How to read this page
British Columbia publishes its curriculum as long official documents written for teachers. This page is the same content, translated for the fridge door: each subject below shows this year's units and the skills inside them. If a skill sounds unfamiliar, that's the point — now you know what to ask about at dinner.
Mathematics this year
Math builds in layers, and this year's layer matters — each unit below leans on the ones before it. In British Columbia, that's Pre-calculus 12 — 4 units, 13 skills.
Transformations of Functions & Relations
- Transforming parent functions
Exponential & Logarithmic Functions
- Graphing exponential functions
- Logarithms and the laws of logarithms
Trigonometric Functions, Equations & Identities
- Radians, degrees, and the unit circle
See the full Pre-calculus 12 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Mathematics this year
Math builds in layers, and this year's layer matters — each unit below leans on the ones before it. In British Columbia, that's Foundations of Mathematics 12 — 4 units, 10 skills.
Geometric Explorations: Constructions, Conics & Fractals
- Constructions: bisectors, tangents, polygons, tessellations
Function Graphs & Regression (Technology)
- Identifying function families from graphs
Combinatorics, Odds & Probability
- Permutations, combinations, and pathways
- Odds and compound, conditional probability
See the full Foundations of Mathematics 12 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Mathematics this year
Math builds in layers, and this year's layer matters — each unit below leans on the ones before it. In British Columbia, that's Calculus 12 — 4 units, 11 skills.
Differentiation
- Average vs instantaneous rate and the definition of the derivative
See the full Calculus 12 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
English Language Arts this year
Reading, writing, and speaking skills deepen this year — less "can they read it," more "what do they make of it." In British Columbia, that's Literary Studies 12 — 5 units, 32 skills.
Reading & Comprehension
- Features and structures of First Peoples texts
- Narrative structures in First Peoples texts (circular, iterative, cyclical)
- The role of story, narrative, and oral tradition in First Peoples texts
Critical Reading
- Evaluating the relevance, accuracy, and reliability of a source
- Analyzing ideas within, between, and beyond texts
- Analyzing personal, social, and cultural context, values, and perspective in a text
Literary Analysis (Analyze Level)
- Form, function, and genre of literary texts
- Elements of style — diction, vocabulary, sentence structure, tone
- How text forms and structures reflect purpose, audience, and message
Composing & Responding
- Multimodal writing strategies for combining media
- Oral language strategies for discussing literature
- Usage — avoiding double negatives, mixed metaphors, malapropisms, word misuse
Voice, Appropriation & the Evolution of Language
- Appropriation of voice — using the voice of another person or group
- The evolution of language — how words and structures shift over time
See the full Literary Studies 12 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
English Language Arts this year
Reading, writing, and speaking skills deepen this year — less "can they read it," more "what do they make of it." In British Columbia, that's Creative Writing 12 — 5 units, 29 skills.
The Creative Writer's Craft
- Thinking Like a Creative Writer, Not Just a Reader
- Bending Language for a Reason
- Reaching for Metaphor, Not Just the Literal Word
Genres & Forms of Creative Writing
- Choosing the Right Form for the Job
- How Images Carry Story
- Turning Raw Material Into a Finished Piece
Style, Voice & Literary Devices
- Style as a Set of Deliberate Choices
- Building a Consistent Narrative Stance
- Deploying Craft Techniques on Purpose
Writing Process & Portfolio
- Reflecting on How You Write
- Moving a Piece from Draft to Finished
- Usage: Catching the Errors That Undercut a Piece
Reading, Responding & Sharing
- How First Peoples Stories Are Built
- Whose Story Is It to Tell
- Strategies for Reading Closely
See the full Creative Writing 12 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
English Language Arts this year
Reading, writing, and speaking skills deepen this year — less "can they read it," more "what do they make of it." In British Columbia, that's English Studies 12 — 4 units, 13 skills.
First Peoples Texts & Reconciliation
- Reconciliation and the reader's responsibilities
- Narrative structures in First Peoples texts
Strategies & Processes
- Reading strategies for complex texts
- Writing processes at the senior level
See the full English Studies 12 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Science this year
Science gets more structured this year — real investigations, real explanations, real vocabulary. In British Columbia, that's Biology 12 — 4 units, 32 skills.
