The Education Quality and Accountability Office, or EQAO, is an arm’s-length agency of the provincial government. Schools routinely consider EQAO data along with other information to support student success. Students in all publicly-funded schools in Ontario are required to write the provincial EQAO assessments of Reading, Writing and Mathematics in Grades 3 and 6, while students who take Grade 9 Applied or Academic Mathematics are required to write the provincial assessment at the end of their semester of study. The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) measures whether or not students are meeting the minimum standard for literacy across all subjects up to the end of Grade 9.

Due to the extraordinary circumstances facing the province, the Ministry of Education cancelled all EQAO assessments for the 2019–2020 school year. As a result, the successful completion of the Grade 10 Literacy Test, which is a requirement to obtain an Ontario Secondary School Diploma, was waived for students eligible for graduation in June 2020.