OSSLT

What is the OSSLT?

In Grade 10, students take the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test, which measures whether or not they are meeting the minimum standard for literacy across all subjects up to the end of Grade 9.

Successful completion of the literacy test is one of the 32 requirements students must meet to earn an Ontario Secondary School Diploma. The secondary school literacy requirement is described in the Ministry of Education’s Ontario Schools, Kindergarten to Grade 12: Policy and Program Requirements, 2011.

For the 2019-2020 School Year, students will write the OSSLT on the dates below

Mark your calendar

  • TBA: Regularly scheduled OSSLT on paper.

What are some Frequently Asked Questions?

What is the OSSLT based on?

The OSSLT is based on the expectations for literacy (reading and writing) across all subjects in The Ontario Curriculum up to the end of Grade 9. These skills are the basis for learning in all subject areas in both middle and secondary school. For more information, please refer to the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test Framework and Curriculum Connections, posted on the EQAO Web site, www.eqao.com.

Who is required to write the OSSLT?

Students who began Grade 9 during the 2000–2001 school year and those who began it thereafter are required to write the OSSLT, according to Ontario Secondary Schools, Grades 9 to 12: Program and Diploma Requirements (1999). These students (and any others who are placed in one of these cohorts) are required to complete the test or the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC) successfully in order to earn their Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). Students normally participate in the test when they are in Grade 10. Students who do not participate in the OSSLT in the year following the year in which they entered Grade 9 require either a deferral or an exemption.

Can students who do not successfully complete the OSSLT take it again?

Yes. Students who are not successful may write the OSSLT a number of times.

For the 2003–2004 school year, students who had had two opportunities to take the OSSLT and had failed it at least once were eligible to enrol in the OSSLC. However, in June 2004, policy was changed to grant principals the discretion to allow a student to enrol in the OSSLC before he or she has had a second opportunity to take the OSSLT, if the principal determines that it is in the best educational interests of the student (see the Ministry of Education’s Ontario Schools, Kindergarten to Grade 12: Policy and Program Requirements, 2011).

Can a student who is suspended write the OSSLT?

Yes. Provisions must be made for suspended students to write the OSSLT. Suspended students are still registered at their school.

**For students & parents interested in getting more information or taking a look at some old tests — click here.