The Chemistry & Cell Biology of Homeostasis
- Water, acids, bases, and buffers in biological systems
- Metabolism: anabolism, catabolism, and ATP
- Negative feedback loops
Genes, Protein Synthesis & Biotechnology
- DNA as the cell's genetic information
- Transcription (DNA to mRNA)
- Proteins and their relationship to the structure and function of all cells
Organ Systems & Health
- Levels of biological organization
- The nervous system
- The cardiovascular system
Lab Numeracy: Accuracy and Precision
- Significant figures in multi-step physiological calculations
See the full Biology 12 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Science this year
Science gets more structured this year — real investigations, real explanations, real vocabulary. In British Columbia, that's Chemistry 12 — 6 units, 32 skills.
Reaction Kinetics
- Reaction rate and the factors that affect it
- Energy change and potential-energy diagrams
- Catalysts and their applications
Chemical Equilibrium
- The dynamic nature of chemical equilibrium
- Le Châtelier's principle and equilibrium shift
- The equilibrium constant Keq
Solubility Equilibrium
- Saturated solutions and the solubility product Ksp
Acids, Bases & Aqueous Equilibrium
- Relative strength of acids and bases
- Water as an equilibrium system (Kw)
- Weak acids and weak bases as equilibrium systems
Oxidation-Reduction & Electrochemistry
- Oxidation numbers and identifying redox
- Electrochemical (galvanic) cells and half-reactions
- Electrolytic cells and their applications
Lab Numeracy: Accuracy and Precision
- Significant figures in multi-step equilibrium calculations
See the full Chemistry 12 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Science this year
Science gets more structured this year — real investigations, real explanations, real vocabulary. In British Columbia, that's Physics 12 — 5 units, 32 skills.
Frames of Reference & Special Relativity
- What a frame of reference is
- Einstein's postulates of special relativity
- Graphing linear, exponential, and inverse relationships
Equilibrium & Circular Motion
- Translational static equilibrium
- Centripetal force and acceleration
- First Peoples applications of forces in traditional technologies
Fields: Gravitational, Electric & Magnetic
- The gravitational field
- Gravitational potential energy
- Gravitational dynamics and energy relationships
Momentum & Collisions
- Impulse and momentum
- Elastic and inelastic collisions in 1D
Lab Numeracy (Accuracy and Precision)
- Significant figures in multi-step field and relativistic calculations
- Propagating uncertainty and scientific notation in derived values
See the full Physics 12 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Social Studies this year
Social studies widens the lens this year — history, geography, and how communities and governments work. In British Columbia, that's Law Studies 12 — 4 units, 17 skills.
Constitutional Foundations & the Courts
- The Constitution of Canada: supreme law, division of powers, amendment
- The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: guaranteed rights, reasonable limits, notwithstanding clause
- Structure and hierarchy of federal and provincial courts and administrative tribunals, including small claims
Areas of Law
- Criminal law: the Criminal Code, burden of proof (reasonable doubt), checks and balances against wrongful convictions
- Civil law: torts, contracts, and the balance-of-probabilities standard
- Family, children's, and youth law, including the Youth Criminal Justice Act
First Peoples & Indigenous Legal Orders
- Historical legislation concerning First Peoples: the 1763 Royal Proclamation, the Indian Act, and treaty processes
- Constitutional recognition and reconciliation: the Constitution Act 1982, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and self-determination/self-government
- Indigenous legal orders and traditional laws (Tlicho, Gitksan, Cree, and Tsimshian legal traditions; kinship networks)
Corrections & Global Justice
- Correctional institutions and incarceration: provincial and federal institutions, levels and types of incarceration, youth corrections
- Principles of rehabilitation, punishment, and restoration, and the supportive reintegration of paroled offenders
- Global dispute-resolution institutions: the International Court of Justice, the World Trade Organization, and the United Nations
See the full Law Studies 12 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Social Studies this year
Social studies widens the lens this year — history, geography, and how communities and governments work. In British Columbia, that's Physical Geography 12 — 4 units, 11 skills.
Natural Systems & the Spheres
- Structure, feedback, and equilibrium of natural systems
Plate Tectonics, Gradation & Natural Disasters
- Plate tectonics and its effects
Sun–Earth Systems, Climate, Weather & Biomes
- Sun–Earth interactions and global patterns
The Anthroposphere, Resources & Sustainability
- The anthroposphere and its effects on natural systems
See the full Physical Geography 12 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Social Studies this year
Social studies widens the lens this year — history, geography, and how communities and governments work. In British Columbia, that's 20th Century World History 12 — 3 units, 10 skills.
