Last Updated: September 4, 2026
Ontario's New Exam and Attendance Rules: What Changes for Your Child This Year
Short answer: from September 2026, an Ontario high school mark follows one of two fixed formulas set by the province, one for Grades 9 and 10 and one for Grades 11 and 12. In Grades 9 and 10 the final mark is 65% classroom work, 20% final evaluation and 15% attendance and participation. In Grades 11 and 12 it is 65% classroom work, 25% final evaluation and 10% attendance and participation. Most subjects now end with a written exam on official exam days. Only unexcused absences pull the attendance mark down. The top band pairs about two or fewer unexcused absences a semester with consistent participation; the bottom band, below 50%, pairs more than nine with no participation.
| Classroom work | Final evaluation | Attendance and participation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grades 9 and 10 | 65% | 20% | 15% |
| Grades 11 and 12 | 65% | 25% | 10% |
Every percentage, level and course code below comes from the ministry's own policy page, updated 21 August 2026, unless a different source is named.
Where the rule comes from, and why the headline undersells it
The law is Bill 101, the Putting Student Achievement First Act, 2026 (not Quebec's Bill 101, the language law, which shares the number). Education Minister Paul Calandra tabled it on 13 April 2026 and it received Royal Assent on 7 May 2026, becoming Chapter 4 of the Statutes of Ontario, 2026. The percentages are not in the statute. What the Act does is give the Minister the power to "establish policies and guidelines for the assessment of student achievement" and to require boards to comply with them.
The numbers live in a policy document most parents have never heard of. Growing Success is Ontario's assessment and reporting policy, first published in 2010. On its ministry page, updated 21 August 2026, a new section dated September 2026 and titled "Mandatory assessment and evaluation requirements for students in Grades 9 to 12" states that it "replaces the evaluation policy for courses in Grades 9 to 12 outlined in Chapter 5 of Growing Success".
The April announcement attached the percentage to attendance alone: "attendance worth 15 per cent for Grades 9-10 and 10 per cent for Grades 11-12". The policy that followed scores attendance and participation together, as one component, using a single five-level rubric. A child who is present every day but never contributes can still lose marks on it.
This is not a small adjustment to an existing rule. The old rule, in Chapter 5 of the 2010 document, was that "Seventy per cent of the grade will be based on evaluation conducted throughout the course" and "Thirty per cent of the grade will be based on a final evaluation administered at or towards the end of the course". That final evaluation could be "an examination, a performance, an essay, and/or another method of evaluation suitable to the course content". Schools chose the form, and the ministry's own briefing named the result: "Inconsistent exam practices, such as format, scheduling and how final marks are calculated can create discrepancy in the determination of final marks". The new rule fixes both the split and, for most subjects, the form.
The three pieces of the mark
Classroom work, 65%. Everything evaluated during the course: tests, assignments, projects, presentations, conversations and observations. The ministry's parent page is explicit that "Teachers do not simply calculate averages." They weigh the most recent and most consistent evidence, and "homework is not part of the calculation of the grade or mark."
Final evaluation, 20% or 25%. For most subjects this is now a written exam in the school's designated exam period. For some subjects it is split between a written exam and what the ministry calls a culminating task: a final project, presentation or portfolio.
Attendance and participation, 15% or 10%. One component, scored on the same Level 1 to Level 4 scale Ontario uses on report cards. If you have read our page on Ontario report card levels, the bands will look familiar.
Attendance and participation: how the mark is actually decided
The ministry's rubric ties each level to a share of classes missed for unexcused reasons, and gives its own translation into classes per semester.
| Level | Mark for this component | Unexcused absences | Ministry's semester example | Participation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 4 | 80% to 100% | 0.0% to 2.5% of classes | approximately 2 or fewer classes | consistently participates, asks relevant questions, shows positive leadership |
| Level 3 | 70% to 79% | 2.5% to 5% of classes | approximately 2.5 to 4.5 classes | generally participates, contributes some ideas |
| Level 2 | 60% to 69% | 5% to 7.5% of classes | approximately 5 to 7 classes | occasionally participates, sometimes contributes ideas |
| Level 1 | 50% to 59% | 7.5% to 10% of classes | approximately 7.5 to 9 classes | infrequently participates, rarely contributes ideas |
| Below Level 1 | less than 50% | more than 10% of classes | more than 9 classes | does not participate |
The absence figures are percentages first and class counts second. The ministry says "approximately" every time, and its class counts assume a semestered school, where a course runs for half the year. The policy gives no count for a non-semestered school, where the same course runs all year, so the number of classes a percentage allows there depends on the school's timetable. Ask the school how many classes the course has.
