An original practice set in the style of the OSSLT: four reading selections, a news report, a dialogue, an information paragraph and a real-life narrative, with 25 questions, plus a short written answer and an opinion essay prompt. Every answer is explained, and the written parts come with the checklist a marker would use.
Want the full test, marked? Take the full-length online OSSLT practice test: two parts and 37 questions, with your short answer and opinion essay marked when you finish.
Want it on paper? Download the free OSSLT practice test PDF: 24 printable pages with four reading selections and a full answer key.
Written by Litguide, updated October 30, 2026. These are not EQAO questions. Litguide is an independent practice platform and is not affiliated with EQAO. For the official platform and question types, also take EQAO's free practice test.
How to use it
Read
Read each selection once for the main idea, then again more slowly for the details.
Answer
Choose an answer for each question. You’ll see right away whether it’s correct, and why.
Write
Do the written answer and the opinion essay, then check them against the checklists.
Part 1 · Reading
Read four selections, answer 25 questions
The OSSLT uses four kinds of reading selection: a news report, a dialogue, an information paragraph and a real-life narrative. Each one below is original, written in the style of the test, and comes with the question types you will meet: single selection, multiple selection, and questions about a word's meaning in context. Choose an answer and you will see right away whether it is correct, and why.
Selection 1 · News report · 7 questions
A news report tells readers what happened, who was involved, and why it matters.
Students Turn Empty Rooftop into Community Garden
HARLOW BAY — A roof that sat empty for twenty years is now covered in tomato plants, herbs and sunflowers, thanks to a group of Grade 10 students at Pinecrest Secondary School.
The project began last fall when student Amira Khan noticed that the school cafeteria bought most of its vegetables from suppliers hundreds of kilometres away. “We have all this space right above our heads,” she said. “It seemed strange not to use it.”
Khan and five classmates spent the winter planning. They measured the roof, researched which plants grow well in containers, and presented their idea to the principal, Daniel Osei. Osei agreed on one condition: an engineer had to confirm that the roof could hold the weight of the soil and water.
The engineer’s report came back in March. The roof could support the garden, but only if the containers were spread out rather than grouped in one corner. The students redesigned their plan using forty small planters instead of ten large ones.
By June, the garden had produced more than 200 kilograms of vegetables. Some went to the cafeteria, and the rest were donated to a local food bank. “People think gardening is just watering plants,” said Grade 10 student Lucas Tremblay. “Most of it is solving problems you didn’t expect.”
The school plans to expand the garden next year and add a rain-collection system so the plants can be watered without using city water. Osei says other schools have already called to ask how the project worked.
“I thought the hardest part would be growing the vegetables,” Khan said. “It turned out the hardest part was convincing everyone it was possible.”
Question 1 · stated information
What did the engineer’s report say about the roof?
Explanation
Paragraph 4 says the roof “could support the garden, but only if the containers were spread out rather than grouped in one corner.” The answer is stated directly in the text, so the task is to find it and match it.
Question 2 · stated information
What happened to the vegetables the garden produced?
Explanation
Paragraph 5 says some vegetables “went to the cafeteria, and the rest were donated to a local food bank.” Option A is only half of that answer, which is a common trap.
Question 3 · inference
Why did the students most likely switch from ten large planters to forty small ones?
Explanation
The text never says why directly. But the engineer required the containers to be spread out, and forty small planters can be spread across the roof in a way ten large ones can’t. Joining those two details is an inference.
Question 4 · inference
What does Lucas Tremblay’s comment suggest about the project?
Explanation
He says most of gardening is “solving problems you didn’t expect.” The project backs this up: the students had to get an engineer’s approval and redesign their whole plan.
Question 5 · vocabulary
In “Osei agreed on one condition,” what does the word condition mean?
Explanation
The rest of the sentence explains the condition: an engineer had to confirm the roof was safe before the project could go ahead. In this context, a condition is a requirement.
Question 6 · main idea
Which headline would also fit this news report?
Explanation
The report covers both what the garden produced and the problems the students solved along the way. The other headlines focus on small details or get the facts wrong: the principal agreed, and the engineer approved the plan.
Question 7 · choose two · supporting details
Which two details show that the students planned carefully?
Explanation
Measuring the roof and researching container plants both happened during the planning stage in paragraph 3. Growing sunflowers is a result, and the calls from other schools happened after the project succeeded.
Selection 2 · Dialogue · 6 questions
Two Grade 10 students talk after school.
The Saturday Shift
PRIYA: You're not coming to the tryouts tomorrow? Coach posted the list this morning and your name is on it.
DANIEL: I know. I picked up a Saturday shift at the hardware store. Eight to four, every week until spring.
PRIYA: You've been talking about the team since September. One shift a week and you're giving that up?
DANIEL: It isn't one shift. Tryouts are Saturday, and the games are Saturdays too. Mr. Osei said he can't hold the job for me if I'm not there on the busiest day.
PRIYA: So ask him for Sundays.
DANIEL: The store is closed Sundays. Look, I need the money. My bike is held together with tape, and I'm not asking my mom for another one.
