EQAO Grade 3 and 6 Assessments: A Parent’s Guide

By the Success Tutoring team · October 4, 2026

EQAO assessments are province-wide tests that Ontario students take in Grade 3 and Grade 6. They cover reading, writing and math, are done online, and measure skills from the Ontario curriculum. They are not pass-or-fail, and the best preparation is steady everyday practice of reading, writing and math, plus some comfort with answering questions on a computer.

What is EQAO?

EQAO stands for the Education Quality and Accountability Office, an agency of the Government of Ontario. Its assessments help schools, boards and families see how students are doing against the curriculum. Beyond elementary school, EQAO also runs a Grade 9 math assessment and the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT). This guide focuses on Grades 3 and 6.

When are the assessments?

Schools run the assessments during a window in the spring. Each school chooses its own days within that window, so ask your child’s teacher, and check the official EQAO website for the current year’s details.

What is assessed?

The math content follows the Ontario curriculum, which includes topics such as coding and financial literacy, so everyday classroom learning is the best preparation.

How results are reported

Results are reported using four achievement levels, the same levels used on Ontario report cards. Level 3 is the provincial standard, and Level 4 is above it. Your child’s individual results are shared through the school. Treat them as one snapshot, and talk to your child’s teacher about what they show and what to focus on next.

How to help at home

• Read together every day. Talk about what happened, why characters acted as they did and what your child thinks will happen next.
• Write little and often. Lists, cards, short stories and opinion pieces all count. Afterwards, check together for capital letters, punctuation and spelling.
• Keep number facts sharp. A few minutes a day with the Times Tables Challenge or the Daily Math Challenge makes multi-step questions easier.
• Use math in daily life. Budgeting pocket money, comparing prices and measuring ingredients all build the skills the curriculum covers.
• Get comfortable on screen. Because the assessments are online, some practice reading and answering questions on a device helps.

A sample weekly plan

Supporting Grade 6 students

By Grade 6, questions involve longer texts and more multi-step math. Encourage your child to underline key information, show their thinking and check that each answer makes sense. In writing, practise organising ideas into clear paragraphs with a topic sentence. Older children can also take more ownership: let them choose which game to play and track their own progress.

A taste of test conditions

EQAO is not a timed exam in the usual sense, but some children find it hard to work through questions without immediate feedback. For older children, the Timed test button on many of our games gives 15 questions in 10 minutes, with answers revealed at the end. Used occasionally, it builds focus and stamina. Talk through any mistakes afterwards.

Keep it calm

EQAO is designed to help schools and families, not to rank children. Keep the message simple: “Do your best and show what you know.” Good sleep and a normal routine matter more than extra practice the night before. If tests make your child anxious, our guide on helping a child with math anxiety has practical ideas. The EQAO practice page groups our games by area, and our free worksheets are great for screen-free practice.

Success Tutoring is not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by EQAO (the Education Quality and Accountability Office) or the Ontario Ministry of Education. EQAO is named only to describe what our original practice covers. Always check the official EQAO website for the latest details.

Frequently asked questions