OSSD in Australia: How to Earn the Ontario Secondary School Diploma Online

By Brendaliz Chelangat, Head of Academics · November 2026 · 10 min read · First published

A student living anywhere in Australia can earn the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) online. The courses are Ontario credit courses, the diploma is issued by a school the Ontario Ministry of Education inspects, and the teaching can happen live from Sydney, Perth or a cattle station in the Kimberley. This guide explains how the OSSD works for Australian families, how it fits beside state home education registration, how Australian and Canadian universities read it, and the questions to ask before you enrol.

The short answer, in five points

1. The OSSD is Ontario's high school diploma, and Ontario allows its credit courses to be taken online from anywhere in the world. 2. Only a school inspected by the Ontario Ministry of Education can grant the credits and issue the diploma. 3. The requirements are the same for every student: 30 credits, the literacy requirement and 40 hours of community involvement. 4. In Australia the OSSD sits alongside your state home education registration; it does not replace it. 5. Australian universities assess the OSSD, but each one sets its own rules, so the Grade 12 courses have to be planned against the degree your child wants.

At Smartious, students in Grades 9 to 12 take Ontario credit courses live with our teachers, and our Ontario partner school, a private school inspected by the Ontario Ministry of Education, records the credits and issues the official diploma and transcript.

What the OSSD requires

Every student needs 30 credits, made up of compulsory and optional credits. Compulsory credits include four in English (one for each grade), three in mathematics, two in science, and credits in Canadian history and geography, the arts, health and physical education, French as a second language, career studies and civics. One credit is a course of at least 110 scheduled hours.

Students must also meet the literacy requirement, normally by passing the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT), and complete 40 hours of unpaid community involvement. Recent cohorts have a financial literacy component in Grade 10 mathematics, and two of the 30 credits must be earned online, which a fully online student meets naturally. Our guide to OSSD requirements sets out each rule by the year a student started Grade 9.

The literacy test from Australia

The OSSLT is written on a computer, in person, under supervision. A student in Australia does not fly to Ontario for it: the school that grants the diploma arranges an approved place and supervisor. For families in a capital city this is usually straightforward; regional families should ask about it at enrolment so the sitting can be planned. A student who is not successful can retake the test or take the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC), a full credit course that also meets the requirement.

Community involvement hours in your own community

The 40 hours must be unpaid, outside class time and not part of a credit course. They do not have to be in Canada. Surf lifesaving, a local sports club, a library reading programme, Landcare, a food bank or a faith community all count where the school approves them, and many students also do virtual volunteering. Keep a log from the start, with dates, hours, the organisation and a supervisor's signature.

How the OSSD fits beside state registration

Home education is legal in every Australian state and territory, and each runs its own registration. Queensland's Home Education Unit asks for an education plan and an annual report; Victoria's VRQA asks for registration and a learning plan; New South Wales (NESA), Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory are more regulated, with alignment checks and home visits or moderator reviews.

The OSSD does not register your child with any of them, and no online school can. What it does give you is evidence: Ontario course outlines, marked work and reports, which are the kind of material a plan, a report or a home visit asks to see. Smartious is not Australian-registered, and the registration relationship stays between your family and your state authority.

How Australian universities read the OSSD

Australian universities list the OSSD among the overseas secondary qualifications they assess, and each sets its own entry rules. Most look at an overall result on six Grade 12 U or M courses, require Grade 12 English (ENG4U), and add subject prerequisites for particular degrees: Advanced Functions (MHF4U) and Calculus and Vectors (MCV4U) for engineering, Chemistry (SCH4U) for many health and science degrees.

Some universities add conditions of their own. The University of Sydney, for example, states that it accepts the OSSD only from schools that have passed its own verification process, and asks students who completed the OSSD outside Canada to provide an English test score. Rules change each year and can differ for domestic and international applicants, so check the current requirements for your child's courses, with the university or the state admissions centre (UAC, VTAC, QTAC, TISC or SATAC), before Grade 11 choices are made.

Why Australian families choose the OSSD

Families with Canadian citizenship or plans to move to Canada choose it because Canadian universities read it as their own provincial diploma. Families from Hong Kong, mainland China, India and the Gulf often know it already, because many international schools there teach it. And families who move often choose it because the courses continue unchanged from one country, state or school to the next, which matters in a country where home education registration does not transfer between states.

Time zones: live Ontario classes in the Australian afternoon

Our teachers teach from Nairobi, which is five hours behind Perth and seven to eight hours behind Sydney and Melbourne. Live classes in our morning therefore land in the Australian afternoon and early evening, not in the middle of the night, which is the usual problem with schools that teach to an Ontario timetable.

Questions to ask any OSSD school before you enrol

Is the school inspected by the Ontario Ministry of Education, and does it appear on the Ministry's list of private schools? Who teaches the courses, live or self-paced? How and where will my child write the OSSLT? How are credits from my child's previous schooling assessed? And, for Australian universities, is the school on the verified list of any university that keeps one? Ask the same questions of us.

Starting with Smartious

Every admission starts with a placement assessment, so we can see where your child is and how many credits remain. Students can also combine the OSSD with Cambridge IGCSE or A-Level subjects. Fees start from USD 423/month for Primary and vary by curriculum and level. Book an assessment and tell us which state you live in and which universities your child is thinking about.

More on the OSSD in Australia

The OSSD is a portable diploma that works well for Australian families with Canadian ties, families who move and families who want one record that Canadian, Australian, UK and US universities all read. Plan the Grade 12 courses against the degrees your child wants, keep your state registration up to date, and book an assessment when you are ready to start.

Frequently asked questions

Can an Australian student get a Canadian high school diploma online?

Yes. The Ontario Secondary School Diploma can be earned online from anywhere through a school inspected by the Ontario Ministry of Education. The student completes 30 credits, the literacy requirement and 40 hours of community involvement.

Does the OSSD replace homeschool registration in Australia?

No. Each state runs its own home education registration, and the OSSD does not register your child. The Ontario course outlines, marked work and reports are useful evidence for your plan, report or home visit.

Is the OSSD accepted by Australian universities?

Australian universities assess the OSSD, each with its own rules: usually an overall result on six Grade 12 U or M courses, English and subject prerequisites. Some keep a list of verified OSSD schools. Check the current rules for your child's courses before Grade 11.

Where does my child write the OSSLT in Australia?

In person, under supervision, at a place and with a supervisor the granting school arranges. Your child does not need to travel to Canada.

Next steps

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