This section contains a summary of updates for the 2026-2027 OSSLT administration, listed for convenience in alphabetical order.
Assessment Administration Agreement for Private Schools and First Nation Schools
Assessment administration agreements, attestations, and non-disclosure agreements have been updated. They are available with professional responsibilities here.
Invigilator Monitoring Enhancements
Several enhancements have been made to the invigilator’s monitoring features for students who are using alternative access or using unmanaged Chromebooks. Educators and invigilators should review the updated monitoring options, including tracking when students leave the assessment window and detecting copy-and-paste activity. Refer to Enhanced Security for a detailed overview of these changes and available settings.
JAWS Updates
Updates have been made to improve the user experience when using JAWS (assistive technologies) with the OSSLT as well as with the online and PDF formats of the Alternative Version of the OSSLT. Schools should give students opportunities to try these assistive technologies with the practice test in the e-assessment system platform. New user demonstration videos are available. Please refer to Using JAWS.
New resources for teachers
Educators can access the Unpacking the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT): A Guide for Educators (coming soon to EQAO.com), which provides guidance on the knowledge and skills assessed on the OSSLT and examples of how the test expectations align with classroom learning.
Educators can also use the new Understanding the Opinion Essay Scoring Guide (coming soon to EQAO.com), which explains how open-response questions are evaluated and includes sample student responses with scoring annotations to support a deeper understanding of the assessment criteria.
Practice test
Prior to writing the OSSLT, students are encouraged to try the practice test to become familiar with the types of questions. There are now two different practice tests available for students. The content of the practice test available on the EQAO website is different from the content of the practice test available in the e-assessment system, giving students additional opportunities to practice with a wider variety of questions like those found on the OSSLT. To access the new practice test, teachers should organize a practice test session in the e-assessment system so that students can become familiar with the content in addition to the login and assistive technology (if used) procedures.
Principal Priorities and Responsibilities for EQAO Administration
Based on feedback from school administrators, a new document that reflects the key leadership actions and accountabilities related to the OSSLT’s administration is now available. Principals may download and/or print the Principal Priorities and Responsibilities for EQAO Assessment Administration.
Professional Responsibilities
Review the revised Professional Responsibilities for public schools here, or for private schools and for First Nations schools here. All administrators and teachers must attest to these professional responsibilities in the e-assessment system upon login.
Quick Links
A new Quick Links section has been added to make it easier for educators to directly access commonly used OSSLT sections of this User Guide and related Ministry of Education resources to help with OSSLT preparation and administration.
Securing the Alternative Version
Instructions for security measures have been updated printed or electronic copies of the OSSLT. Refer to Alternative Version of the OSSLT.
Student Attestation
Prior to beginning the OSSLT, students will be required to read and accept the Student Attestation within the test platform. By accepting the attestation, students confirm that they understand the expectations for completing the assessment and agree to follow the rules and requirements of the test.
Teacher Checklist
A revised teacher checklist is available here for download and/or printing to assist with the administration steps.
Update to Device Configurations for Chromebooks
The device configuration instructions for Chromebooks have been updated. Ahead of the Fall 2026 OSSLT, any schools or boards using Chromebooks to administer the assessment need to configure their Chromebooks accordingly to the newly update instructions. Those instructions can be found here.