Three times a year, your child’s school will send you a copy of their report card. This document gives you key information about your child’s progress at school. But how do you make sense of it?
Elementary and high school report cards contain the same information. On each one, you’ll find:
Around mid-October, your child’s teacher will send you an interim report card. Since it isn’t an official report card, it doesn’t include any grades! Instead, it contains the teacher’s observations in the form of qualitative feedback.
The school year is divided into three terms. At the end of each term, you’ll receive a report card on the following dates:
The terms don’t all count equally. Here’s how the weighting is distributed in elementary and high school:
Grades aren’t given out randomly or on a teacher’s whim. They’re based on several criteria and are the result of a long process that looks something like this:
Instead of comparing their grades to those of the other students or to the class average, encourage your child to compare themselves to themselves: What has improved since the last term? What are they proud of? Learn how to recognize your child’s efforts and how to use rewards to encourage them.
Ministerial examinations, commonly known as ministry exams, are administered in every school in Quebec for all students in Grade 4 (French-language schools only), Grade 6, Secondary II (French-language schools only), Secondary IV, and Secondary V. Here are two key points to remember:
At the elementary level and in Secondary II, ministerial exams count for 20% of the final grade in the subject. In Secondary IV and V, they count for 50%, and the subjects involved are required to earn a Secondary School Diploma.
These exams are the same for all students in Quebec. They’re held under standardized conditions, according to an official schedule.
Most exams take place in May and June. A retake session is offered in August, and some high school exams are also held in January. To help your child prepare, read our article on ministry exams.
Level | French-language schools | English-language schools |
Grade 4 | French, Language of Instruction (reading and writing) | — |
Grade 6 | French, Language of Instruction (reading and writing); Mathematics | English Language Arts; Mathematics |
Secondary II | French, Language of Instruction (writing) | — |
Secondary IV | Mathematics; Science and Technology or Applied Science and Technology; History of Québec and Canada | |
Secondary V | French, Language of Instruction (writing); English as a Second Language (Core or Enriched Program) | English Language Arts; French as a Second Language (Core or Enriched Program) |
Subject-specific competencies are the skills specific to each subject. They are what the teacher assesses and grades on the report card. For example:
In English, second languages and mathematics, the report card shows a result for each competency. In other subjects, it shows a single overall result. To learn more, read our article on school competencies.
Cross-curricular competencies are skills that are useful in every subject. On the report card, they’re called “Comments on certain competencies.” They aren’t graded. Instead, the teacher comments on them based on their observations and discussions with the student. The report card includes four:
Normally, the teacher comments on two of these competencies in Term 1 and Term 3. However, in order to give greater flexibility, the ministry has renewed a measure for 2026-2027 which allows them to comment on just one, in whichever term they feel is most appropriate.
The subject mark is the percentage your child earned in a subject. The class average is the average result of all the students in the class for that same subject.
The average is a useful reference point, but your child’s progress from one term to the next tells you the most about their learning.
Good to know: In some subjects, such as the arts, physical education or second languages at the elementary level, the school may decide not to report a mark or an average in Term 1 or Term 2 if there haven’t been enough assessments.
Still have questions about report cards or Quebec’s school system? Here are more Alloprof resources for you: