OSSLT tips: the week before, the night before and test day

Know what you are walking into

The OSSLT is two online sessions, about 65 and 75 minutes long, with 37 scored questions: 35 selected-response questions and two pieces of writing, a short answer about a reading selection and an opinion essay. The reading comes from four kinds of text: a real-life narrative, an information paragraph, a news report and a dialogue. How long is the OSSLT has the full layout. Everything below follows from that shape.

The week before

• Take EQAO's free practice test on EQAO's own platform, including the introductory session. It is the same platform you will use on test day, and the results page shows the correct answer for every question along with the rubrics and sample answers for the written parts.

• Read one of each text type. The dialogue and the news report trip up more students than the narrative, because the questions ask you to infer what is not said and to spot how the report is organized.

• Write one opinion essay under time. Pick a practice prompt, give yourself 30 minutes, and run it through the free essay grader. You will get the rubric codes and paragraph by paragraph feedback, which tells you exactly what to fix in the next one.

• Learn what the two rubrics reward. The OSSLT marking guide explains every code. Writing is marked on a clear opinion, specific support and organization first, and on conventions second.

• Practise the short written answer. It is marked on whether you answer the question and use specific details from the text, not on length.

• If you have an Individual Education Plan with assistive technology or a scribe, use it on the practice test now. Problems found on test day cannot always be fixed in the sitting.

• Sleep. The test is written in the morning or afternoon of a school day, and tired readers miss the word that changes a question.

The night before

Put a pencil and an eraser in your bag. Rough paper is provided and collected. Reread your plan for an opinion essay, introduction, three reasons with an example each, conclusion, and then stop. There is nothing to cram, because the test measures skills you have been using in every subject since Grade 9. Ask your teacher whether the school provides the device or you bring your own, and if it is yours, charge it.

On test day

Eat something, arrive early and listen to the instructions. Go to the washroom before each session starts, because each session has to be finished in one continuous sitting. Use the rough paper to plan the essay and to note the answer to each reading question before you commit. Turn on text-to-speech if hearing the passage helps you, and the line reader if you lose your place in long paragraphs. Dictionaries and translators are not allowed, and nobody can explain a word to you, so use the context around it.

The reading questions

Read the question before the passage so you know what you are looking for. Go back to the text for every answer rather than trusting memory. When two choices look right, find the line in the text that rules one out. Multiple selection and checklist questions need more than one answer, so read the instruction. Leave nothing blank: a blank scores zero and a guess might not.

For the short written answer, answer the question in your first sentence, then give two specific details from the text that support it. Retelling the passage or giving your opinion about it does not score.

The writing questions

The 12 selected-response writing questions are about organizing ideas and using conventions correctly. Read the whole paragraph before choosing, because the right answer depends on what comes before and after the gap.

The opinion essay

State your opinion in the first sentence and keep it for the whole essay. Plan three reasons before you write. Give each reason its own paragraph with one specific example, something you have seen, done or read about, rather than a general claim. Finish with a conclusion that restates the opinion. Leave five minutes at the end to fix spelling, punctuation and sentences that run on. Stay on the topic you were given, not the one you wish you had. How to write the OSSLT opinion essay has a sample with the rubric codes marked on it.

Habits that cost marks

• Writing about a different topic than the prompt.

• Giving both sides without ever choosing one.

• Writing the whole essay as one paragraph.

• Supporting a reason with another general statement instead of an example.

• Copying lines from the passage into the short answer instead of explaining them.

• Skipping questions you are unsure of.

• Spending so long on the reading that the essay is rushed.

After the test

Fall 2026 results arrive by the end of January 2027 and spring 2027 results by the end of May 2027. A score of 300 or higher is successful. A student who is not yet successful can write again in the next window, and what happens next covers the options, including the literacy course.