Elementary BEd post-degree professional program (PDPP)

The Elementary PDPP program is an intensive 30.0 unit program, designed to take place over 16 months.

For a complete list of the required courses, refer to the program calendar entry

French immersion opportunities 

To learn more about French Immersion opportunities and necessary language requirements, please visit our French Immersion information page. 

Questions? Please contact the Teacher Education Office.

Certification process

Upon completion of this program, you will receive a Bachelor of Education degree (BEd) and will be eligible to apply for a BC teaching certificate. 

• a bachelor's degree from an accredited university that is acceptable to the University of Victoria
• the course, grade, and degree requirements be completed by April 30 for program entry in September of the same year.

Note: 3.0 UVic units are equivalent to two, half-year courses or 6 credits at most BC colleges and universities.

Consult an adviser in the Education Advising Office if you have any questions.

As part of the program admission requirements, you’ll need a minimum of 75 hours of practical experience working with children or youth from Kindergarten - Grade 8 in educative ways.  

• These experiences must be in face to face settings, interacting with small groups of children or youth.
• Can be in either one or two settings, but at least 50 hours must be from a single, continuous experience. 
• Experiences listed must be within the past four years, and at least 50 hours must be within the past two years. 
• Experience in international settings is valuable, but we also require at least 50 hours of experience in domestic settings.

You must have completed these hours prior to your program application deadline. Hours that may occur in the future will not be considered. In the event of a GPA tie with other applicants, we will use experience to determine the successful candidate.

Types of experiences

What qualifies as experience with respect to your application? These can be either paid or volunteer experiences, or a combination of both.

Typical experiences for applicants include:

• coaching team sports
• working as a camp counsellor, summer program leader, or after school program leader
• group tutoring or teaching (e.g. teaching music classes, specialty extra-curricular activities, etc.)
• working with faith-based groups or other youth groups
• working in school classrooms as a volunteer or assistant
• cultural work in Indigenous communities
• cultural, social justice, and inclusion themed work
• organizing/co-organizing of cultural events

What does not qualify as experience with respect to your application?

• peer tutoring as a high school student
• teaching or being a TA at the college or university level
• parenting, babysitting or caregiving

You will need to submit the following forms when applying:  

• Summary of Experience
• Reflection on Experience
• Confidential Reference form (x2) 

For information and downloadable forms regarding these requirements, see Step 2: Experience requirement under the How to apply section

Questions?

Contact the Teacher Education Office

For September 2023 Entry, admission is based primarily on GPA as long as experience requirements are met.

Selection critieria is currently under review and will be updated once it is finalized. Please check back.  

In order to help you meet the admission requirements for the Elementary PDP program, we have developed a self-assessment planning tool. 

Use this form as a guide to help you prepare for the academic portion of your application. 

Elementary PDPP self-assessment form

Please consult with Education Advising if you have questions.

Please refer to the handout provided below if you would like to take English, Canadian studies, mathematics and laboratory science at: 

• Camosun College
• College of the Rockies
• North Island College
• Thompson Rivers University - Open Learning

If you are taking courses at another institution, be sure to have your course selections reviewed by an Education adviser.

Course options at Camosun College, College of the Rockies, North Island College, or Thompson Rivers University - Open Learning.

Before applying:  See the admission requirements above for this full-time program

• Ensure you will have all course and grade requirements. Examples of approved courses are listed above under 'Admissions Requirements'. 
• Ensure you will have met all the experience requirements listed above under 'Admission requirements'. 
• All course and grade requirements must be completed by April 30 for entry in September of the same year

For applicants who have completed all or part of a teacher education program, please consult with Education Advising before submitting your application to determine if you are eligible to apply to the program. In this case, please email adve@uvic.ca at least one month before the program’s application deadline.

Not ready for this year? To attend UVic to complete the above admission requirements, please apply for the Faculty of Humanities or Social Sciences (or your previous faculty if you are returning to UVic), for “non-degree” studies.

Start your application

Please confirm your January-April 2022 course registration(s) before applying, and include this information in the in-progress courses section of the application. 

