The types of courses offered and their organization provide for a graduated streaming of courses in Grades 9 to 12, which will keep options open for all students in the earlier grades, and prepare students in senior grades for their future destination. In Grades 9 and 10, three types of courses are offered: academic, applied, and open. Courses in Grades 11 and 12 are designed to prepare students for a post-secondary destination – that is, for apprenticeship training, college, university, or the workplace.

TYPES OF COURSES IN GRADES 9 AND 10

Students with their parents and teachers choose Grades 9 and 10 courses based primarily on student interests, needs and achievements. In these years, students select an appropriate combination of open, applied and academic courses in order to add to their knowledge and skills base, explore their interests, and determine the type of educational program they are best suited to undertake. Students are not required to make binding decisions about a particular educational and career path.

Academic Courses “D”

Academic courses develop students’ knowledge and skills through the study of theory and abstract problems. These courses focus on the essential concepts of a subject and explore related concepts as well. They incorporate practical applications as appropriate.

Applied Courses “P”

Applied courses focus on the essential concepts of a subject, and develop students’ knowledge and skills through practical applications and concrete examples. Familiar situations are used to illustrate ideas, and students are given more opportunities to experience hands-on applications of the concepts and theories they study.

Students must choose between academic and applied courses in each of the core subjects – English, French as a second language, mathematics, science, geography, and history. Both types of courses set high expectations for students while preparing them for studies in the senior grades. The two types of courses differ in the balance between essential concepts and additional material, and in the balance between theory and application.

Locally Developed Compulsory Credit Courses (LDCC) “L”

LDCC courses focus on the knowledge and skills that students need to be well prepared for success in the Grade 11 Workplace Preparation courses. Students with widely ranging levels of competency may require these courses; some of these students may be four years behind grade level with signifi cant gaps in knowledge, concept understanding, and skills. As well, LDCC courses will support students in developing and enhancing strategies that they need to develop literacy and numeracy skills and the confi dence to use these skills in their day-to-day activities.

Open Courses “O”

Open courses are the only types of courses offered in most subjects other than those listed above. They are designed to prepare students for further study in a subject, and to enrich their education generally. Open courses comprise a set of expectations that are appropriate for all students.

Transfer Courses

Prerequisites for Grade 10 courses are specified in the curriculum policy documents for the various disciplines. A student who has completed a course of one type in a particular subject and grade that does not meet a stated prerequisite for a course in the same subject in the next grade level may take a transfer course (i.e. MFM1P1 to MPM2D1) - that is a partial credit course (.5 cr) that bridges the gap between the course completed and the course of the type designated as a prerequisite.

Transfer courses enable students to achieve the expectations not covered in one course type but required for entry into a course of a different type in the next grade. Transfer courses are offered through summer school only.

Grade 10, academic and applied courses will prepare students for particular Grade 11 courses, for which prerequisites are specified in the curriculum policy documents for Grades 11 and 12.

TYPES OF COURSES IN GRADES 11 AND 12

In Grades 11 and 12, students will choose from among four destination-related course types: university preparation, university/ college preparation, college preparation, and workplace preparation. Open courses are also offered in Grades 11 and 12. Students will make their choices on the basis of their interests, achievement, and career goals. All university preparation courses, university/college preparation courses, college preparation courses, and workplace preparation courses have been developed in collaboration with representatives of universities, colleges, apprenticeship programs, or the business community, as appropriate, and are designed to enable students to meet the entrance requirements of post-secondary institutions or apprenticeship or other training programs, or the expectations of employers in the workplace.

The following is a brief description of the types of courses that are available in the various disciplines of the Ontario curriculum in Grades 11 and 12:

University Preparation Courses “U”

University preparation courses are designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to meet the entrance requirements for university programs.

University/College Preparation Courses “M”

University/college preparation courses are designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to meet the entrance requirements for specifi c programs offered at universities and colleges.

College Preparation Courses “C”

College preparation courses are designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to meet the requirements for entrance to most college programs or for admission to apprenticeship or other training programs.

Workplace Preparation Courses “E"

Workplace preparation courses are designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to meet the expectations of employers, if they plan to enter the workplace directly after graduation, or the requirements for admission to certain apprenticeship or other training programs.

Open Courses “O”

Open courses are designed to broaden students’ knowledge and skills in subjects that refl ect their interests and to prepare them for active and rewarding participation in society. They are not designed with the specifi c requirements of universities, colleges, or the workplace in mind. Prerequisites are specifi ed for many of the courses offered in Grades 11 and 12. They are identifi ed in the curriculum policy documents.

Transfer Courses

A transfer course is a partial-credit course that bridges the gap between courses of two different types in the same subject and grade. Students who revised their educational and career goals and who wish to change from one destination related stream to another in a particular subject may often do so by taking a transfer course. Transfer courses enable students to achieve the expectations not covered in one course type but required for entry into a course in the next grade. For example, the prerequisite for the Grade 11 university preparation course in English is the Grade 10 academic course in English. A student who is taking the applied English course in Grade 10 but who decides to enter the university preparation course in Grade 11 may do so by taking a transfer course. Transfer courses will be offered for students who wish to change from one course type to another in the same subject between Grade 10 and Grade 11 or between Grade 11 and Grade 12.