OSSLT practice test: what should I work on?
Practise Ontario's Grade 10 literacy test one section at a time: reading selections, writing questions and an opinion essay, with every answer explained and the skills to work on. Free, no sign-up.
Unofficial: we wrote every question, and EQAO hasn't reviewed them. If you haven't yet, start with EQAO's own practice test. Nothing is saved; reloading clears your answers.
The practice questions didn't load. Check your connection and try again. EQAO's own practice test is on its OSSLT page.
How the OSSLT practice test works
Pick a practice test, then one section of it. A reading section gives you one selection we wrote, with its lines or paragraphs numbered, and five to seven questions in the kinds of formats the OSSLT uses: pick one, pick two or three, choose from a drop-down, put things in order, or sort them into groups. A tap or the keyboard does all of it, and nothing needs dragging.
When you finish, each answer is checked against the answers we accept for that question, and some questions accept more than one. If a multi-part answer has some parts right, you'll see "partly right". Our skill map counts that as not right. That's our rule for practice here, not an OSSLT scoring rule.
Then the section lands on your skill map, and the rows carry EQAO's own names. Reading has three: Explicit (it's stated in the text), Implicit (you work it out from clues, in one paragraph or across the whole selection) and Making connections (you bring the text together with what you already know). The writing questions have two, Organizing ideas and Using conventions. For each skill you missed, one line points you to the section you haven't done yet that has the most questions of that kind.
The two written tasks get counted, not marked. You'll see your word and paragraph counts next to the test's limits, then a short list of questions to check your own work against, and our model with notes in the margin. We won't put a mark or a code on your writing. On the real test, trained educators score it with rubrics, and nothing here can stand in for them.
You won't get a score, either. EQAO puts every result on a scale from 200 to 400, and that scale weighs how hard each question was, not just how many you got right. A count like 14 of 23 can't be turned into that number, and we won't pretend otherwise.
Nothing is saved. Close the tab and it's all gone, so copy or print whatever you want to keep.
Who this is for
- Grade 10 students with the November or spring window coming up, who've already done EQAO's practice test and want more in the same format.
- Students writing it again after a "not yet successful", who want to find the kind of question that cost them.
- Parents, guardians and tutors who want a printed section with its key, or a results sheet to go over together.
- English language learners and adult students who'd like to see the format first. Special provisions and deferrals are the principal's call, and your school can tell you when the literacy course is open to you. Ask there.
EQAO says the OSSLT "does not require additional preparation, as it is aligned with The Ontario Curriculum." We agree, so treat this as a way to get to know the format and find the one skill worth another look, not as cramming.
Student and parent questions about the OSSLT
How many questions are on the OSSLT?
Thirty-seven of them count toward your result. In 35 you choose or arrange answers, and the other two you write: a short answer about the news report, and the opinion essay. EQAO also tries out 7 to 10 field-test questions on each test, which don't count for anyone. Its own advice is simple: answer every question.
What score do you need to pass the OSSLT?
300. EQAO reports a single score on a scale from 200 to 400, and 300 or higher is a successful result. That score isn't points out of 400, and it can't be turned into a percentage, because the scale weighs how hard each question was. It's the reason we show counts like 14 of 23 and never a predicted score.
Is the OSSLT multiple choice?
Mostly, but not entirely. Most questions have you pick one answer, pick several, choose from a drop-down, or drag and drop answers into place. Two you write yourself: an answer of 100 words or fewer about the news report, and an opinion essay of about 500 words. Here, every format works with taps or the keyboard.
How long is the OSSLT?
Two sessions. Session A is designed to take about 65 minutes and Session B about 75. Each one is written in a single sitting, though the two can fall on different days. We don't time anything here, because doing one section at a time is the whole point. If you want the full two-session run, EQAO's own practice test has it.
When is the OSSLT in 2026?
The fall window runs from November 3 to November 30, 2026, and the spring window from March 30 to April 19, 2027. Your school picks the actual days inside the window, so ask a teacher which ones are yours. EQAO says results arrive by the end of January 2027 for the fall and by the end of May 2027 for the spring.
What happens if you fail the OSSLT?
You get a "not yet successful" result, and you can write it again in a later window. Once you've had two chances and at least one of them was unsuccessful, you can take the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC) instead, and a principal can allow that sooner. Mature students can go straight to the course. A guidance counsellor can help you work out which route fits.
How long is the OSSLT essay, and what format does it need?
About 500 words, in three or more paragraphs: an introduction, development and a conclusion. State your opinion clearly at the beginning or at the end, then back it up with reasons, examples or facts. It's scored as a first draft, on how well you develop and organize your opinion and on conventions like spelling and punctuation.
Do you write a news report on the OSSLT?
No, not on the current test. There the news report is something you read: you answer five questions about it, then write one answer of 100 words or fewer using details from it. Our News report sections work the same way, and the written answer comes with a model and a few questions to check yours against.
Is this EQAO's practice test?
No. We wrote every selection, question and essay prompt ourselves, in the current format, and EQAO hasn't reviewed any of it. EQAO's own practice test is free on its OSSLT page, built from questions retired from the real test and run on the real platform. Do that one first, then come back here for more sections and your skill map.
Is the OSSLT on paper or online?
Online, though you still write it in person at your school, on a computer or another device, inside EQAO's test platform. That platform comes with its own tools, such as text-to-speech, zoom, a line reader, a highlighter and rough notes. We don't copy them here, and EQAO's own practice test is the place to try them out.
OSSLT practice test: what's on the real test
| Section | On the real OSSLT | Raw score points |
|---|---|---|
| Information paragraph | 6 selected-response questions | 10 |
| News report | 5 selected-response questions and 1 written answer of 100 words or fewer | 10 |
| Dialogue | 5 selected-response questions | 8 |
| Real-life narrative | 7 selected-response questions | 10 |
| Writing questions | 12 selected-response questions | 20 |
| Opinion essay | 1 essay of about 500 words, 3 or more paragraphs | 20 |
| Total | 37 questions | 78 |
Every OSSLT follows that blueprint, and each of our practice tests follows it too, section for section. We copied the shape and nothing else: every selection and question here is ours.
Raw points aren't your result. EQAO turns your answers into a scale score, and trained educators score the two written tasks. What the points do show is where the weight sits: the written tasks carry 23 of the 78 raw points, about three in every ten. That's too much to skip, so you'll find both tasks here, counted but never marked.
Sources and last checked
- EQAO, Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test Framework (2025): the test's design, blueprint, skills and scoring.
- EQAO, Unpacking the OSSLT: A Guide for Educators (September 2026): the skills, the formats, the word limits and the scale.
- EQAO, the OSSLT page on eqao.com: the 2026-27 windows, the practice test and the FAQ.
- Government of Ontario, Ontario Schools, Kindergarten to Grade 12, chapter 6: retakes, the OSSLC, deferrals and special provisions.
- Government of Ontario, Earning your high school diploma: the literacy requirement.
- Format and dates last checked Oct 7, 2026. The question bank's version is printed under your skill map and on every printout.
- We wrote every selection, question, prompt and model you'll find here. None is taken or adapted from EQAO's materials.
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