When filling out your application:

(only applicable to continuing or returning UVic students)

• under 'Institution information' and specifically 'Acknowlegement of post-secondary institutions', be sure to list every college and university where you’ve registered.  This includes exchange studies, studies transferred to another institution, Advanced Placement (AP), and International Baccalaureate (IB) studies, if applicable. The IB declaration appears under “high schools attended.” The AP declaration appears as “College of Advanced Placement.”

• under the 'In-progress courses' section of the application, accurately include the January-April 2023 course information, as well as the Fall 2022 courses.
  
  
• Under 'Supporting documents' be sure to upload your Summary of Experience and Reflection on Experience in the required format at the time you submit your application. If you instead decide to apply early and then subsequently upload these items separately (by January 2), you must allow for a delay of 2-3 weeks before your uploaded documents will be attached to your application and viewable on your application checklist.
  
  
• for those interested in applying for the off-campus Elementary PDPP in Cranbrook, BC., please select East Kootenay Teacher Education program under 'Program of study'
  
  

Late applications (i.e. those received after January 2) will be considered only if space remains in the quota after all on-time, eligible applicants have been admitted. In 2022, we did not have space to consider late applicants.

Application questions? Contact us

• Undergraduate Admissions at adms6@uvic.ca.

Experience forms

Please ensure you have referred to the experience requirements listed above under Admission Requirements. There are specific criteria you will be asked to provide evidence for in the forms below. Failure to do so will result in applicants being ineligible for admission.

Summary of Experience  

You will need to list the organization(s) where you acquired your experience, describe your duties and significant learning from these experiences. Please ensure your two references are directly linked to the experiences you list in your summary of experience. One must be a supervisor. 

You must use the format provided in these application instructions or your application will be considered incomplete and ineligible.

• Summary of experience (sample)
• Summary of experience (template)

Reflection on Experience 

You will be asked to respond to the two provided prompts using examples from the experiences you included in your Summary of Experience. Your responses will be assessed on your ability to respond to the prompts using specific examples drawn from your experiences described in the Summary of Experience. This is not a list of accomplishments but rather an opportunity to reflect on what you have learned and how it will inform you as an educator.

You must use the format provided in these application instructions or your application will be considered incomplete and ineligible.

• Reflection on experience form

Confidential Reference forms (two)

The confidential reference forms must be from the two people who you have identified in the Summary of Experience. Ensure that those you ask to be referees can speak to your experience working with children and youth. One must be a supervisor. 

Referees must use the form provided; reference letters are not acceptable. References must meet the described criteria or your application will be considered incomplete and ineligible.

Both references must recommend or highly recommend your application and results of references are not released to applicants.

Reference reports are due at the same time as your application, so it is beneficial for you to ask potential referees well in advance of the deadline. Late references will not be considered. Instructions to your referee are included with the reference form. You may wish to review them. It is your responsibility to follow up with referees to ensure they have submitted the Confidential reference form. 

References cannot be:

• relatives or other family members (including in-laws, step family, etc.)
• a classroom teacher whose only relationship to you is as your teacher,
• friends or family friends,
• co-workers,
• someone you taught or tutored,
• someone you have supervised,
• somebody who is also applying to a UVic teacher education program.

Each referee to email directly to educapp@uvic.ca by January 2

• Confidential reference form

Note: Applicants may also be invited to meet with the Teacher Education Office during their experience review. Only applicants who are conditionally admitted will have their experience reviewed. Please do not assume that you have satisfied this experience requirement based on applying or being wait-listed for program admission in a previous year.

Please remember that official transcripts are those sent directly from the issuing institution to UVic. Transcripts in languages other than English or French must be submitted together with notarized English translations.

Undergraduate Admissions & Records will now also accept official transcripts that have been emailed directly from the issuing institution to UVic. Please ask your post-secondary institution to email your official transcripts directly to admsscanning@uvic.ca.

Check with the issuing institution about how and when to place your transcript order to meet our transcript deadlines. Processing and mail delivery times will vary. Order as early as possible. Your application will be considered ‘late’ if any transcripts are received after the published deadlines.