PRIYA: What about the Thursday league at the community centre? It's not the school team, but it's real games, and Thursdays are free for you.
DANIEL: I didn't know there was one.
PRIYA: There is. My cousin plays. I'll send you the link tonight. You don't have to choose between the bike and basketball. You just have to choose a different night.
DANIEL: Send it. And don't tell Coach I said I'd think about it, or he'll have me on the bus to tryouts before I can say no.
Question 1 · stated information
Why can Daniel not play for the school team?
Explanation
Daniel says tryouts are Saturday and the games are Saturdays too, and his shift is eight to four every Saturday. The answer is stated directly in his fourth line.
Question 2 · inference
What does Daniel's comment about his bike suggest?
Explanation
Daniel says his bike is held together with tape and that he is not asking his mom for another one. He never says those words, but together they show he needs the money for something real, not for spending money.
Question 3 · word meaning
In "he can't hold the job for me," what does the word hold mean?
Explanation
Mr. Osei cannot keep the job open for Daniel if Daniel is away on the busiest day. The sentences around the word show it means to keep something available for someone.
Question 4 · speaker's purpose
Why does Priya mention the Thursday league?
Explanation
Priya's whole point is that Daniel does not have to choose between the bike and basketball, only a different night. The Thursday league is the solution she offers to his problem.
Question 5 · inference
What does Daniel's last line show about him?
Explanation
He says "Send it," which shows interest in the league, and then jokes that the coach would rush him to tryouts, which shows he wants to make the decision himself. There is no sign he has decided, or that he is annoyed or afraid.
Question 6 · choose two · supporting details
Which two details show that Daniel has thought carefully about his decision?
Explanation
Daniel points out that the games, not only the tryouts, are on Saturdays, and he already knows the Sunday option is impossible because the store is closed. Picking up the shift and not knowing about the league do not show careful thought.
Selection 3 · Information paragraph · 6 questions
An information paragraph gives facts about one topic.
Why Some Schools Start Later
A growing number of Ontario high schools have moved their first bell from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. or later, and the reason is biology rather than convenience. During the teenage years the body's internal clock shifts, so most teenagers do not feel sleepy until after 11:00 p.m. and are not fully alert until mid-morning. A student who must be in class at 8:00 a.m. is often awake for the lesson but not ready to learn from it. Schools that have made the change report fewer late arrivals, fewer students falling asleep in first period and, in several cases, better marks in morning classes. The change is not free of problems. Bus routes shared with elementary schools have to be redrawn, after-school sports and part-time jobs end later, and some parents prefer the earlier start because it matches their own work day. Researchers who study sleep say the benefits outweigh the costs, but they also point out that a later bell only helps if students use the extra hour to sleep rather than to stay up later.
Question 1 · main idea
What is the main idea of the paragraph?
Explanation
The paragraph explains why later starts help (the teenage body clock and the reported results) and then lists the problems the change causes. Only this choice covers both halves. The other choices are single details or are not stated.
Question 2 · stated information
According to the paragraph, when are most teenagers fully alert?
Explanation
The second sentence says most teenagers are not fully alert until mid-morning. The 11:00 p.m. time is when they start to feel sleepy, not when they are alert.
Question 3 · word meaning
In "the benefits outweigh the costs," what does the word outweigh mean?
Explanation
The researchers are comparing the good results with the problems and saying the good results matter more. Weight is used as a figure of speech for importance, so the first choice is too literal.
Question 4 · inference
Why does the writer include the sentence beginning "A student who must be in class at 8:00 a.m."?
Explanation
The sentence turns the science of the body clock into a classroom picture: present but not ready to learn. That is what the paragraph wants the reader to understand before it gives the results.
Question 5 · organization
Which sentence would fit best at the end of the paragraph?
Explanation
The last sentence says a later bell only helps if students use the extra hour to sleep. A closing sentence should restate that point. The other choices introduce new topics that the paragraph never develops.
Question 6 · choose two · supporting details
Which two problems does the paragraph say a later start can cause?
Explanation
Redrawn bus routes and later-ending jobs are listed as problems. Students sleeping in first period and lower morning marks are the opposite of what the paragraph reports; schools that changed saw fewer sleeping students and better marks.
Selection 4 · Real-life narrative · 6 questions
A real-life narrative is a true story told by the person it happened to.
The Long Way Round
The first time I volunteered at the food bank, I was fifteen and mostly there because my school needed the hours. I expected to stack cans. Instead, the coordinator, a retired nurse named Mrs. Lindo, handed me a clipboard and told me I would be walking people through the shelves.
I did not want to do it. The shelves I could handle; the people made me nervous. What if I said the wrong thing? What if someone from school came in? Mrs. Lindo must have seen it on my face, because she said, "You don't have to talk much. You just have to walk beside them."
The first person I walked with was a man about my grandfather's age. He did not look at me at all. He read every label, put things back, and picked up smaller ones. Near the end he stopped at the shelf of cereal and asked, very quietly, whether he could take two boxes because his grandson was staying with him. I said yes before I checked whether that was allowed. It was.
