The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) is a compulsory standardized test for secondary school students who wish to obtain the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). The OSSLT measures whether or not students 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 requirements to earn an Ontario Secondary School Diploma. All students across the province write this test on the same date, usually in late March each year which is administered by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) once each year. Students will usually take the OSSLT in Grade 10 unless a deferral is granted by the principal. Students who do not complete the OSSLT will have the opportunity to retake the test in subsequent years.
Full time OSSD Online students whose Ontario Student Records (OSR) is housed at our database, they are eligible to write the test at our office. In some instances, students may be allowed to write the test at an alternative location which will need to be approved by the EQAO office and OSSD Online Admin.
The cost of writing the test at the OSSD Online office is $200. For students who chose to write it offsite, the fee is $500.
Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OLC4O)
The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC) is a Grade 12 Open course that can be taken by those who had written the OSSLT unsuccessfully more than once. It is designed to assist students in acquiring basic literacy skills required for getting an Ontario high school diploma. In the course, students will have to read a variety of text (e.g. narrative text) and produce different types of writing (e.g. news reports).
For more information, including past exams for practice, please visit the EQAO website (www.eqao.com).
