Schools and boards submit electronic grades files to the OUAC during each grades collection period. After the initial grades file is sent for a given collection period, subsequent files can be sent if data needs to be corrected.
Tip: Use the Life of a File flowchart to follow a student’s grade file through the application process.
Grades Collection Periods
Important Reasons High Schools Must Adhere to These Deadlines
High schools must adhere to these deadlines to ensure enough time is available for the universities to receive the grades and review each application, especially for limited enrollment programs.
Plan to submit your electronic grades files at least 1 or 2 days before the deadline. If most schools and boards wait until the deadline to submit their electronic grades files, this can delay processing due to volume or errors within files, which will delay distributing the grades to the universities.
Contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
October/November Collection
Start: Sep 19, 2024
Deadlines:
Nov 7, 2024 (October/November)
Nov 19, 2024 (Mid-November)
1st Data Collection Requirements
Purpose of October/November Transmission:
- Collect final grades from the previous year.
- Collect all currently registered and projected course enrollments for the entire school year.
Purpose of Mid-November Transmission:
- Collect all midterm and final grades available for 4U/M courses.
- Schools may report in-progress grades for full-year courses as soon as they are available.
Winter Admission Application Procedure
Several universities admit qualified applicants to first-year studies in January. Typically, these applicants complete their university admission requirements (including the OSSD, Community Involvement requirement and Secondary School Literacy requirement) by January.
A list of universities that offer winter admission and their application deadlines is available in mid-September.
- Applicants who wish to apply for winter admission usually need to apply before the deadline for the first application data file in October/November.
- The Undergraduate application is available in mid-September, allowing students ample time to complete their applications before the specified university deadlines.
- Students who apply for winter admission may also select programs for spring and/or fall admission.
- Applicants who mistakenly select winter admission should log in to their application to modify the program admission point.
Reporting Grades Manually Through COLS
An authorized school official can enter academic data using the Academic Information option in COLS. If a student account needs to be created for a student in COLS, this must be done through Create a Student Account.
Winter Admission Applicant Report
This report is available through the Reports option in COLS.
- As students apply for winter admission, they are added to this report; therefore, you should return periodically to generate an updated list.
- This report is prepared in alphabetical order and is available in HTML and Excel format.
- Using this report, enter the applicant’s historical and midterm grades and, when available, final grades and OSSD-related information using the Academic Information option in COLS.
February Grades Collection
Start: Jan 20, 2025
Deadline: Feb 13, 2025
2nd Data Collection Requirements
Purpose:
- Collect updates to OSSD‑related information.
- Collect all final grades available for 4U/M courses.
- Collect current grades for full‑year courses.
- Collect final grades from the previous year that have not already been submitted.
- Collect courses to be taken in the second half of the school year (including night school, correspondence and online course registrations and/or grades, if available).
- Collect IB transcripts for projected grades.
- Transfer grades data to the universities.
Possible grades file errors and warnings
In February, if you do not provide an update for a current-year course that was submitted to the OUAC in the October/November collection, and the Grade Type is not “F” (Final), we will automatically drop the course from the applicant’s file.
April Grades Collection
Start: Mar 17, 2025
Deadline: Apr 24, 2025
3rd Data Collection Requirements
Purpose:
- Collect updates to OSSD‑related information.
- Collect all midterm and/or final grades available for 4U/M courses.
- Collect interim grades for full‑year courses.
- Collect final grades from the previous year that have not already been submitted.
- Collect registered summer school courses.
- Collect IB transcripts for projected grades.
- Transfer grades data to the universities.
July Final Grades Collection
Start: Jun 2, 2025
Deadline: Jul 7, 2025
4th Data Collection Requirements
Purpose:
- Collect updates to OSSD‑related information.
- Collect all final grades for 4U/M courses.
- Collect final grades for full‑year courses.
- Collect final grades from the previous year have not already been submitted.
- Collect registered summer school courses and grades.
- Optional: Collect final IB transcripts. (We prefer you send them directly to the applicant’s university selections to ensure that the universities consider students for scholarships, admission, etc.).
- Transfer grades data to the universities.
Summer Grades Collection
Start: Jul 21, 2025
Deadline: Aug 29, 2025
5th Data Collection Requirements
Purpose:
- Optional: Collect summer school grades.
Errors for Students Missing Grades
OEN Already Exists
If you see the error “OEN already exists” in your File Log after submitting a grades file, contact us immediately, as we will not update the student’s grades electronically until the error is corrected.
There are 3 possible reasons for this error:
- The OEN is assigned to another student in the database.
- An account has already been created for the student under another school’s MIDENT.
- The student’s surname in the school’s file and in the application do not match.
Surname Mismatches
Surname mismatches happen when a student changes their surname in the application.
- The surname in the school’s file and in the application must match for us to update the grades when a grades file is processed.
- The most common surname mismatches are caused by removing or adding a space or period (e.g., de Boer/deBoer, St. Pierre/St Pierre). When you send a new grades file with the original spelling of the surname, our system does not recognize the name; it thinks there are 2 different applicants with the same OEN.
- The surname must be changed either by you in your school’s system or by the student in their application.
Using Reference Number File to Identify Applicants
Reminders for the Reference Number File Option
Before each grades file transmission, you may identify university applicants in your school or board file(s). This is done through the Reference Number File option in COLS, by selecting “OUAC Reference Number”:
- The OUAC Reference Number file contains OUAC Reference Numbers for the school’s university applicants and is used to update the school’s or board’s grades file. As a result, data is transmitted only for those students who have an active OUAC application.
- If you have questions about importing this file into your system, contact your software supporter.
Reminders
- You must notify the OUAC about any changes to the MIDENT and Secondary School Student Numbers (SSSN) for new students, as these numbers are used to match the school or board electronic file to the OUAC database.
- You must ensure that students (especially twins) do not share SSSNs and OENs.
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