Ontario Secondary School: Grades 9-12, Program and Diploma Requirements - Top
Students in Grades 9 -12 are subject to the diploma requirements of the Ministry of Education, as described in the section for these grades. More details can be found in Ontario Secondary Schools: Grades 9-12, Program and Diploma Requirements, 1999 copies of which are available from local secondary schools and on the Ministry of Education website at www.edu.gov.on.ca.
Great care has been taken in editing this document but errors do occur and provincial policies do change. The most authoritative source for course descriptions, course prerequisites and graduation requirements is the Ministry of Education website.
The Credit System - Top
A credit is granted in recognition of the successful completion of a course that has been scheduled for a minimum of 110 hours. Normally, students in Grades 9-12 will be able to earn 8 in each year towards the 30 credits they will require to obtain a diploma.
The following requirements must be successfully completed in order to obtain an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD):
- 30 credits including 18 compulsory credits and 12 options;
- 40 hours of community involvement;
- Successful completion of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test, OSSLT, written in Grade 10 OR the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course, OLC4O1
Compulsory Credits - Top
- 4 English (1 credit per grade)
- 3 Mathematics (1 at the Senior Level)
- 2 Science
- 1 French
- 1 Canadian Geography (Grade 9)
- 1 Canadian History (Grade 10)
- 1 Arts credit (any of Visual Arts, Music, Drama, Dance or Media Arts)
- 1 Health and Physical Education
- 0.5 credit in Civics
- 0.5 credit in Career Studies
- Group 1 – one additional credit in English OR French OR Native Languages OR Classical and International Languages OR Social Sciences and Humanities OR Canadian and World Studies OR Guidance and Career Education OR Cooperative Education
- Group 2 – one additional credit in Health and Physical Education OR the Arts OR Business Studies OR Cooperative Education OR French
- Group 3 – one additional credit in Computer Studies (Grade 10-12) OR French OR Science (Grade 11 or 12) OR Technological Education (Grade 9-12) OR Cooperative Education
A maximum of two of the three additional compulsory credit requirements for groups 1, 2, and 3 may be met with credits earned through cooperative education.
Optional or Elective Courses - Top
Students must complete a minimum of 12 elective credits selected from those available and those of specific interest to the student and their individual goals for career and future educational programs. These will be selected with the assistance of parents, counselors, teachers and administrators.
Community Involvement - Top
As part of the requirement for graduation, all students must complete a minimum of 40 hours of community involvement in order to obtain an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). Please click here for specific details.
Certificate Requirements - Top
The Ontario Secondary School Certificate - Top
The Ontario Secondary School Certificate will be granted on request to students who leave school before earning the Ontario Secondary School Diploma, provided that they have earned a minimum of 14 credits distributed as follows:
Compulsory Credits (total of 7) - Top
- 2 credits in English
- 1 credit in Mathematics
- 1 credit in Science
- 1 credit in Canadian History OR Canadian Geography
- 1 credit in Health and Physical Education
- 1 credit in the Arts OR Technological Education
The Certificate Of Accomplishment - Top
Students who leave school before fulfilling the requirements for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma or the Ontario Secondary School Certificate may be granted a Certificate of Accomplishment. The Certificate of Accomplishment may be a useful means of recognizing achievement for students who plan to take certain vocational programs or other kinds of further training, or who plan to find employment after leaving school.
Credit Substitution - Top
In order to ensure that all students can qualify for the OSSD or the OSSC, principals may substitute among the compulsory credits as follows:
- Up to three compulsory credits may be replaced by additional courses from the remainder of those listed as compulsory.
- A maximum of one credit earned for a learning strategies course may be used through substitution to meet a compulsory credit requirement.
- Up to three of the Grade 9, 10 and 11 English compulsory credits may be replaced by English as a Second Language or English Literacy Development credits.
- Parental approval of such a substitution shall be provided in writing.
- Each substitution shall be noted on the Ontario Student Transcript.
Students who qualify under this substitute credit arrangement are those whose educational interests, in the opinion of their parents or guardians, principals, and supervisory officers, are best served by such substitution.
Ontario Secondary School Literacy Requirements - Top
Students entering secondary school are required to successfully complete the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test based on language and communications expectations of the curriculum up to and including Grade 9. This test has been designed by the provincial Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO). Successful achievement of this test will be recorded on the Ontario Student Transcript. Remedial help will be provided by the school. Students will be able to retake the test if they are unsuccessful.
Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OLC401) - Top
The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC) is a full-credit Grade 12 course that will be offered as part of the English program in Ontario secondary schools.
This course is designed to help students acquire and demonstrate the cross-curricular literacy skills that are evaluated by the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT). Students who complete the course successfully will meet the provincial literacy requirement for graduation. Students will read a variety of informational, narrative, and graphic texts and will produce a variety of forms of writing, including summaries, information paragraphs, opinion pieces, and news reports. Students will also maintain and manage a portfolio containing a record of their reading experiences and samples of their writing.
Eligibility requirement: Students who have been eligible to write the OSSLT who have been unsuccessful at least once are eligible to take the course. (Students who have already met the literacy requirement for graduation may be eligible to take the course under special circumstances, at the discretion of the principal.)
Please note: even though OLC4O1 is a compulsory Grade 12 English credit, it does not fulfill the Grade 12 English requirement for post-secondary acceptance.
Adjudication Process - Top
School boards may establish adjudication panels at the end of the school year to provide certain students with an additional opportunity to meet the literacy requirement for graduation. These students include those who would be eligible but through no fault of their own have been unable to take advantage of normal opportunities to write the OSSLT and/or been unable to enroll in or complete the OSSLC, owing to unforeseen circumstances. Students who receive special education programs or services and have an IEP documenting required accommodations but, owing to unforeseen circumstances, did not have access to these accommodations when taking the OSSLT, may also be eligible for adjudication.
