the exam is your weakest and which part are you having the greatest success?

2. Once you have determined your strengths, consider doing the exam in a different order: perhaps doing the areas that you are weakest in first instead (you don't need to do the exam in the order provided).

3. Review the most common Composition prompts/topics and see if you can come up with a few topics/stories/narratives that could be re-used to suit recurring topics.

4. Finally, take one last Online Practice Exam at a time that you can work uninterupted for 3 hours. Once you are finished the exam and submit it for marking, copy/paste your results into a MS Word document or email. You will have your results for the multiple choice, and you can then ask an English teacher to mark your response and provide targetted feedback on how you can improve. Provided these exam results are somewhere in the middle of the your intial range (or hopefully, even better), then you are ready for the final Provincial Exam (of course, you can still do more practice exams as there are six of them online for you to try).

Terry Fox Secondary School

1260 Riverwood Gate, Port Coquitlam British Columbia
Canada V3B 7Z5
604-941-5401 604-937-8059 terryfox@sd43.bc.ca
7:30 am - 3:30 pm
Our school strives to keep our community informed. However, during urgent events, visit www.sd43.bc.ca to ensure you receive the most accurate and up-to-date information.