OSSLT prep courses online: what a good one includes

The short answer

A good online OSSLT prep course does four things. It gives practice on all four kinds of reading on the test. It marks your child's writing with the same codes EQAO uses. It includes full practice tests timed like the real sessions. And it fits a plan of four to five months, not a last-minute week.

Before you choose anything, find out where your child stands. A full online OSSLT practice test is marked the moment your child finishes, including both written answers, so you see which skills are strong and which need work. That tells you what a course needs to fix.

First, which "OSSLT course" do you mean?

Parents search for two very different things with the same words.

• An OSSLT prep course helps a student get ready to write the test. It is practice and teaching. It is not a school credit.

• The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC), course code OLC4O, is a credit course offered by schools. It is mainly for students who have written the OSSLT and were not yet successful. Earning the credit meets the literacy requirement for the diploma in place of the test.

If your child has not written the OSSLT yet, you are looking for a prep course. If your child has written it and was not yet successful, read the literacy course explained and what happens next before you buy anything.

What the OSSLT asks of your child

The OSSLT has two online sessions. EQAO designs the first to take about 65 minutes and the second about 75. There are 37 scored questions in all.

• Reading uses four kinds of text: a real-life narrative, an information paragraph, a news report and a dialogue. Most questions are selected response, and one is a short written answer about the news report.

• Writing has 12 selected-response questions about organizing ideas and using conventions, plus an opinion essay written as a series of paragraphs.

A course that skips any of these leaves a gap. How long is the OSSLT has the full layout.

A checklist for a good prep course

Use this list when you compare courses, apps or platforms.

• All four reading types. Your child should practise on narratives, information paragraphs, news reports and dialogues, not just one kind of passage. Each type asks different questions.

• Writing that comes back marked. The two written answers carry a lot of weight. A good course marks the short answer on EQAO's scale (I, 10, 20 or 30) and the opinion essay on both of EQAO's rubrics: topic development, coded 10 to 60, and conventions, coded 10 to 40. Our OSSLT marking guide explains each code.

• Feedback your child can act on. A code alone does not help much. Look for feedback that says what to change next, such as "give each reason one specific example".

• Timed practice tests. Your child should sit at least one full practice test early and one near the end, timed like the real sessions.

• A plan across four to five months. Short daily cramming does not build reading and writing skills. A steady plan over a term does. How to prepare for the OSSLT lays out the months.

• Progress you can see. You should be able to tell what moved from one month to the next.

• EQAO's own practice test as well. EQAO's practice test runs on the same platform as the real test, with the same tools and question types. Every student should try it at least once, whatever course they use.

• A clear price and clear terms. Know what you pay, what is included, and how to stop.

What a good month looks like

Here is roughly what a month in a good prep course should feel like for your child:

• Two or three short reading sessions a week, each on one of the four kinds of text, with every answer explained.

• One or two writing sessions a week: short answers about a news report, and opinion paragraphs.

• One full opinion essay, planned, written and checked under time, then marked with both codes.

• A quick look at progress at the end of the month, so you both know what to work on next.

If a course leaves your child with only reading quizzes, or only essays, something is missing.

Questions to ask before you pay

• Is the practice material original, or copied from EQAO? Original practice written in the style of the OSSLT is fine. It should never be presented as the real test.

• How is writing marked, and how quickly does feedback come back?

• Does the course include full practice tests, and are they timed?

• How will I see my child's progress?

• What happens if we stop partway through?

• Is my child's school already paying for something we can use?

That last question matters. Many Ontario schools already license a prep platform for their students. Ask your child's English teacher before you buy.

What no course can do

No course can promise a result. EQAO marks the OSSLT, and a score of 300 or higher is successful. Any levels or estimates a course shows you are practice estimates, not an OSSLT score. What a course can do is give your child enough practice with feedback that test day feels familiar.

Where Litguide fits

Litguide is an online platform built only for the OSSLT. Students work through lessons and practice built on the four reading types and the test's question types, and every piece of writing comes back marked against EQAO's rubrics with feedback.

If your child's school or board licenses Litguide, their account is already covered, so there is nothing to buy. If not, a student can start alone. The student plans start at $40 a month and include both Litguide booklets, every lesson and practice test, and marking on all writing. The monthly plan can be cancelled any time. To see every kind of prep side by side, read OSSLT prep options compared.

The best first step takes one afternoon: have your child take the full online practice test and look at the results together.