Students who finish Ontario High School courses will receive an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD), and can apply to any Canadian as well as International Universities. The principal high school course areas are English, Mathematics, Business, Arts, Social Science, as well as Computer Science.
To get an OSSD, students need to obtain 30 secondary school course credits including 18 compulsory courses as well as 12 optional courses. Students need to complete 10 hours in community involvement per year and qualify the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT).
Upon providing the original transcript to the school, international students can take the courses in their original country by transfer to Ontario secondary school credits. OSSD high school can be a gateway to a high career.
OSSD requirements
- Get 18 compulsory credits.
- 4 credits in English (1 credit per grade)
- 3 credits in Mathematics (at least one credit from grade 11 or 12)
- 2 credits in science
- 1 credit in Canadian Geography
- 1 credit in Canadian History
- 1 credit in the Arts
- 1 credit in Health and Physical Education
- 1 credit in French as a second language
- 5 credits in Civics
- 5 credits in Career Studies
- Plus, one credit from each of the following groups:
- 1 additional credit in group 1:
- English, or a third language
- Social sciences and the humanities
- Canadian and world studies,
- Guidance and career education,
- Cooperative education.
- 1 additional credit in group 2:
- Health and physical education,
- The arts,
- Business studies,
- Cooperative education.
- 1 additional credit in group 3:
- Science (grade 11 or 12)
- Technological education (grades 9 – 12)
- Cooperative education
You need a maximum of 3 credits in English as a second language (ESL) or English
Literacy Development (ELD) can be counted towards the four compulsory credits in English, but the fourth needs to be a credit earned for a Grade 12 compulsory English course. In groups 1, 2 and 3, a maximum of 2 credits in French as a Second Language will count as compulsory credits, one from group 1 and one each from either group 2 or group 3.
A maximum of 2 credits in Cooperative Education will count as compulsory credits. The twelve optional credits include up to 4 credits earned through approved dual credit courses. In addition to the compulsory credits, you have 12 optional credits as a requirement.
Elective credits are chosen by the student on the basis of individual linking and goals. Parents, counselors, teachers, as well as administrators will help the student make a genuine selection.
Community involvement- forty hours
Students need to complete a minimum of forty hours of community involvement activities in their years during the secondary school program. This is to be completed apart from the normal instructional hours of the student and in multiple settings. Students may not finish the hours by way of activities that are counted for a credit, by paid work or by duties generally performed by a paid employee.
Parents as well as students play an important role in this undertaking. Organizations or individuals observing the activities need to confirm fulfillment of the forty hours. Documentation attesting to accomplishing each activity needs to be submitted.
This documentation includes each activity, the name of the individual-organization who receives the service, the activity done, the dates and hours, signatures of the student apart from parents. It also includes a signed acknowledgment by the individual or the organization involved. OSSD high school will make things clear for the students.
OSSD Test
All candidates need to complete the provincial secondary school literacy test for getting a secondary school diploma. Students will generally be provided the literacy test as they are in Grade 10. The test is on the basis of Ontario curriculum expectations for language as well as communication, generally reading and writing, up to Grade 9.
The test will trace the zones for remediation for students who did not succeed in completing the test. Students who give the test, but do not qualify, need to retake the test and finish it successfully, or finish the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC) to earn a secondary school diploma. There is no upper limit to the number of attempts the test is retaken.