The provincial public school system is a fully-funded, universal, non-sectarian system covering all grades from kindergarten to grade 12. Attendance is compulsory for children between 5 and 16 years of age. The system is currently made up of 59 school districts and 1 Conseil Scolaire Francophone. Each district has an elected board of trustees under the School Act.

Primary and Secondary Education Schools—2009/10
Type	# of Schools	Enrolment
Public Schools	1,631	580,486
Independent Schools	345	69,466
Total	1,976	649,952
Source: Ministry of Education, Summary of Key Information, 2009/10

British Columbia offers a wide range of post-secondary options for those wanting to study in this province. Over 1,900 programs are offered at 25 publicly funded post-secondary institutions.

Eleven universities offer an array of undergraduate degree programs and a range of programs at the graduate level. Some also offer diplomas and certificates in a variety of professional fields, as well as programs in trades, vocational and career technical studies and continuing education programs.

Eleven colleges offer developmental programs that prepare adult learners for post-secondary studies and provide courses and programs in trades, vocational, career technical and academic studies leading to certificates, diplomas, associate degrees and applied degrees.

Three institutes are organized according to career, vocational and technical specialties, covering a variety of occupations. They may offer credentials from certificates to degrees. Two institutes have an aboriginal focus.

BCcampus is a distance and online learning agency and a collaboration of all B.C.'s post-secondary institutions to offer one-stop access to online learning in the province.

Post-Secondary Headcounts by Fiscal Year—2008/09
Type of Institution	Enrolment
Colleges	169,329
Teaching Universities	99,984
Institutes	75,722
Total Institutional Headcount	345,035
Source: Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market