The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) is a compulsory standardized test for high school students in Ontario who wish to obtain the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD).
The OSSLT is written every year on the last Thursday of March in all catholic, public and eligible inspected private secondary schools across Ontario. The purpose of the test is to assess the reading and writing skills of Grade 10 students of Ontario secondary schools. The duration of the test is 2.5 hours, and there are various reading and writing components attached to the test.
For the reading component, students are asked to read a variety of selections and answer questions about each selection. The reading questions are designed to measure the abilities of students in the following areas:
– Understanding the ideas and information that are stated directly in the reading selection;
– Understanding the ideas and information that are stated indirectly and that require the reader to make inferences;
– Making connections between personal knowledge and experience and the ideas and information in the reading selections (e.g., interpretation of meaning).
For the writing component, students are asked to compose four pieces of writing. The writing tasks are designed to measure the abilities of students in the following areas areas:
– Developing main ideas;
– Providing details to support the main argument;
– Organizing and linking of ideas and information;
– Using appropriate tone for the purpose and the intended reader;
– Using correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Marks may be deducted due to a lack of detail. However, the inclusion of too much information can also result in penalties.
International students may complete the test on the specified date prior to their completion of the OSSD Program. Since this is a mandatory test for obtaining an OSSD, our school has solutions for students who have difficulties in passing the test. For students who are not successful in the test, our school offers them the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course. By providing this course to students, students are ensured in meeting Ontario’s literacy requirement and become eligible to earn the OSSD.