Does the OSSLT matter for university?

Not the score. Ontario universities never see your OSSLT result, and it plays no part in your admission average. What they do need is your Ontario Secondary School Diploma, and you cannot earn the diploma without meeting the literacy requirement. So the OSSLT matters for university as a requirement to finish, not as a mark.

What universities look at

Ontario universities admit high school students on the Ontario Secondary School Diploma plus six Grade 12 university or university/college preparation courses (4U or 4M), including the prerequisites for the program. Most programs list English 4U (ENG4U) among them, and the admission average is worked out from those courses.

The OSSLT is not a course. It has no percentage and no credit value, so it never enters an average and it does not change any mark on your report card. Is the OSSLT mandatory explains where it sits among the diploma requirements.

What your transcript shows

The Ontario Student Transcript, your official school record, has one box for the provincial secondary school literacy requirement. The school marks it as successfully completed once you have met the requirement, through the test, the literacy course or adjudication. There is no OSSLT score on it. Your score is on your Individual Student Report, which goes to you and your school.

Where the OSSLT can affect your plans

Most university offers arrive before final marks, and they are conditional. The University of Guelph, for example, makes every offer to Ontario applicants conditional on completing the diploma and six 4U or 4M courses. If the literacy requirement is still not met at the end of Grade 12, the diploma is not issued, and an offer that depends on it is at risk.

A student in Grade 12 who still needs the requirement has three routes:

• Write the OSSLT in the spring sitting, March 30 to April 19, 2027. EQAO reports results by the end of May 2027, which is late in the admission cycle.

• Take the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC) in second semester, once eligible: after two opportunities to write the test with at least one result of not yet successful, or sooner if the principal allows it.

• Adjudication, for students in their graduating year who could not meet the requirement through no fault of their own, for example because of illness. Boards that offer it hold it at the end of the school year, and private schools cannot offer it.

The safer plan is not to reach Grade 12 still needing it. If that is where you are, talk to your guidance counsellor early in the year. How many times can you write the OSSLT sets out the retake rules.

The literacy course and your English credits

Passing the OSSLC meets the literacy requirement and earns a credit, and that credit can count as the Grade 11 or the Grade 12 compulsory English credit for the diploma. For university, though, it is an open course (OLC4O), not a 4U or 4M course. Universities build the admission average from 4U and 4M courses, so it is not one of the six, and it does not replace English 4U where a program requires it. A student heading to university who takes the OSSLC still needs ENG4U for most programs. OSSLT vs OSSLC compares the two routes.

If you are in Grade 9 or 10

The simplest path is to meet the requirement on your first attempt in Grade 10 and never think about it again. The skills the OSSLT checks, reading closely, explaining what a text means and writing a clear, supported opinion, are the same ones your Grade 11 and 12 English courses build on.

• See the OSSLT dates for when you write.

• Start practising four to five months ahead with the plan in how to prepare for the OSSLT.

• Take a full online practice test. It is marked when you finish, so you see where you stand and exactly what to work on.