In preparation for Provincial Achievement Tests (PATs) at the end of the year, grade nine students operate on a similar system to that of the local middle schools. All courses run from September until June with the exception of option courses which are semestered. This is contrary to grades ten through twelve, where nearly all classes are semester long and students receive 5 credits per course. 100 credits are needed to graduate, per Alberta Learning requirements. Each credit signifies approximately 125 hours of classroom instruction. Of their final sixteen high school modules (4 in grade eleven and 4 in grade twelve), students are permitted to take three spare modules with a general restriction of one per year in grade eleven and one per semester in grade twelve.