VICTORIA – More B.C. students are graduating than ever before,
especially Aboriginal and special needs students, according to the
latest data on student completion.

Overall, the numbers of students who completed Grades 8-12 within six
years has increased across all categories since 2000-01 – female, male,
Aboriginal, English Language Learning (ELL) and special needs.

In 2013-14, the provincial six-year completion rate was 84.2%, that’s
an increase of more than 10% from 76.5% in 2000-01. Five school
districts including Arrow Lakes, Coquitlam, West Vancouver, Conseil
scolaire francophone and Fort Nelson, reported over 90% completion
rates.

The Fort Nelson school district had the highest completion rate in B.C.
with 99.7% of students graduating. Just a few years ago, in 2009-10,
the district’s rate was 61% but since 2010-11, it has been above 86%
every year, higher than the provincial average for the same period.

For Aboriginal students, the six-year completion rate reached a record
high of 61.6% in 2013-14, and it has improved steadily over the past 10
years from 42.3% in 2000-01. This represents a 45.6% improvement.