Pathway to Teacher Education Scholarship

The Pathway to Teacher Education scholarship is awarded to 20 outstanding high school graduates who have demonstrated a commitment to and aptitude for a career in K–12 teaching.

Students selected for this award receive a $5,000 scholarship voucher from the Ministry of Education and Child Care that they can use to be reimbursed for tuition paid after they are attending an approved teacher education program in the Faculty of Education at a B.C. post-secondary institution. To qualify, the program must lead to eligibility to apply for a B.C. teaching certificate and teach in the K–12 school system in this province.

Students have seven years to redeem their Pathway to Teacher Education scholarship vouchers; an expiry date is printed on each voucher and extensions are not possible.

Key dates

• Early June 2024: Conditional recipients and their schools notified by email
• September 2024: Conditional recipients checked against eligibility requirements
• October 2024: Paper scholarship vouchers mailed to confirmed recipients
• Late Fall 2024: Online applications for 2025 awards year open
• February 2025: Online applications for 2025 awards year due

Eligibility requirements

Students selected as conditional recipients of the Pathway to Teacher Education scholarship must meet the following requirements by August 31 of their graduating year to be confirmed as a recipient and receive their scholarship voucher:

• meet core eligibility requirements;
• be eligible for a B.C. Certificate of Graduation (Dogwood Diploma);
• fulfill the requirements of the B.C. Graduation Program; and,
• have the following final marks.
  • Minimum “B” average in grades 11 and 12 courses required for graduation
  • Minimum "B" (73% or above) in Language Arts 12
  • Minimum “B” average, no more than one "C+" (67% or above), and no marks lower than “C+” in courses that fulfill graduation requirements for Science 11 or 12, Math 11, and Social Studies 11 or 12

Note: students may apply for both the Pathway to Teacher Education scholarship and the BC Excellence scholarship but can be awarded only one.  

How applications are evaluated

1. Written statements are assessed by a team of B.C. teachers using the marking guidelines (PDF)  
2. Approximately 40 candidates are shortlisted
3. The resumes for those shortlisted candidates are assessed by a different team of B.C. teachers, using the same marking guidelines
4. Twenty students are selected by consensus as conditional recipients

How to prepare (overview)

Students interested in applying for the 2025 awards year are encouraged to get organized well before applications are due in February 2025.

• Make a checklist of the required information you will need to submit through the online application form in February 2025
  • Written statement
    • All written statements are assessed, and those assessments are used to shortlist applications
  • Resume via mandatory online format
    • Only resumes from shortlisted applications are reviewed
  • Reference letters (2)
    • One community-related (such as a community leader, coach, instructor, volunteer supervisor, or employer)
    • One school-related (such as a teacher, counsellor, school principal, or vice-principal)
    • The marking team does not mark the reference letters but does consider them when scoring resumes
• Look for the online application in Late Fall 2024
• Ensure that you have a plan to meet all eligibility requirements