For Grade 10 students in Ontario
OSSLT practice
Ontario students write the OSSLT in Grade 10, online at school, in the fall or the spring. Passing it, or the literacy course that replaces it, is one of the requirements for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma. It tests reading and writing up to the end of Grade 9.
Our OSSLT-style practice has all four kinds of reading selection, the twelve writing questions, a news report open response and an opinion essay. The essay and the open response are marked against EQAO's published rubrics, and every session is new when your teen starts it.
Start a test
Session A and Session B
Write a whole session, or 10 questions to try it first. Then write the open response and the opinion essay below. A free account includes 3 practice tests to write, and you will be asked to make one.
Session A
19 questions · 40 minutes
An information paragraph, six writing questions, and a real-life narrative.
Session B
16 questions · 35 minutes
A news report, a dialogue, and six writing questions.
The written tasks
Open response
A news report and one question · 10 minutes · marked
Answer in a few sentences, using specific information from the report. Marked against EQAO's open-response reading rubric.
Opinion essay
One topic · 30 minutes · marked
A series of paragraphs supporting an opinion. Marked for topic development and conventions against EQAO's rubrics.
The test
How the real test works, and ours
| The real test | Our practice | |
|---|---|---|
| Reading | Four selections: an information paragraph (6 questions), a news report (5 and an open response), a dialogue (5) and a real-life narrative (7) | The same four kinds and counts, with new texts every session |
| Writing questions | 12 selected-response questions on main ideas, supporting details, organization and conventions | 12 questions, six in each session |
| Open response | One written answer about the news report, scored 10 to 30 | A written answer about a news report, marked against EQAO's open-response reading rubric |
| Opinion essay | A series of paragraphs supporting an opinion, scored for topic development (10 to 60) and conventions (10 to 40) | The same task and both rubrics, with feedback on each |
| Sessions | Session A about 65 minutes, Session B about 75 minutes | Session A 40 minutes, Session B 35 minutes, the open response 10 and the essay 30 |
| Result | A scale score from 200 to 400; 300 is a pass | How many questions were right, and a code for each written task, not a scale score |
EQAO publishes the sections, the question counts, the session lengths and the scoring rubrics. It does not publish which sections sit in which session, so our split and clocks are our own.
A look at the test
Questions in the OSSLT style
Writing: conventions
We packed sandwiches apples and juice for the canoe trip.
Which is the correct way to write this sentence?
- AWe packed sandwiches, apples, and juice for the canoe trip.
- BWe packed, sandwiches, apples, and juice for the canoe trip.
- CWe packed sandwiches, apples, and juice, for the canoe trip.
- DWe packed sandwiches apples, and juice for the canoe trip.
Show the answer and whyHide the answer
AnswerAWe packed sandwiches, apples, and juice for the canoe trip.Find the error in the sentence first
spelling, agreement, verb tense, pronouns, or punctuation. Then choose the version that fixes it without adding a new error.
Items in a list are separated by commas, and no other commas are needed.
Final answer
We packed sandwiches, apples, and juice for the canoe trip.
Remember
Check one thing at a time: spelling and sound-alike words (their, there, they're), subject and verb agreement, verb tense, pronoun form (I or me), and punctuation (commas, apostrophes, quotation marks).
Writing: main idea
__________ Without lights, we ate dinner by candlelight. My little brother and I played cards instead of watching TV. Our neighbours even came over with a thermos of hot chocolate.
The first sentence of this paragraph is missing. Which sentence would be the best topic sentence?
- AIce storms can damage power lines.
- BThe power outage during the ice storm turned into a surprisingly fun evening.
- CThe power outage was a frightening night for our family.
- DWe played cards instead of watching TV.
Show the answer and whyHide the answer
AnswerBThe power outage during the ice storm turned into a surprisingly fun evening.Read every detail and ask what they all have in common. The best main-idea sentence covers all of the details, not just one, and is not so general that it could start almost any paragraph.
Every detail shows the family enjoying a night without power.
Final answer
The power outage during the ice storm turned into a surprisingly fun evening.
Remember
Read every detail first and say in a few words what they all have in common.
In Grade 9? Practise for the EQAO Grade 9 math test.
Pricing
Three free practice tests. Unlimited tests and answers are CA$69.
A free account includes 3 practice tests to write. The pack opens unlimited sessions and shows your teen what they got right, the right answers and how to reach them, on every OSSLT practice session, with marked essays and open responses.
OSSLT practice pack
CA$69
for 6 months
- Which questions your child got right, after every practice test
- The right answer to every question
- A worked solution for every question, step by step
- Unlimited Session A and Session B practice
- Marked opinion essays and open responses
One payment in Canadian dollars for 6 months of access. No auto-renewal: when the 6 months end, access stops unless you buy again.
Questions
What parents ask
- Are these real OSSLT questions?
- No. We write our own texts and questions in the style of EQAO's published framework. EQAO's own practice test is free on its website, and we suggest trying it too.
- What does a student need to pass?
- A scale score of 300 out of 400. A student who does not pass can write it again, or take the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course instead.
- When is it written?
- In Grade 10, in a fall window (November) or a spring window (March and April). Your school sets the dates.
- How are the essay and open response marked here?
- Against EQAO's published rubrics: topic development and conventions for the opinion essay, and the open-response reading rubric for the news report answer. Each comes back with a code and feedback on what to do next.
- Is it free?
- A free account includes 3 practice tests to write. The pack (CA$69, in Canadian dollars) opens unlimited sessions and shows which questions were right, the right answers and why.
The OSSLT (Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test) is administered by EQAO, the Education Quality and Accountability Office, an agency of the Government of Ontario. Scholar Tests is not affiliated with or endorsed by EQAO, the Ontario Ministry of Education or any school board. Our texts and questions are written by us in the style of EQAO's published framework; they are not OSSLT questions, and a practice score is not an OSSLT result or a prediction of one.