Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test

Students must successfully complete the Grade 10 Ontario secondary school literacy requirement (OSSLT) to earn a secondary school diploma. The test is prepared and evaluated by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) and will be based on the Ontario curriculum expectations for language and communication – particularly reading and writing – up to and including Grade 9.

The test will serve both to determine whether students have acquired the reading and writing skills considered essential for literacy and to provide confirmation that those students who have completed the test successfully have attained the provincial expectations for literacy. The test will identify those students who have not demonstrated the required skills and will identify areas in which these students need remediation.

Remedial assistance will be provided for students who do not complete the test successfully. This assistance will be designed to help students improve their skills so that they are better prepared to retake the literacy test.

Alternatively, in 2003, the ministry developed the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC). Students who pass this course are considered to have met the literacy graduation requirement.

The credit earned for successfully completing the OSSLC may be used to meet the Grade 11 or the Grade 12 compulsory credit requirement in English. If used to meet the Grade 11 requirement, the course is coded OLC3O. If used to meet the Grade 12 requirement, the course is coded OLC4O. The credit may also be used to meet the group 1 compulsory credit requirement for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (as described on page 5).

Students should check admission requirements for postsecondary institutions, since the OSSLC may not be accepted as the Grade 12 English entrance requirement for college or university programs.

A student cannot be granted credit for the OSSLC through the challenge process (described later in the course calendar) described in the Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) policy outlined in either Policy/Program Memorandum No. 129, “Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR): Implementation in Ontario Secondary Schools”, July 6, 2001.

Upon successful completion of the OSSLT or OSSLC, an acknowledgment will be noted on the student’s OST, without a specific mark or date. This is only for the OSSLT but we put a mark for the course.

On a case-by-case basis, the principal may grant deferrals for OSSLT.

Once students have successfully completed the literacy test, they may not retake the test in the same language (i.e., English, or French).