Frequently Asked Questions
All Secondary V students can apply to Marianopolis, regardless of language or which high school they are attending.
Under the Quebec Charter of the French Language, only certain people holding a Certificate of Eligibility (CoE) have the right to attend publicly funded English-language elementary schools or high schools in Quebec. Everyone else must attend French-language schools, with very few exceptions.
At the college level, all students can attend English-language institutions, including Marianopolis. In fact, approximately half of our students do not have a CoE. Whether they hold a CoE or not means different admission, course, and graduation requirements.
For more information on the CoE, visit the Ministry of Education’s website. If you wish to obtain your CoE, you must do so before completing high school, otherwise you will be considered a non-CoE holder at the time of admission to college.
In order to receive their DEC (Diplôme d’études collégiales), students must pass a language exit exam. Students with a certificate of eligibility for English-language instruction will be required to pass the English Exit Exam. Students without a certificate of eligibility will be required to pass the French Exit Exam (Épreuve uniforme de français).
The number and type of French courses you take depends on whether you have a certificate of eligibility for English-language education, and if so, how strong your level of French is. There are many pathways and sets of courses that can accommodate different levels of French proficiency.
- If you have a certificate of eligibility, you will take two French second-language courses, and, either three additional French second-language courses to improve your French skills, or three program courses in French.
- If you do not have a certificate of eligibility, you will take three French courses to help you prepare for the French Exit Exam (Épreuve uniforme de français) and two program courses in French.