High School Grad Requirements

The Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) requirements

Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT)

In the spring of their Grade 10 school year, students will write the provincial Literacy Test, which is created and marked by the Ministry of Education and Training.

  • Students who pass the test fulfill the literacy requirement.
  • School boards are required to provide remedial assistance for students who do not complete the test successfully.
  • If students have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) accomodations and/or modifications consistent with students daily work, is available for the test although the content may not be altered.

NOTE:  Students who have been eligible to write the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) and who have been unsuccessful at least once are eligible to take the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OLC4O).  Students who successfuly complete this course will have met the provincial literacy rquirement for graduation, and will earn one credit.  The credit may be used to meet either the Grade 12 English compulsory credit requirement or the Group 1 additional compulsory credit requirement. 

 

Ontario Secondary School Certificate (OSSC)

The Ontario Secondary School Certificate will be granted upon request to students who leave school before earning the Ontario Secondary School Diploma, provided that they have earned a minimum of 14 credits, as follows:

  • 2 English
  • 1 Canadian geography or Canadian history
  • 1 mathematics
  • 1 science
  • 1 health and physical education
  • 1 arts or technological studies
  • 7 optional credits selected from any available courses in the school

The provisions for subsitution for compulsory credits applies to the OSSC.

 

The Certificate of Accomplishment

Students who leave school before fulfilling the requirements for the OSSD or OSSC may be granted a Certificate of Accomplishment.  This Certificate is a useful means of recognizing a student's participation in the secondary school program, especially for those students who plan to take certain types of vocational programs or further training for employment after leaving school.  A student may return to school or take additional credit courses after having received the Certificate.  The student's transcript (OST) will be updated, but a new Certificate will not be awarded when the student leaves again.  A student who receives the Certificate and chooses to return to study at the secondary level may earn the OSSC and/or OSSD after fulfilling the appropriate credit requirements for each.