A competency exam option is available in most Canyons Virtual Academy courses (grades 9-12 only). A competency exam is also known as a Proficiency-Based Exam or Test Out. This exam is where a student demonstrates essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions of a specific course.  These exams can include multiple choice, constructed response, essay, and/or performance-based tasks. Students are welcome to look through the course topics to get a general idea of concepts covered in each course.  The competency exam can be taken only one time during the academic school year (July 1 to June 30).

The Canyons School District has established graduation requirements that use competency-based standards and assessments, and has allowed students to earn course credit by:

1. demonstrating competency in course standards, and
2. taking a competency exam in the course.

To request the opportunity to demonstrate course competency with Canyons Virtual Academy, current Canyons District students should:

1. Submit a course registration request through the Canyons Virtual Academy Registration System. Select the desired course and quarter from the registration options provided.  Each exam represents one quarter (.25) credit. Lifetime Fitness FastTrack is .50 credit.
2. In the “Credit Type” field, select “competency exam”  (If competency exam option is not present, the course does not have a competency exam option.)
3. It is the student’s responsibility to obtain accurate information to determine if this is the best option. Students should contact their local high school counselor to discuss this option.
4. Parents and students are  notified through email regarding the enrollment in a competency exam course.
5. All competency exams must be proctored. Students will need an appointment and will take their test at our District proctored testing location and must be completed in one session.
6. Assessments must be passed with at least 70% proficiency in order to receive credit and a final grade of “Pass – P” for the course. Please allow two weeks for passing test results to be posted to the student’s transcript.

Additional Important Information

• Students may attempt a competency exam no more than one time per academic year (July 1 to June 30).
• Credit earned by competency exam does not meet requirements for NCAA and many scholarships.  Because requirements change frequently, we recommend students check with NCAA  or scholarship sources for any updates to this rule.
• Canyons Virtual Academy courses that have a “competency exam” option are listed in our Canyons Virtual Academy Course Catalog.
• Out of District/SOEP students please note: Canyons does not offer Competency-Based testing (Test Outs) to non-Canyons District students at this time. Thank you for your understand