The bands also touch at every boundary, and the policy does not say which way a student sitting exactly on 2.5% or 5% falls. That is a question for the school.
Only unexcused absences appear in the table. An excused absence does not move a student down a level. What counts as excused is where most of the arguments will happen.
Participation is judged on the same four behaviours at every level, and the wording steps down with each level. Level 4 asks that the student consistently "participates in class discussions and contributes ideas", "asks relevant questions", "respects the contributions of others and demonstrates positive leadership" and "contributes to fostering a positive classroom culture". Level 3 says generally, and "contributes some ideas". Level 2 says occasionally, and "sometimes contributes ideas". Level 1 says infrequently, and "rarely contributes ideas". Below Level 1 the student "does not" do any of it. Level 4 is the only level that asks for leadership. A quiet child who listens and works but rarely speaks is not automatically at Level 4, and the Ontario Human Rights Commission has already told the ministry that participation requirements "should not mandate a specific form of participation, such as answering questions out loud in front of the class". Ask whether your board has written that flexibility into its own procedures.
What counts as an excused absence
The ministry's definition: "Excused absences are absences from school that are permitted under legislation or school policy, as outlined in Ontario's enrolment register instructions. These may include illness or other unavoidable circumstances, such as inclement weather or approved absences such as cultural days and holy days."
Two words carry the weight there: "school policy". The province sets the categories; the board and the school decide how an absence gets recorded as excused, what notice they want, and what documentation they will ask for. The Ontario Human Rights Commission's submission on the bill flagged exactly this. It said "more clarity is required to understand how this requirement would be implemented in practice and the specific circumstances that would and would not be excused", and warned that parents should not be "burdened by medical documentation requirements to substantiate absences as they could be costly and/or difficult to obtain".
Ask the school four things. How do I report an absence so it is recorded as excused? Is a note from a parent enough for illness, or does the school want a doctor's note after a certain number of days? Are sports tournaments, music exams and family religious observances excused if I tell you in advance? How can I see my child's attendance record, and how quickly does an unexplained absence become an unexcused one?
Get the answers in writing, or at least in an email you can find later. The attendance record is now a marked record.
The written exam, subject by subject
The 20% or 25% final evaluation is not a flat rule. The split depends on the subject, and it is set out in two tables, one for Grades 9 and 10 and one for Grades 11 and 12, dividing it between a written exam and a culminating task.
Grades 9 and 10 (final evaluation worth 20%)
| Subject area | Written exam | Culminating task |
|---|---|---|
| English, Mathematics, Science | 20% | none |
| Canadian and World Studies, which is Geography in Grade 9 and History, Civics and Citizenship in Grade 10 | 20% | none |
| The Arts, Computer Studies, Health and Physical Education, Technological Education | 10% | 10% |
| Business Studies, Social Sciences and Humanities | 10% | 10% |
| Classical Studies and International Languages, French as a Second Language, Native Languages | 10% | 10% |
| First Nations, Métis and Inuit Studies | 10% | 10% |
| Grade 10 Career Studies (GLC2O) | none | 15% culminating task plus 5% financial literacy graduation requirement |
The Grade 9 math line carries a note that matters for every Grade 9 family: "The EQAO Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics counts as the written exam for the MTH1W course and makes up 20% of the student's mark." Until this year, schools could weight that test anywhere from 10% to 30%. From 2026-27 it is fixed at 20%, and the policy exempts it from the designated exam period. Our EQAO Grade 9 math practice quiz covers the format.
Grades 11 and 12 (final evaluation worth 25%)
| Subject area | Written exam | Culminating task |
|---|---|---|
| English, Mathematics, Science | 25% | none |
| Canadian and World Studies | 15% | 10% |
| Business Studies, Social Sciences and Humanities | 15% | 10% |
| The Arts, Computer Studies, Health and Physical Education, Technological Education | 10% | 15% |
| Classical Studies and International Languages, French as a Second Language, Native Languages | 10% | 15% |
| First Nations, Métis and Inuit Studies | 10% | 15% |
One exception sits inside that last row: the ministry notes that "NBE3U and NBE3C require a 25% written exam", the same weight as English.
At least one explainer on the first page of Google results for this topic (checked 3 September 2026) gives a 10/15 split for Grades 9 and 10 as well. The ministry table says 10 and 10 for Grades 9 and 10, and 10 and 15 only for Grades 11 and 12. If a school tells you something different, ask them to point to the policy.
