Essential Skills for Ontario's Tradespeople

Why was this website created?

This website helps people interested in trade-related careers assess and build their Essential Skills. Research shows that people with strong Essential Skills have the best chance of successfully building their careers.

Which Red Seal Trades are included?

This website provides Essential Skill profiles and assessments for 53 Red Seal trades. Click here to see the list of trades.

Which Essential Skills are assessed and how long do the tests take?

The website tests reading, document use, numeracy, writing and oral communication skills. Most of the assessments take about 20 minutes to complete. The numeracy assessment takes about 45 minutes to do.

Does the website provide answers to the assessment questions I get wrong?

Our scoring system is not designed to provide people with answers to the questions they got wrong. If it did, some test takers would use this information to achieve higher scores the second, third or fourth time they took an assessment. In a very short period of time test scores would become meaningless because no one would know if someone did or didn't used our answer key to complete their assessment.

What if my Essential Skills are low?

Most people have gaps in their Essential Skills, especially if they've have been out of school for awhile. This website generates a customized learning plan that presents activities you can do to improve your skills.

How long will it take to improve my Essential Skills?

It depends. The more skills you need to improve, the more time you may need. The good news is that it doesn't take long to build Essential Skills if you know which ones to target. The assessment will help you focus your time and energy on the skills you need to improve.

Do I need to take the Essential Skills assessments more than once?

It depends on the program you are involved with. Some programs will ask you take the assessments twice... once before you start your program and the second time when you finished your program. In other cases, you can take the assessments as often as you like. Check with your instructor about this.

What kind of device (i.e. notebooks or tablets) can I use to take the assessments?

This website can be used with personal computers, lap tops, notebooks and tablets. The website cannot be used on smaller devices such as smartphones because their screens are too small to properly display the questions.

What equipment (i.e. computer) and software is needed to take the assessments?

• A device – such as a personal computer, laptop or tablet - that is physically wired to the Internet, or a wireless device that has a strong connection to the Internet.
• A device with a minimum screen resolution (size) of 1024x768.
• A web browser such as Internet Explorer (Version 7 or higher), Chrome, Safari and Firefox.

I can’t log in - my username and password do not work?

Here’s what to do if you cannot log in:

1. Ensure you are entering the correct username/password. Your username and password was e-mailed to you when you were registered. Also, be careful not to add spaces where there shouldn’t be spaces, such as at the beginning of the passwords.
2. If you still can’t log in, contact us at helpdesk@essentialskillsgroup.com. Please include your e-mail address so that we can get back to you.

Test images don’t load and/or the navigation buttons don’t work.

Weak Internet connections will prevent images from loading and buttons from working. Here‘s what to do if you have this type of problem:

1. Log out and back in again. Doing this will often solve this type of problem because it re-establishes a new connection to the Internet.
2. Connect your device directly to the Internet. Wireless connections are often too weak to work properly.
3. If the problem persists, contact us at helpdesk@essentialskillsgroup.com for help. Please include your e-mail address so that we can get back to you.

The website isn’t displaying properly – it looks messed up.

This type of problem can be caused by a number of things. Here are some causes and solutions:

1. Outdated web browsers – Our assessments do not work on very old versions of Internet Explorer. Click here to get a free, updated version of Internet Explorer. You can also use a different web browser such as Firefox, Safari or Chrome to access the website and assessments. Contact us at helpdesk@essentialskillsgroup.com if you need help with this.
2. The screen size of the device being used is too small – Our website was designed for use on personal computers, lap tops, notebooks and tablets. The screen sizes of smaller devices such as smartphones are too small to properly display the test items. Don’t use a smartphone to take the assessments.