On the way out he thanked me by name. I had not told him my name; it was on the clipboard. That small thing, him taking the trouble to read it, stayed with me longer than anything else that day.
I went back the next week without being asked, and I have gone back most weeks since. I still stack cans when they need me to. But I have learned that the part I was afraid of was the part that mattered. Most people who come in do not need advice or conversation. They need someone to walk beside them so that the room feels a little less like a test.
Question 1 · inference
How did the narrator feel about volunteering at the start?
Explanation
The narrator says they were there mostly because of school hours, expected to stack cans, did not want to walk with people, and lists worries about saying the wrong thing. None of the other feelings appears in the text.
Question 2 · stated information
What did Mrs. Lindo say the narrator had to do?
Explanation
Her words in paragraph 2 are "You don't have to talk much. You just have to walk beside them." The answer is stated directly.
Question 3 · inference
Why did the man read the narrator's name from the clipboard?
Explanation
The narrator says he thanked them by name and that his taking the trouble to read it was the thing that stayed with them. The detail shows the man treating the narrator as a person, which is why it mattered.
Question 4 · word meaning
In "so that the room feels a little less like a test," what does the narrator mean by a test?
Explanation
The whole narrative is about people feeling watched and nervous, the narrator at the start and the man reading labels. A room that feels like a test is a room where you feel judged. The literal meanings do not fit.
Question 5 · author's purpose
Why does the narrator include the detail about saying yes to the two boxes of cereal before checking?
Explanation
The narrator had been focused on getting through the shelves. Saying yes first and checking later shows the shift toward caring about the person, which is the change the story is about. The text confirms it was allowed, so no rule was broken.
Question 6 · main idea
Which statement best expresses what the narrator learned?
Explanation
The last paragraph says it directly: "the part I was afraid of was the part that mattered." The other choices are details or are not in the text.
Answer the questions to see your score.
Part 2 · Written answer
Answer in a few sentences
Amira Khan says the hardest part was “convincing everyone it was possible.” Explain what this suggests about the project. Use specific details from the news report to support your answer.
What a strong answer includes
Answers the question in the first sentence.
Uses at least two specific details from the report.
Explains how each detail supports the answer.
Stays about the report and uses your own words.
See a sample strong answer
It suggests the biggest challenge was getting approval and support, not the gardening itself. The students had to present their plan to the principal, and he only agreed if an engineer confirmed the roof could hold the weight. When the report came back, they had to redesign the plan with forty small planters. Each step meant proving the idea could work before anyone would let them start.
Why it works: the first sentence answers the question, and three specific details from the report (the principal, the engineer, the redesign) are each connected back to the idea of convincing people.
Part 3 · Opinion essay
Write a series of paragraphs
Some people think every high school should have a garden run by students. Others think schools should spend their time and space on classroom subjects. Should every high school have a student-run garden? Write a series of paragraphs that states your opinion and supports it with reasons and specific details.
Before you submit, check that you
State a clear opinion in the first paragraph.
Give two or three reasons, each in its own paragraph with specific details or examples.
Connect each paragraph back to your opinion.
End with a paragraph that returns to your opinion.
Check spelling, grammar and punctuation.
A way to spend your time
About 5 minutes to plan your opinion and reasons.
About 25 minutes to write.
About 5 minutes to read it over and fix errors.
The opinion essay is worth about a quarter of the OSSLT's raw score points, more than any other single question. When you’ve written it, get it marked free with the OSSLT essay grader.
How this compares with the real OSSLT
This set is short on purpose. The real OSSLT has 37 scored questions across two online sessions of about 65 and 75 minutes, with four kinds of reading text and more question formats, including drag and drop, drop-down menus and checklists.
Use this page to practise the skills: finding stated information, making inferences, answering in your own words and building an opinion essay. Use EQAO's practice test to get used to the official platform, and read How to prepare for the OSSLT for a four to five month plan.
Get your writing marked
Find out how your essay would score
Litguide gives AI feedback on every essay in seconds, using the OSSLT rubrics, and shows what to improve, with lessons and more practice sets for every part of the test. If your school already licenses Litguide, it is free for you.
Yes. EQAO offers a free practice test on the same platform as the real test, and this page has a free original practice set with every answer explained.
Are these real OSSLT questions?
No. Everything on this page was written by Litguide for practice, in the style of the OSSLT. Litguide is not affiliated with EQAO.
Where can I find an OSSLT practice test with answers?
EQAO’s practice test shows the correct answers, scoring rubrics and sample responses when you finish. This page explains every answer as you go.
How long is the OSSLT?
It has two sessions: Session A takes about 65 minutes and Session B about 75 minutes. Schools can run them on the same day with a break, or on different days.
How is the OSSLT opinion essay marked?
Trained Ontario teachers score it with EQAO’s rubrics: how clearly the opinion is developed and supported with specific details, how well the ideas are organized, and whether errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation get in the way.
What score do you need to pass the OSSLT?
A scale score of 300 or higher, on a scale from 200 to 400.