The Grade 10 financial literacy requirement
That 5% in the Career Studies row is new too. Students who started Grade 9 in 2025-26 or later must complete a financial literacy graduation requirement to earn their diploma. It is delivered as modules inside Grade 10 Career Studies, and students "will have to earn a mark of 70% or higher on the financial literacy modules". That mark "will make up 5% of their final mark in Grade 10 Career Studies". Students get two attempts inside the Grade 10 course.
Courses with no written exam
The exemption list is longer than most summaries suggest. Three course types sit outside the written-exam rule:
- Grades 9 and 10 locally developed compulsory credit courses (LDCC)
- Grades 11 and 12 workplace preparation courses (E courses)
- Grades 11 and 12 open courses (O courses)
And these subject areas:
- Guidance and Career Education, except Grade 10 Career Studies (GLC2O)
- Co-operative Education
- Interdisciplinary Studies
- American Sign Language as a Second Language
Exempt does not mean unassessed. The ministry says these courses "require a final evaluation (worth 20% for Grades 9-10 and worth 25% for Grades 11-12) that do not require mandatory written exams but may include in-class written evaluations or other final evaluations such as projects, presentations and portfolios." The weight is the same. Only the format is open.
Where and when exams are written
All written final exams from Grades 9 to 12 take place "during the designated exam period", with the EQAO Grade 9 math assessment as the one exception. The policy does not say who sets those dates, so the school calendar is the place to look. Check it in September, because the exam period is now fixed for every course rather than a matter for each teacher.
Online and remote courses are covered too. Exams for those courses offered through school boards "will be written in person at each student's home school location or another location if required, unless the school board is able to provide online proctoring with security and integrity." Private schools and TVO's Independent Learning Centre "may continue to proctor exams online". If your child is taking a board e-learning course, ask now where the exam will be sat.
What the numbers do to a real mark
Take a Grade 11 English student. Classroom work across the semester comes to 78. The written exam, worth 25%, comes back at 70. Attendance and participation land at Level 3, scored 75.
The arithmetic: 78 × 0.65 = 50.7, plus 70 × 0.25 = 17.5, plus 75 × 0.10 = 7.5. Final mark 75.7, reported as 76. Under the old 70/30 rule the same coursework and final evaluation would have given 54.6 plus 21, also 76. For a student who attends and hands in the work, the formula change is nearly invisible.
The difference shows up at the edges. Take two Grade 9 students with identical classroom work (78) and identical final evaluations (70). One sits at Level 4 on attendance and participation, scored 90. The other has missed more than nine classes without an excuse and does not contribute in class, which puts them below Level 1, scored 45. The first finishes at 78, the second at 71. Just under seven points, none of it from coursework.
The exam edge is similar in size. In a Grade 11 or 12 English, math or science course, the gap between an exam scored 85 and one scored 60 is worth 6.25 points of final mark. Where a school ran no written exam last year, exam technique was worth nothing. Now it is worth a quarter of the mark.
Grade 9 versus Grade 12: where the pressure lands
For a Grade 9 student the attendance component is at its heaviest, 15%, and the math exam is the EQAO assessment, the one written exam the policy exempts from the exam period.
For Grade 11 and 12 students the weight moves to the exam: 25% in every English, math and science course on the transcript. Which senior math course a student takes was already a consequential decision, and our page on Ontario's senior math streams walks through it. From this year each of those courses also carries a written exam worth a quarter of the mark.
Who objected, and what to watch for at your school
Speaking to reporters in April, Paul Calandra called the attendance requirement "an idea that came exclusively from my engagement with teachers. It wasn't on my radar at all," and CBC reported he sees it as a way to address chronic absenteeism, which CBC's report defines as missing 10 per cent or more of the school year.
The objections came quickly. Kelly Gallagher-Mackay, who researches education policy at Wilfrid Laurier University, told CBC that tying attendance to marks "is not at all consistent with the evidence on what works" and "seems to me very likely to worsen achievement gaps". Martha Hradowy, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, said: "If the goal is better attendance, then the focus needs to be on smaller class sizes, more mental health resources and supports in schools, not new grading rules". The Ontario Human Rights Commission added that mandatory written exams "could have ramifications for students identifying with protected grounds under the Code, such as students with learning disabilities."
None of that changes the rule for this September. It does tell you where the local variation will be: how boards record excused absences, how teachers assess participation, and how exam accommodations are arranged for students with an IEP. Those are decided closer to your child than Queen's Park, so they are the things to ask about.
What to ask the school in September
- Is our school semestered or non-semestered, and how many classes does one course have this year?
- How do I report an absence so it is recorded as excused, and what documentation do you ask for?
