Free OSSLT Practice Test
Practise for the Ontario Grade 10 literacy test: the four reading forms and the writing questions in two practice tests, plus drills that teach the basics first. Free, no account needed.
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The OSSLT exam at a glance
The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) is EQAO's reading and writing test for students working toward the Ontario Secondary School Diploma, normally written for the first time in Grade 10. It is taken online in two sessions, Session A of about 65 minutes and Session B of about 75. It has 37 scored questions: 35 selected-response (23 reading questions on an information paragraph, a news report, a dialogue and a real-life narrative, and 12 writing questions) and two written answers, a short reading response and an opinion essay. Results are a scale score from 200 to 400, and 300 is needed for a successful outcome. Students who have been unsuccessful can rewrite it, and after two opportunities with at least one unsuccessful they can take the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC) instead.
Tigertest has two 35-question OSSLT practice tests that follow the EQAO blueprint (all four reading forms and the 12 writing questions) and four drills that teach the basics first. All of it is free with no account required; the opinion essay and the written reading answer are not modelled.
- Who takes it
- Ontario secondary students, normally first in Grade 10
- Questions
- 37 scored: 35 selected-response, 2 written answers
- Reading
- Information paragraph, news report, dialogue, real-life narrative
- Time
- Session A about 65 min, Session B about 75 min
- Passing score
- 300 on a 200 to 400 scale (successful)
- If unsuccessful
- Rewrite, or the OSSLC after two opportunities
- Given by
- EQAO, online at the student's school
Updated by the Tigertest team. Practice questions follow the EQAO Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test Framework and the EQAO OSSLT assessment page. Exam rules change, so confirm current details with EQAO: Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test.
How It Works
Drills on Your Phone
Four drills: information and news, stories and dialogues, main idea and organization, and spelling, grammar and punctuation. Each opens with short lessons on one skill at a time, like finding the main idea or fixing a run-on sentence, then 20 test-level questions. Every miss comes back until you get it.
Practice Tests Online
Two practice tests of 35 questions, like the selected-response part of the real OSSLT: the passage beside its questions, a clock, flag for review, and the choose-two, dropdown, tap-the-sentence and put-in-order questions the online test uses. Practice Test 2 never appears in the drills, so it is an honest check.
Built on the EQAO Blueprint
Each practice test has the same reading selections and question counts as the scored part of the real test. The passages are original, written for Grade 10 and set in Canada. The opinion essay and the written answer on the news report are not included.
Teach Grade 10 English or the OSSLC?
Set it as practice for free: share one link, students join with just their name, and you see who practised, their test scores and the reading forms and writing skills your class misses most.
Make a class at tigertest.io/teachHow to Get Ready for the OSSLT
1. Know the four reading forms
Every OSSLT has an information paragraph, a news report, a dialogue and a real-life narrative. Each is read a little differently: a news report puts the key facts first, a dialogue shows feelings through what people say, and a narrative builds to a change in the main character. The drills give you plenty of each.
2. Go back to the text
Some questions ask for something stated in the passage, and some ask what it suggests. Either way, the answer has to be supported by the text. Before you choose, find the sentence that proves it, and be wary of answers that sound right but are not in the passage.
3. Learn the few rules that come up most
The writing questions keep returning to the same skills: a topic sentence that covers the whole paragraph, the sentence that does not belong, transition words, run-on sentences, apostrophes and commonly confused words. Each is a short lesson in the drills.
4. Take a practice test, then the real practice test
Take Practice Test 1 to see where you stand, work on your weakest drill, then take Practice Test 2. EQAO also has its own online practice test with the real test's screens; try it before test day so nothing about the format surprises you.
OSSLT Questions
What is the OSSLT?
The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test is EQAO's provincial reading and writing test. Students working toward the Ontario Secondary School Diploma normally write it for the first time in Grade 10, and a successful result (or the literacy course) is a graduation requirement. It checks the reading and writing skills expected across all subjects up to the end of Grade 9.
What is on the OSSLT?
The test is taken online in two sessions. It has 37 scored questions: 35 selected-response questions and two written answers. Reading has four selections (an information paragraph, a news report, a dialogue and a real-life narrative) with 23 questions and one written answer. Writing has 12 selected-response questions on developing a main idea, organizing ideas and conventions, plus an opinion essay. Some extra field-test questions do not count.
How long is the OSSLT?
EQAO designs Session A to take about 65 minutes and Session B about 75 minutes. Students finish each session in one sitting, and the two can be written back to back with a short break or on different days.
What score do you need to pass the OSSLT?
Results are reported as successful or not yet successful, with a scale score from 200 to 400. A score of 300 or more is successful. The score is not points out of 400 or a percent; EQAO works it out from all of your answers, including the two written ones. Tigertest scores the multiple-choice questions as a percent, and our estimate is that about 75% on both practice tests means you are on track.
What happens if I am not successful on the OSSLT?
You can write it again at a later sitting. Once you have had two opportunities and were unsuccessful at least once, you can take the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC) instead, and passing that course meets the literacy requirement. A principal can allow the course earlier when it is in the student's best interest.
Does Tigertest practise the opinion essay and the written answer?
No. Tigertest covers the 35 selected-response questions: all four reading forms and the three writing skills. The opinion essay and the short written answer on the news report are scored by trained Ontario teachers on the real test, so practise those with your English teacher and use the drills here to build the reading and writing skills behind them.
Is it free?
Yes. Both practice tests, all four drills and the basics lessons are free, with no account needed. An account saves your progress across a phone and a computer.
I teach a Grade 10 English class or the OSSLC. Can my students use Tigertest?
Yes, for free. Make a class at tigertest.io/teach, post one link, and students join with just their name. You see who practiced, their test scores and the topics your class misses most.
Related practice tests
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