What is the OSSLT?
The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test, is a provincial assessment
which measures whether 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 graduation requirements to
earn an Ontario Secondary School Diploma.
For the 2020-2021 school year the OSSLT has been cancelled. Cancellation of the
OSSLT will NOT affect the eligibility of any member of the class of 2020-2021 to
graduate.
Letter from the Minister of Education
2020-2021 OSSLT Field Test
EQAO will be field testing the online OSSLT field test from March 2021 until May
2021. The field test will be available to students participating in in-person learning
and working toward their Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). This will
allow the opportunity for students in Grades 10 and 11, and non-graduating
Grade 12 students, to attempt the test and, if successful, have it counted on their
transcript.
Because the Ministry of Education has waived the literacy graduation requirement
for all students graduating during the 2020–2021 school year, graduating
students do not need to take the OSSLT field test.
Please visit the EQAO website for resources and information Regarding the OSSLT by
clicking on the image above
Parent Information from Previous Administration of OSSLT
How to Prepare for the Test
The following test preparation materials are organized in a task-specific way.
Students can prepare for the test by familiarizing themselves with the tasks that
will be on the test. Each section below contains tips, samples, scoring guides,
and exemplars that can be used to practice for the OSSLT.
Reading Narrative Texts
Helpful Tips:
Reading NarrativeTexts
Reading Information Texts
Helpful Tips:Reading Information Texts Tutorial for Reading:Reading Tutorial.pdf
Reading Graphic Texts
Writing a News Report
Helpful Tips:Writing a Newspaper Report.pdf
Writing an Opinion Piece
Completing Short Writing Tasks