- How and how often can I see my child's attendance record?
- How is participation assessed in each course, and is there a way for a quieter student to show it in writing?
- When is the exam period, and for e-learning courses, where is the exam written?
- If my child has an IEP, how will exam accommodations work on official exam days?
If parent-teacher interviews are coming up, our list of questions for a ten-minute interview pairs well with these. The cellphone rules are the other rule change to confirm with the school the same week.
What a certified teacher can and cannot do here
Nobody outside the school can change the attendance and participation mark. It is earned in the classroom, on the school's attendance record, and a tutor has no part in it.
What a certified teacher brings beyond the coursework is planning. They do not only teach the coursework; they can chart which courses a student needs to reach a target program, then focus the teaching on the subject areas that get them there. With senior English, math and science exams now fixed at 25%, that planning conversation includes exam load for the first time.
The exam itself is teachable too. For most subjects a fixed share of the mark now rests on one written paper in a set period, and a student who has done well on assignments all semester may never have sat an exam of that kind. Reading a paper, budgeting time across sections, showing working for part marks, studying for recall rather than for an open-book project: all of it can be taught.
Genie works only with Canadian Certified Teachers, licensed by a provincial governing body such as the Ontario College of Teachers. Certification is verified before a teacher ever sees a student profile: the certificate number and issuing body are checked against the provincial registry, with a live government-ID match. Genie calls this the Trust Engine. Matching is by course, pace and personality, and parents get a per-lesson record of what was covered and what the child understood. Genie's about page covers the certification standard, how matching works and the per-lesson reports. For the difference this makes in practice, see what separates a certified teacher from a subject tutor.
Nobody can promise you a final mark. What is new is that a fixed 20% or 25% of the mark now sits on one written paper in a designated exam period, which is something a teacher can prepare a student for.
From September 2026 a Grade 9 to 12 mark follows a fixed formula set by the province: 65/20/15 in Grades 9 and 10, 65/25/10 in Grades 11 and 12. Two questions decide how much of this touches your child, and both are answered by the school, not the province: how many classes does the course have, so you know what 2.5% means in days, and what does the school accept as proof for an excused absence. Ask both in the first two weeks, in writing.
Related reading: Why a certified teacher closes the gap a "good at math" tutor can't →
- Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success: assessment, evaluation and reporting (Kindergarten to Grade 12), section dated September 2026, "Mandatory assessment and evaluation requirements for students in Grades 9 to 12", page updated 21 August 2026: https://www.ontario.ca/page/growing-success-assessment-evaluation-and-reporting-ontario-schools-kindergarten-grade-12
- Ontario Ministry of Education, Student assessment, evaluations and report cards, page updated 13 August 2026: https://www.ontario.ca/page/student-assessment-evaluations-and-report-cards
- Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Bill 101, Putting Student Achievement First Act, 2026 (Royal Assent 7 May 2026; S.O. 2026, c. 4): https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-44/session-1/bill-101
- Government of Ontario news release, 13 April 2026, Ontario Introduces Legislation to Hold School Boards Accountable and Support Student Achievement: https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1007286/ontario-introduces-legislation-to-hold-school-boards-accountable-and-support-student-achievement
- Government of Ontario news release, 22 June 2026, Ontario Investing $60 Million to Upgrade Student Learning Resources: https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1007641/ontario-investing-60-million-to-upgrade-student-learning-resources
- Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success (2010), Chapter 5: https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growSuccess.pdf
- Ontario Ministry of Education, technical briefing deck for the Putting Student Achievement First Act, 2026, 13 April 2026 (PDF): https://news.ontario.ca/assets/files/20260413/8efad13499c9e1882b1c908d90030ba0.pdf
- Ontario Human Rights Commission, Submission concerning the Putting Student Achievement First Act, 2026: https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/ontario-human-rights-commission-submission-concerning-putting-student-achievement-first-act-2026
- CBC News, 15 April 2026, Ontario plans to tie high school attendance to grades and mandate final exams: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ont-edubill-exams-attendance-9.7163291
- CBC News, 22 June 2026, Ontario has unveiled mandatory changes for schools, starting this fall: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-digital-platform-participation-attendance-grades-9.7244828
Find your Teacher
FAQ
How many classes can my child miss before it affects their mark?
How many classes can my child miss before it affects their mark?
