Is the OSSLT mandatory? What it means for your diploma

Is the OSSLT mandatory?

Yes, if you are working toward the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). The provincial secondary school literacy requirement is one of the conditions for the diploma, alongside the 30 credits and the community involvement hours.

Most students meet the requirement by passing the OSSLT in Grade 10. Students who are not yet successful can meet it by passing the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course instead (the OSSLC, course code OLC4O). Either route satisfies the same requirement, and the diploma does not say which one you used.

The test itself is not a course. It has no credit value and no percentage mark, so it does not raise or lower any grade on your report card. What you get is a scale score from 200 to 400, and 300 or higher is a successful result.

Who has to write it

EQAO's rule is that students working toward an OSSD write the OSSLT for the first time in their second year of secondary school, which for most students is Grade 10. That includes students who enter Grade 10 from another province or another country, unless the principal grants a deferral.

Students in Grade 11 or 12 who have not yet been successful write it again in a later test window. Each school year has a fall window and a spring window.

Who can be deferred

A deferral moves a student's first attempt to the following year. The principal decides, in consultation with the student, the parents or guardians and the teaching staff. The usual reasons are:

• An English language learner has not yet acquired the level of English needed for success on the test. Ontario's ESL and ELD policy says English language learners should write the OSSLT once they have reached that level.

• A student is unable to take part in the test even with every permitted accommodation in place, for example because of illness or an injury.

• A student is new to the school or to Ontario and the school needs time to put the right supports in place.

A deferred student still has to meet the requirement before graduating. An English language learner must attempt the OSSLT before they can be enrolled in the literacy course.

Who can be exempted

Exemption is narrow. Only a student whose Individual Education Plan states that they are not working toward the OSSD can be exempted, and it takes the consent of the parent or guardian and the approval of the principal. Because an exemption means the student is not pursuing the diploma, it is a decision about the student's whole pathway, not a way around the test.

The course instead of the test

After two opportunities to write the OSSLT, with at least one result of not yet successful, a student is eligible to enrol in the OSSLC. The principal can allow a student into the course sooner when that is in the student's best interest. Mature students can enrol in the course directly without writing the test.

Passing the course meets the literacy requirement and, unlike the test, earns a Grade 12 credit. The two routes are compared in OSSLT vs OSSLC.

Students in their graduating year

A student who is eligible to graduate in June but has not met the requirement, through no fault of their own, may be able to have their case reviewed by the board's adjudication panel. This applies to students who could not write the test or take the course because of circumstances beyond their control, not to students who wrote and were not successful. The guidance office is the place to ask.

What universities and colleges see

The Ontario Student Transcript records that the literacy requirement has been completed. It does not show the score. Universities and colleges require the OSSD, and the literacy requirement is part of earning it, so they see that you graduated. They do not see or use the OSSLT score in admissions.

That is why the score only matters as an outcome. A 350 meets the requirement the same way a 305 does.

What you receive

Every student who writes the test receives an Individual Student Report from their school, with the score and whether the outcome was successful or not yet successful. Students who were absent, deferred or exempted receive a statement instead of a score. Fall 2026 results arrive by the end of January 2027 and spring 2027 results by the end of May 2027. OSSLT results covers what the report shows.

What to do now

If you are in Grade 10, your first attempt is in the fall window from November 3 to 30, 2026, or the spring window from March 30 to April 19, 2027. Start with EQAO's free practice test to learn the online platform, then work through the free Litguide practice test, which explains every answer. The two written answers decide a lot of the score, so write a practice opinion essay and run it through the free essay grader to see which rubric codes it earns. If the test is four to five months away, how to prepare for the OSSLT lays out a month by month plan.