Grade 12 mock exams: how practice exams work in Ontario and Alberta

These daily papers are short timed practice exams, not full finals: 8 original questions worth 25 to 35 marks, named for the Ontario Grade 12 university preparation courses. Each one matches its course in some places and goes beyond it in others, as the list further down explains.

How Grade 12 exams count in Ontario from 2026-27

Ontario changed its rules for the 2026-27 school year. Most secondary courses now end with a written exam, written on official exam days in your board's exam period. In Grades 11 and 12, your final mark is made up like this:

In English, mathematics and science, the whole final evaluation is a written exam: 25% in Grades 11 and 12, 20% in Grades 9 and 10. In computer studies it is split, with a 10% written exam and a 15% culminating task in Grades 11 and 12. Excused absences don't lower your attendance mark. Your board sets the exact exam dates. These figures come from the Ministry of Education's September 2026 update to Growing Success.

Alberta diploma exams

Alberta sets province-wide diploma exams in selected Grade 12 courses, including Mathematics 30-1, Mathematics 30-2, Biology 30, Chemistry 30, Physics 30 and Science 30. According to Alberta Education, the diploma exam is 30% of your final mark and your school's mark is the other 70%. Alberta Education publishes the session dates; the January 2026 session was cancelled, so check the current schedule rather than assuming January.

Do Grade 12 practice exams count?

A practice exam your teacher runs before the final is there to show you what to fix, so it usually doesn't count toward your mark. Ask your teacher how they use it. What counts is the final written exam in the exam period, and in Ontario that is now a fixed 25% of your Grade 12 math or science mark.

How to run your own Grade 12 practice exam

1. Ask your teacher for the length and format of your final, since boards and schools set them.
2. Use past unit tests or a review package your teacher gives you, and sit it in one go at the real length.
3. Use only the calculator and formula sheet you'll have on the day.
4. Mark it, list every lost mark by curriculum strand, and spend the next week on the two weakest strands.
5. In the last week, switch to short daily papers to keep each topic fresh.

Daily papers as short timed practice exams

• Advanced Functions (MHF4U): exponential and logarithmic, trigonometric and polynomial functions and transformations match. Rational functions aren't in it, and binomial expansion, partial fractions and proof go beyond MHF4U.
• Calculus and Vectors (MCV4U): rates of change and derivatives match. MCV4U has no integration, so skip those questions, and the paper has no vectors.
• Data Management (MDM4U): probability, the binomial and normal distributions, data and correlation match. Its hypothesis tests go beyond MDM4U.
• Physics (SPH4U): circular motion and gravitational, electric and magnetic fields match. Energy and momentum, the wave nature of light and quantum physics are in the Grade 11 Physics paper instead, and thermal physics, capacitors and nuclear physics go beyond SPH4U.
• Chemistry (SCH4U): organic chemistry, rates, equilibrium, acids and bases and electrochemistry match. NMR and transition metals go beyond SCH4U.
• Biology (SBI4U): metabolism, molecular genetics, homeostasis and populations match. Inheritance and evolution are Grade 11 topics.

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