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  • Application Package
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• Applicants Area

Application Package Information

Download and print the Application Package for an Independent School Teaching Certificate. This package includes several forms that you must complete as part of your application.

This section describes the documents that we require as part of your application and tells you how to complete and submit them.

You will notice that some of the documents need to be verified. A verified copy is a photocopy of a document on which a notary public or lawyer states in writing that it is "a true copy of the original" and signs the copy. We will also accept photocopies that have been verified by any person who has current, valid certification with the BC Ministry of Education. On the photocopy, he/she must write his/her full name, certificate number and signature.

Application for an Independent School Teaching Certificate

Please complete all four pages of this form and submit it to us. You must answer all of the questions on the form, and you must sign and date the Declaration of Professional Commitment on page 4. If you have a criminal record, this does not automatically make you ineligible for a certificate. However, you may not qualify if you make false statements or do not tell us about a criminal record.

Consent to a Criminal Record Check

Please complete this form and submit it to us with your Application for an Independent School Teaching Certificate form. Criminal record check results are confidential. We cannot accept previous criminal record checks you have completed, and we cannot provide you with a copy of the results of our criminal record check.

Under the Criminal Records Review Act, we must obtain an original signed form and a $20 fee from each applicant. This $20 charge is included in our application fee. We forward your information and fee to the Criminal Records Review Agency (CRRA), which identifies any criminal record that indicates a risk to children.

Statement(s) of Professional Standing

A Statement of Professional Standing is a letter that states you are a teacher in good standing and that your teaching license has never been revoked, cancelled or suspended for any disciplinary reasons. Statement(s) of Professional Standing must be mailed directly to the Ministry of Education Teacher Regulation Branch from all certification bodies where you hold or have held a teaching certificate. This is required even if you have never taught in the jurisdiction and even if the certificate has expired.

If you have taught in a jurisdiction where you do not hold a teaching certificate, you need to ask the employer to send us a brief letter stating whether or not there were any concerns about your conduct or competence. It must be signed, dated, written on letterhead, and sent directly to us from the employer by mail, fax, or as a scanned email attachment.

Teaching report

If you are currently teaching or have previously taught in a K-12 school, please ask the most recent employer to write a teaching report on your behalf. The report must state the name and address of the employer and indicate the start and end dates of your employment. The content of the report should be comprehensive and address your overall competency as an educator. The areas generally described in a teaching report include planning, organization, lesson delivery, classroom management, assessment, interaction with parents, etc.

Secondary school graduation diploma

If you are applying for an SSR certificate, a verified copy of your secondary school graduation diploma is required. If you are applying for an SR or SYR certificate, a verified copy of the diploma is required only if you completed secondary school outside North America. If your diploma is not available, we will accept a letter from the secondary school stating when you completed your studies. O-level and A-level certificates meet this requirement.

Official transcripts of all post-secondary studies

Please ask each of the post-secondary institutions you have attended to mail an official transcript directly to us. We do not accept transcripts by fax or email. We do not accept transcripts sent by applicants even if the transcripts are sealed or notarized.

It is important that we receive a transcript for every college and university you have attended. We do not accept reports completed by ICES in lieu of transcripts. Each course is relevant to our evaluation and we will recognize only courses for which we have an official transcript. Transcripts should show:

• the dates you were enrolled,
• the name of each course you took at that institution,
• the grades you received, and
• the number of credits granted or lecture hours completed for each course.

If the transcripts do not include all of the information we require, we may ask for additional details, such as an outline or program syllabus. If transcripts arrive in languages other than English or French, we will send a copy to you for translation.

Distance teacher education program details

If you completed any part of your teacher education program by distance or online education, please ask your Faculty of Education to send details about your program directly to us. The details must state what courses you completed face-to-face and what courses you completed by distance or online. They must also provide the number of lecture hours you attended for each on-campus course and indicate how many days of practicum you completed in a classroom. This information is required only for the studies you completed within your teacher education program. We do not require this information for academic courses you took outside the Faculty of Education.

Degree verification

Most transcripts show the degree or qualification you completed. If your transcripts do not provide this information, please send us a verified copy of your degree or qualification. You can also ask the post-secondary institution to send us a letter confirming the qualification awarded.

Confidential Character Reference for Authorization to Teach in British Columbia forms

Please complete page 1 of each reference form. You will need to ask two referees who have known you for at least two years to complete page 2 and submit the forms directly to us. Your referees do not need to have observed you in any teaching capacity. However, we will not accept forms completed by referees that are too closely related to you, such as relatives, partners, spouses or equivalents. We will not accept letters of references as a substitute for the reference forms.

Identification documents

We require a verified copy of your birth certificate, as well as proof of any other names appearing on your documents (verified copy of your marriage certificate, divorce certificate or change of name certificate). If you do not have your birth certificate and you were born:

• in Canada, you need to obtain a replacement from the Vital Statistics department in the province or territory where you were born.
• outside of Canada, you must have a notary public or lawyer prepare a statutory declaration in which you swear to your date of birth, your full name at birth, your birthplace and the fact that you do not have a birth certificate. You must attach a verified copy of your passport, permanent resident papers or a Canadian citizenship card to the statutory declaration.
  Please see the Sample Statutory Declaration form in the Application Package for an Independent School Teaching Certificate.

Language proficiency results

BC's languages of instruction are English and, in French immersion schools, French. To teach in BC, you need to be able to read, write and speak English or French at an advanced level. Applicants whose first language is not English or French and have completed any part of their education in countries where English or French is not the only official language must meet our language proficiency requirements.

We need language proficiency results before we can evaluate your application or tell you of any coursework you may need to complete. It is highly recommended that applicants meet the language proficiency requirements before submitting an application to the Teacher Regulation Branch. Applicants who do not meet our minimum language proficiency requirements will not be issued any certificate until this requirement has been met.

Additional Items required for School and Subject Restricted (SSR) Applications

Please note that the following items are required for SSR applications:

• A completed School Authority Form (found in the Application Package)
• Verified copy of your secondary school graduation diploma
• Verified copies of post-secondary certificates earned in your area of expertise
• Four letters of recommendation

Please see the Application Package for an Independent School Teaching Certificate for a full description of these items.

Application fee

You must include a non-refundable application fee with your application. We will not open a file for you or review any of your documents until you have paid the application fee. Please see Fee Information to find out the fee you must pay and the payment options.