School has doors. Some close early.

The kindergarten form quietly picks your child's secondary school. FirstBell shows every door ahead, and rings the bell before each one closes.

Your child was born in
  1. Before KKindergarten choicesCatchment, French Immersion lottery, Catholic, Montessori. This choice sets the secondary path.
  2. Grade 1Last Early French Immersion entryAfter this, French Immersion is much harder to join.
  3. Grade 5Late French ImmersionUsually the last way into French Immersion, and a different secondary.
  4. Grade 7Mini schools, Catholic and private Grade 8Applications run October to February, months before Grade 8.
  5. Grade 10The math choiceWorkplace or Pre-calculus math. Chosen in Grade 9, it starts the path to science, engineering and business.
  6. Grade 11Courses that keep university openFoundations of Math 11 quietly closes science, engineering and business degrees.
Why FirstBell exists
“We registered at our catchment school. Nobody told us that also decided the secondary.”A Burnaby parent
“We only heard about mini schools in late September of Grade 7. Applications were almost closed.”A Vancouver parent, new to Canada
116 families applied for 40 French Immersion kindergarten spots at one Vancouver school.Vancouver School Board data

Also in FirstBell

Your schools, compared →Catchment, French Immersion and Catholic paths for your address, from kindergarten to Grade 12.Every school, rated →About 600 Metro Vancouver schools against the BC average, using the Province's own results.Free programs near you →Volunteer tutoring, math circles, chess and coding clubs, and help paying for sport.Every day off →Pro-D days and breaks for your district, and the camps that run on them.

Free for every family. No ads. No account. Every date links to its official source.

Built by a Burnaby parent who found out too late. Read the story →

Start with your child's birth year
Coming up for everyone

Open now: October and November

Math

Canada Jay Mathematical Competition

A national 90-minute contest for students in Grade 8 and below, with a division for Grade 4 and under. Written in school on November 19, 2026.

Grades 4–8$12 per studentCoding

Beaver Computing Challenge

Computational-thinking puzzles, no coding needed. Written online at school, November 9–20, 2026. Schools must order by October 26.

Grades 5–10$3 per studentMath

Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC)

Canada's national high school math challenge and the path to the Canadian Math Olympiad. Written October 29, 2026.

Grades 9–12$30–$35 per student through a…Coding

FIRST LEGO League (Explore and Challenge) in BC

Team LEGO robotics for ages 6–14. Teams must register with FIRST by October 31, 2026 to compete at BC qualifiers in January.

Grades 1–8Paid per teamCoding

FIRST Tech Challenge in BC

Team robotics for Grades 7–12. Teams design, build and code a robot. The Lower Mainland qualifier is December 5, 2026 in Surrey.

Grades 7–12Paid per teamScience

UBC Physics Olympics

A hands-on team physics competition for BC high schools at UBC. The 2027 event is Saturday, February 27. Schools register teams in the fall.

Grades 8–12$80 per team last year

See the full year, month by month → · 51 opportunities across Metro Vancouver

Guides

How the BC school system works, explained plainly

How to get your child assessed for gifted in BC

What "gifted" means in BC schools, how to ask for an assessment, what a private psycho-educational assessment is, and which programs it can open up in Vancouver and Burnaby.

Kindergarten and French Immersion 2027: Vancouver and Burnaby dates

Who's eligible for kindergarten in September 2027, when to register, and how the French Immersion draws work in Vancouver and Burnaby.

Born in December or January? When your child can start school in BC

Can you delay kindergarten for a December baby? Can a January baby start early? What BC law allows, what happens after a delay (usually Grade 1, not kindergarten), and what research says about being youngest in class.

University starts in Grade 10, not Grade 1: what BC parents can do at every age

Which grades UBC, SFU and UVic look at, the Grade 10 and 11 math and science choices that quietly close science, engineering and business, and what actually helps when your child is 7: reading, math basics and the free RESP money.

Private school admissions in Vancouver: deadlines, tests and timeline for 2027

When to apply, which tests each school uses, and the September 2027 entry grades and deadlines for 11 Metro Vancouver independent schools.