On Wednesday, March 27, hundreds of Grade 10, 11 and 12 students in Ontario wrote the province’s Secondary School Literacy Test, more commonly known as the OSSLT.

What is OSSLT?

The OSSLT, scheduled by and administered through the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) once each year (usually in March) is a standardized test that identifies students who have demonstrated the required skills in literacy for future schooling, work, and life. Students usually take the OSSLT in the school year following the school year in which they enter Grade 9 unless a deferral is granted by their school principal. English Language Learners are usually among those who might benefit from deferral.

Why is OSSLT Important?

All students in Ontario are required to meet the secondary school literacy graduation requirement in order to earn an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). To meet this requirement, students are expected to take and successfully complete the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) in Grade 10, 11 or 12.

Who Is Exempted from Writing the OSSLT?

1. Mature students have the option to enroll directly in the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course without first attempting the OSSLT.
2. Students whose Individual Education Plan (IEP) indicates that they are not working towards the attainment of the OSSD.

What Options Are Available to Students Who Fail the OSSLT?

1. Students who are not graduating in June of the academic year in which they attempted the OSSLT will have additional opportunities to meet the literacy graduation requirement in their next school year.
2. Students who are graduating in June of the academic year in which they attempted the OSSLT can enroll in the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC), commonly known as the OLC4O course. 

It may be of value to know that

• the credit earned for successfully completing the OSSLC may also be used to meet the Grade 11 or the Grade 12 compulsory credit requirement in English or to meet the Group 1 compulsory credit requirement for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma.
• for students with special education needs, accommodations specified in their IEP will be available. However, because the achievement of the expectations in this course represents the fulfillment of the literacy requirement for graduation, no modifications of the expectations are permitted.

OSSLT at BrightMinds Online School

For all of our full-time students, arrangements are made for the writing of the OSSLT. Students who live within 100 km of our Markham office are required to come to our location to write the test on the designated date. Students who reside far from the school, outside of the province or outside of Canada, will be writing the OSSLT at their location with special proctoring arrangements made for them prior to the date of the test.

OLC4O at BrightMinds Online School

We offer the literacy course (OLC4O) year-round in our Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer semester to students who are eligible, that is students who have received a failing result in the OSSLT. The course has the following units of study:

• Reading and Literacy (16 Hours)
• Literacy in the Workplace (15 Hours)
• Reporting Literacy (26 Hours)
• Everyday Literacy (14 Hours)
• Saying it Nicely (17 Hours)
• Crimes in Literacy (14 Hours)
• The Process of Literacy (8 Hours)

OLC4O has a course cumulative project (e-portfolio) worth 10% and a final exam worth 20% of the final grade calculation. The final exam can be written in our Markham office or online through Proctor U.

If you are a Grade 12 student who has written the OSSLT recently and know that you will be failing the test, contact us today for registration.