Only unexcused absences count. The ministry rubric puts a student at Level 4 (80% to 100% on the attendance and participation component) when they miss 0.0% to 2.5% of classes without an excuse, which it describes as approximately 2 or fewer classes per semester. Missing 2.5% to 5% (approximately 2.5 to 4.5 classes) is Level 3, 5% to 7.5% (approximately 5 to 7 classes) is Level 2, and 7.5% to 10% (approximately 7.5 to 9 classes) is Level 1. More than 10%, or more than 9 classes in a semester, falls below Level 1, which is less than 50%. The class counts are the ministry's semester examples; in a non-semestered school ask how many classes the course has.
Do excused absences count against the mark?
Do excused absences count against the mark?
No. The ministry states that excused absences do not negatively affect a student's mark. It defines them as absences permitted under legislation or school policy, and gives illness, unavoidable circumstances such as inclement weather, and approved absences such as cultural days and holy days as examples. Because the school's own policy decides how an absence is recorded, ask your school how to report one, what documentation it wants, and how to check the record.
Is attendance a separate mark from participation?
Is attendance a separate mark from participation?
No. The policy scores attendance and participation as a single component worth 15% of the final mark in Grades 9 and 10 and 10% in Grades 11 and 12. Each level in the rubric combines an unexcused-absence range with a participation description, so a student with perfect attendance who rarely contributes is not automatically at Level 4, and a student who participates well can still be moved down by unexcused absences.
Which courses have no written exam?
Which courses have no written exam?
The ministry exempts Grades 9 and 10 locally developed compulsory credit courses, Grades 11 and 12 workplace preparation (E) courses, Grades 11 and 12 open (O) courses, Guidance and Career Education except Grade 10 Career Studies, Co-operative Education, Interdisciplinary Studies, and American Sign Language as a Second Language. Those courses still need a final evaluation worth 20% in Grades 9 and 10 or 25% in Grades 11 and 12; it can be a project, presentation, portfolio or in-class written evaluation instead of an exam.
Does the EQAO Grade 9 math test count as the exam?
Does the EQAO Grade 9 math test count as the exam?
Yes. The ministry's table states that the EQAO Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics counts as the written exam for the MTH1W course and makes up 20% of the student's mark. In 2025-26 schools could weight it anywhere from 10% to 30%; from 2026-27 it is fixed at 20%. It is also the one written exam the policy exempts from the designated exam period.
When are exams written?
When are exams written?
All written final exams from Grades 9 to 12 take place during the school's designated exam period, with the EQAO Grade 9 math assessment as the exception. The policy does not say who sets the dates, so check the school calendar. For e-learning and remote courses offered through a school board, the exam is written in person at the student's home school or another location unless the board can provide online proctoring with security and integrity. Private schools and TVO's Independent Learning Centre may continue to proctor exams online.
Do the rules apply to private schools and online courses?
Do the rules apply to private schools and online courses?
Bill 101 lets the Minister require school boards to comply with the assessment policy, so board-run schools are bound by it. The ministry's policy page mentions private schools only on exam proctoring, where it says private schools and TVO's Independent Learning Centre may continue to proctor exams online; it does not say the mark formula binds them. If your child is at a private school, ask which parts of the policy it applies. For board-run e-learning and remote courses the rule is clear: the exam is written in person at the home school or another location unless the board can provide online proctoring with security and integrity.
Does this change how universities see Grade 11 and 12 marks?
Does this change how universities see Grade 11 and 12 marks?
The policy changes how a Grade 11 or 12 mark is built: 65% classroom work, 25% final evaluation and 10% attendance and participation, with a written exam worth 25% in English, math and science. It does not change how the final percentage mark for a course is reported. The ministry describes the written exams as preparation for college or university. The one transcript change on its policy page is unrelated to course marks: meeting the Grade 10 financial literacy requirement is recorded on the Ontario Student Transcript.
What did the new formula replace?
What did the new formula replace?
Growing Success (2010) set a 70/30 rule for Grades 9 to 12: seventy per cent of the grade from evaluation conducted throughout the course and thirty per cent from a final evaluation at or towards the end of it. That final evaluation could be an examination, a performance, an essay or another method suitable to the course, and the school chose. The September 2026 update replaces that chapter with the 65/20/15 and 65/25/10 formulas and, for most subjects, a required written exam.
Can a tutor do anything about the attendance mark?
Can a tutor do anything about the attendance mark?
No. Attendance and participation are earned in the classroom and recorded by the school; nobody outside it can change that component. A certified teacher can prepare a student for the part of the mark that is now fixed and predictable: the written exam worth 20% or 25%. They can also help plan which courses a student takes, which decides how many of those exams they face in Grades 11 and 12. Genie's teachers are Canadian Certified Teachers whose certification is verified against the provincial registry before they see a student profile, and parents receive a per-lesson record of what was covered.