Students in Ontario have demonstrated improvement in mathematics compared to last year, although the proportion achieving provincial standards remains low, based on the latest findings from standardized tests.
On Friday, the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) published its results from the 2025-26 assessments, providing insight into students’ performance against the provincial curriculum benchmarks in mathematics, reading, and writing.
The results reflect a slight increase across all categories in English-language institutions.
Math scores have consistently been a priority for multiple governments, as the percentage of students meeting the provincial benchmark has remained modest.
For the 2025-26 academic year, it was reported that 52 percent of Grade 6 students achieved the provincial standard in math, while 65 percent of Grade 3 students and 59 percent of Grade 9 students reached the benchmark.
All these figures have increased by one percentage point from the previous year.
Specifically, math scores for Grade 6 students have lingered around the 50 percent threshold for several years, indicating that only about half of these students are meeting the provincial criteria.
A total of over 569,000 students across Ontario were evaluated in Grades 3, 6, and 9, encompassing both English and French-language schools.
Reading and writing performance holds steady: report
As stated in the report, the reading and writing capabilities of students from elementary through secondary education have remained stable, with minor enhancements observed over the last three years.
In Grade 3, the percentage of students meeting reading and writing standards stood at 75 and 67 percent, respectively, showing a slight uptick from the previous year. For Grade 6 students, the percentages for reading and writing were 86 and 85 percent, respectively, remaining unchanged from the prior year.
Among first-time eligible students taking the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test, typically administered in Grade 10, 86 percent met the standard, which is one percentage point higher than the year before.
Results from French-language schools generally outperformed the average scores of English-language schools in most areas.
‘Too many students continue to struggle,’ stated Education Minister Paul Calandra in a response to the EQAO reports released on Friday. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
‘Too many students continue to struggle’: Calandra
In a statement on Friday, Education Minister Paul Calandra acknowledged the results as promising but emphasized that further efforts are necessary.
“Too many students continue to face challenges, achievement disparities remain, and results vary across the province,” he remarked.
“These results provide us with crucial insights into areas where progress is occurring and where additional measures are needed,” he added. “It is our duty to utilize this information to ensure students receive the necessary support for success.”
Following the announcement of last year’s EQAO results, Calandra revealed plans to form an advisory group to examine why improvements are not happening more rapidly, assess the clarity of the curriculum and learning materials, evaluate teacher preparation, and determine if students have adequate resources.
Calandra indicated that this work is in progress.
“The sooner we can identify a student requiring extra support, the quicker we can take action.”
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NDP education critic Chandra Pasma pointed out that the lack of higher EQAO scores may be due to insufficient government funding for schools.
“EQAO results do not accurately represent our students,” she stated. “They reflect the shortcomings of this education minister in providing necessary resources for student success.”
Ontario Liberal interim Leader John Fraser deemed the results “alarming” in his statement.
“The Ford administration has, over the last eight years, allowed our schools and students to lag behind,” he remarked.
“Class sizes are excessively large, special education has been neglected, and a mental health crisis in our schools remains unaddressed.”