For most Ontario high school students, the first day back in September carries the usual mix of nerves and anticipation. But this year, something felt different. The province has introduced a sweeping overhaul of how students are graded \u2014 one that ties a portion of their final marks directly to whether they show up, and how well they perform on mandatory written exams. For the teenagers walking through those doors in September 2026, this is not a hypothetical policy debate. It is their reality, starting now.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The changes, announced earlier this year by Education Minister Paul Calandra, take full effect in the 2026\u20132027 school year. Calandra framed the reforms as a response to what teachers have been telling the ministry for years: that they need better tools to manage classrooms and hold students accountable. The province pointed to a measurable decline in student attendance as a driving concern.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The grading breakdown differs depending on where a student sits in the high school system. For students in Grades 11 and 12, coursework accounts for 65 per cent of their final grade, final evaluations for 25 per cent, and attendance and participation for the remaining 10 per cent. Younger students in Grades 9 and 10 face a slightly different split: 65 per cent coursework, 20 per cent final evaluations, and 15 per cent attendance and participation.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The attendance component is not simply binary. According to the province’s own guidelines, students who miss two classes or fewer and consistently engage in class can expect to receive between 80 and 100 per cent of their participation marks. Those who miss more than nine classes and show little to no participation, however, will receive less than 50 per cent of that portion of their grade. The government has been explicit about its intent: unexcused absences will carry real academic consequences<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Written exams are now mandatory in core subjects including English, mathematics and science. Workplace preparation, co-op and special education courses are exempt from written exams, though they still require some form of final evaluation.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n CBC News spoke with students on the first day of school, and the responses ranged from cautious acceptance to genuine apprehension. Margarita Balbin, a Grade 11 student at Catholic Central, put it plainly: “It’s a lot more pressure in that aspect. It’s good, but I’m kind of nervous.” That tension \u2014 acknowledging the logic of the policy while feeling its weight \u2014 came up repeatedly.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n For Bailey Becker, a Grade 9 student in London, Ontario, the timing is particularly pointed. She is beginning high school at the exact moment the province is reshaping what high school means, with no prior experience of a different system to compare it to.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Charli Lockhart, a Grade 12 student at Beal, raised a concern that goes beyond personal anxiety. She argued that the increased stakes of final exams demand a corresponding increase in student support \u2014 something she feels is not yet materializing. “Some teachers expect you to put all your focus into their lessons, but they’re not accommodating if you need help,” she said, “and I think it’s kind of ridiculous that they’re going to make our exams 25 per cent.” Her classmate Ragad Ibrahim suggested that if exams are going to carry that much weight, they should at least be open book. “Twenty-five per cent is a really big number,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Not every student pushed back. Sarina Haghighatnama, also in Grade 12, expressed confidence that students who apply themselves will be able to meet the new expectations. And Jana Ibrahim, attending Catholic Central, offered perhaps the most direct endorsement of the attendance component: “It’s fair because some people are skipping and don’t come to school. I think that it’s better.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n What makes this reform worth watching closely is not just the mechanics of grading \u2014 it is what those mechanics signal about the direction of public education in Ontario. The province is betting that stricter accountability measures will reverse a documented attendance problem and better prepare students for post-secondary expectations. That is a reasonable hypothesis, and the concerns driving it are real.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But the students speaking up on the first day of school are raising a legitimate counterpoint: accountability without adequate support is not a complete solution. A 25 per cent final exam in a course where a student feels they cannot get help is a high-stakes gamble, not a level playing field. The equity dimension matters here \u2014 students with fewer resources at home, or who face barriers to consistent attendance through no fault of their own, will feel these changes differently than those in more stable circumstances.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Ontario’s education system is built on a commitment to universal access and student success. How well this new grading framework serves that commitment will depend not just on the rules themselves, but on whether schools have the capacity \u2014 and the will \u2014 to support every student who is now being asked to meet a higher bar.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The students starting high school this fall are the first to find out.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A New Kind of First Day For most Ontario high school students, the first day back in September carries the usual mix of nerves and anticipation. But this year, something felt different. The province has introduced a sweeping overhaul of how students are graded \u2014 one that ties a portion of their final marks directly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nStudents React: Anxiety, Ambivalence, and Some Agreement<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
The Broader Stakes<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n