It's important to remember to submit an official transcript from every* college and university that you’ve attended, including withdrawals, incomplete, failed, repeated studies and attendance as an exchange student. We cannot review your application if any transcripts are missing.

* This includes College of Advanced Placement (AP) and/or International Baccalaureate (IB).

Please note:

• UVic students do not need to order UVic transcripts, as we have access to those records.

Transcript Deadlines

Deadline for official transcripts showing grades for courses attempted to December 2022: January 31 

Deadline for official transcripts showing in-progress course registration in the January to April 2023 term: January 31

Deadline for official transcripts showing grades for courses attempted January to April 2023: May 31

At least one of your transcripts must indicate “degree granted/awarded.” If your degree won’t be conferred until May/June 2023 (based on grades to April 2023), an additional transcript showing proof of degree must be submitted by June 30 (if applicable).

You must not be registered in a graduate program, or any other program, concurrently with this program.

If you’re currently registered in a graduate program, provide a letter from your university’s graduate records or registrar’s office stating that your graduate program requirements will be completed by August 30, 2023, or that you’ll be taking a leave of absence from that program for the duration of this program (September 2023 to December 2024).

Submit this to the Admissions Clerk (adms6@uvic.ca).

Due: February 28 for entry in September of the same year

The Faculty of Education is committed to increasing the number of First Nations, Métis and Inuit teachers and has reserved 5% of the positions in teacher education programs for applicants who meet the Faculty of Education’s admission requirements.

If you have Indigenous ancestry, and would like to be considered for this quota, please email the supplementary form to iedlpa@uvic.ca.

Note: If you need help with the form or have questions, please call (250) 721-7824

Checklist 

☐ Step 1: Submit your online application along with the Summary of Experience and Reflection on Experience (see Step 2)

Deadline: January 2 

☐ Step 2: Submit the following four supporting documents for the experience requirement as follows:

• Upload your Summary of Experience (see required format) when you submit your application. 
• Upload your Reflection on Experience (see required format) when you submit your application 
• Ask two referees to email Reference Forms (using the required form) directly to educapp@uvic.ca 

 Deadline: January 2 for Elementary and Secondary PDPP applicants

Indigenous applicants may submit a supplementary form for Indigenous applicants by January 2 

☐ Step 3: Order official transcripts in time for them to arrive by the following deadlines: 

By January 31, we require transcript(s) that show: 

• grades for all courses attempted to December 31, 2022
• in-progress course registrations January 1 to April 30, 2023, if applicable
•  

By May 31, we require transcript(s) that show: 

• grades for all courses attempted January 1 to April 30, 2023. Order the transcript(s) as soon as second-term grades are available.

At least one of your transcripts must include a ‘degree granted/awarded’ statement. If your degree won’t be conferred until May/June 2023 (based on grades to April), an additional transcript showing proof of degree must be submitted by June 30.

☐ Step 4: Submit a graduate student status letter, if applicable, by February 28                                    

To check your status and application checklist log into My UVic Application. Use the checklist to see that all transcripts and other required items, including the two references, have been received.

 Notes:

• If you are attending the same institution (other than UVic) in the January to April 2023 term as you are in the Fall 2022 term, you’ll see at least two entries for that institution on the checklist: one with a January 31 deadline and another with a May 31 deadline.
• It can take two to three weeks from the time an item is received at UVic for it to be recorded on the checklist.
• The date a transcript is received at UVic determines whether it is considered on time or late, not the date that UVic staff upload it to your checklist.

Application status updates:

Education Advising will email you at least once by mid-June:

Please be aware that Admission offers are time sensitive. If you will not have email access for more than one week, contact Education Advising.

If you are accepted into one of the Teacher Education programs, you will receive an email from Education Advising outlining the next steps.

You will also receive specific information about which timetable courses to register in, based on which program cohort you are assigned. 

Please wait to receive this email from Education Advising with your specific timetable information before registering for your courses.

Some students recieve an email from UVic with your registration date and time before you receive your timetable information, and that's ok! We will email you as soon as we can, as we finalize program offers