Authoritarian Regimes & Revolutions
- The rise and tools of authoritarian regimes
- Revolutions, civil wars, and decolonization
Human Rights, Genocide & Conflict
- Human rights movements and indigenous peoples movements
- Conflicts and genocide in the 20th century
- World War I and World War II
Migrations, Cooperation, Society & Technology
- Migrations and territorial boundaries
- Interdependence and international co-operation
See the full 20th Century World History 12 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
French this year
French builds through listening, speaking, and simple reading — confidence first, grammar second. In British Columbia, that's Core French 12 — 5 units, 27 skills.
Language Learning Is a Lifelong Process
- Communication strategies — paraphrasing, cognates, reference tools
Discuss and Justify Opinions with Nuance and Clarity
- Passé composé — narrating completed past actions
- Imparfait — habitual and descriptive past
- Plus-que-parfait — the past before the past
Sharing Feelings and Opinions Enhances French-Speaker Identity
- Sustaining meaningful conversations, orally and in writing
- Word choice and register nuance — verb forms, pronouns, near-synonyms
- Narrating stories across a variety of time frames
Appreciating Francophone Cultures to Explore Global Issues
- First Peoples and Francophone interactions — Michif and Chinook Jargon
- Ethics of cultural appropriation — permission, context, and misrepresentation
- Plagiarism and attribution in source-based French work
Diverse Forms of Cultural Expression Worldwide
- Register — formal versus informal speech and writing
- Etiquette — forms of address and politeness conventions
- Jargon, abbreviations, and txt spk
See the full Core French 12 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Three ways parents use this list
Common questions
What does my child learn in Grade 12 in British Columbia?
British Columbia's official curriculum sets out Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, French for Grade 12 — 289 specific skills in total. The big themes: Mathematics covers transformations of functions & relations and exponential & logarithmic functions; Mathematics covers geometric explorations: constructions, conics & fractals and function graphs & regression (technology); Mathematics covers functions for calculus and limits & continuity. The full list is on this page.
Is this the official British Columbia curriculum?
It's built from British Columbia's official program of studies, reorganized into plain language — and each subject links to a course page that quotes the ministry's own wording and links to the government source, so you can check our work. One honest caveat: we're not the ministry, curricula do change, and we can't guarantee this reflects the very latest revision, so confirm anything important against the live provincial curriculum data.
My child is finding one of these skills hard. What can I do?
That's normal — every skill on this page is one most kids wobble on at first. MapleMind teaches any of them one-on-one: a short lesson in plain words, a worked example, then solving together. It's free to start, on any device, in 14 languages.
Keep exploring
Knowing the list is half the job
The other half is the teaching — and that's what MapleMind does. Pick any skill on this page and see it taught properly, free, in under a minute.
MapleMind isn't affiliated with any ministry of education. We build these guides from each province's official program of studies and refresh them from time to time — but curricula change, and we can't guarantee this page reflects the very latest revision. Always confirm against the live provincial curriculum data. Last updated 2026-08-15.
Social Studies this year
Social studies widens the lens this year — history, geography, and how communities and governments work. In British Columbia, that's BC First Peoples 12 — 4 units, 20 skills.
Land, Territory & Worldview
- Traditional territories of B.C. First Nations: overlap and political vs. traditional boundaries
- How the land shapes worldview: stewardship, cultural practice, and linguistic diversity
- Oral tradition as knowledge and identity
+ 1 more skill in this unit →Contact, Exchange & Colonialism
- Trade networks and routes and the maritime and land fur trade
- Settlement and migration patterns and resource industries (gold rush, whaling)
- The Indian Act, its amendments, and enfranchisement
+ 4 more skills in this unit →Cultural Expression & Media
Resistance, Governance & Self-Determination
- Political actions and land-defence: Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, Métis Nation B.C., the Tsilhqot'in War, Gustafsen Lake, Idle No More
- Landmark judicial cases (Calder, Guerin, Sparrow, Van der Peet) and the Cindy Blackstock/CHRT ruling
- Ecological justice and protest (pipelines, logging, hydraulic fracturing, LNG, hydroelectricity)
+ 5 more skills in this unit →See the full BC First Peoples 12 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →