Please visit TDSB Central Program Admissions for current specialized schools admission information.
The application for September 2027 is open from Monday, November 9 to Friday, November 27, 2026 at noon.
Important links:
Grade 8 to 9 Transition
Virtual Information Sessions
Academic Achievement and Demonstration of Knowledge and Skills
Application Guide & Form Submission-Specialized Programs.docx – Google Docs
Leadership
TDSB Leadership programs provide student leaders with the background knowledge and skill necessary to reach their leadership potential and be positive agents of change in the world.
Leadership
Ursula Franklin Academy Student Leadership Through Integrated Learning
Demonstration of Knowledge and Skills: In-Person Written Response
Wednesday, December 9, 2026 (or Monday, December 14, 2026 in the event of inclement weather).
The exact time for the assessment will be set in the Fall.
No accommodations for travel will be made for either assessment date.
60-minute assessment:
- Two questions, both requiring a written response.
- Questions will be centered around students’ personal experiences and opinions around leadership qualities and civic-mindedness.
- Both questions will be assessed by rubric.
Ursula Franklin Academy: Student Leadership Through Integrated Learning
Ursula Franklin Academy (UFA) is a small specialized high school in the Toronto District School Board. The school is capped at 500 students, by design. The school offers integrated liberal arts and sciences packages, preparing students for academic programs at the post-secondary level. Cross-curricular future-oriented skills such as conflict resolution, computer technology, problem-solving, student leadership, and exposure to international languages will be emphasized.
At Ursula Franklin Academy, a school focused on social justice, we are committed to ensuring that fairness, equity, inclusion and student voice are essential principles of our school community and are integrated into our registration process, programs, operations, and practices.
Ursula Franklin Academy has a focus or specialization in the following areas:
- Wednesday Enrichment Program
- Math and Science Programming
- Social Justice-anti oppression integration through all the curriculum areas
All potential applicants are expected to read UFA’s Statement of Purpose & Values carefully and the descriptor of an UFA applicant.
Admissions
In November 2026, students may apply for admission to Grade 9 and Grade 10. Students will be admitted in Grade 10 if space is available.
Application and Admissions
The application and admissions processes for Specialized Programs have changed. Please review the information below.
Applicant Eligibility
Applicants are eligible to apply for Specialized Programs if, at the time of application, they:
- meet the age, residency, and citizenship or eligible immigration status requirements to attend a TDSB school as set out in the Admission Eligibility Requirements (PR518); or
- are currently registered at a TDSB school.
Applicants for Secondary Specialized Programs will have their February and June 2025 report card data included in the application.
Secondary Mark Eligibility
Applicants for Grade 9 and 10
In order to be eligible, applicants can have no more than 2 of the following marks below the Provincial standard (70%)
- Language
- Math
- Science & Technology
- Geography
- History
- French (Average of 4 areas of achievement)
- Arts (Average of 4 areas of achievement)
- Physical and Health Education (Average of 2 areas of achievement)
Prior to applying, applicants can use the Benchmark Calculator to verify their eligibility.
Meeting the report card benchmark, does not guarantee placement in a program. Only eligible applicants will have their demonstration of knowledge and skills evaluated and will be considered for seating based on their overall applicant score.
Applicants not meeting the report card benchmark will be notified by email.
Fee-paying students who are registered at a TDSB school at the time of application are eligible to apply for Specialized Programs. Please contact CentralPrograms@tdsb.on.ca if you have questions about eligibility.
Students are encouraged to attend Open House events and research the programs and schools before submitting their application. Applications are not considered on a first come, first served basis. Please take your time and carefully consider your choices before submitting.
Please note that transportation is the responsibility of the applicant.
Application Choices
Students can select one type of Specialized Program in their application.
Applicants select one primary choice program and may also include an alternate choice.
Alternate choices will only be considered after all primary applications from the city of Toronto have been considered.
If an applicant is accepted to their primary application, they will not be considered for their alternate choice.
If an applicant is offered a spot in their alternate choice, they will remain on the waitlist for their primary choice until the waitlists close.
Selection Process for Specialized Programs
All applicants must participate in a demonstration of knowledge and skills.
- Arts – applicants must submit either a portfolio or a recorded audition with their application submission using the templates provided.
- All other Programs – applicants meeting the report card eligibility requirements must participate in an in-person demonstration of knowledge and skills at their requested school.
Applicants will be scored based on their previous year’s report card results (30%) and their demonstration of knowledge and skills (70%). Applicants will be seated based on their application score. Elementary applicants will be scored only on their portfolio/audition video.
Learn more about marks that will be considered and the demonstrations of knowledge and skills Academic Achievement and Demonstration of Knowledge and Skills
Seating of Applicants Process
The selection process for Specialized Programs will occur centrally and all communication will come from noreplyregistration@powerschool.com.
Please do not contact schools directly for selection results.
February 10, 2027:
Acceptances and waitlist status will be sent via email to all applicants. Offers expire February 16, 2027 at 4 p.m. If you do not accept your placement by the deadline, the placement will be automatically declined.
Further offers will be made where spaces are available on February 17 and 24, 2027.
No offers will be made after this date and all Central Waitlists will expire on this date.
pplicants not seated in a program will have the opportunity prior to the end of February to accept a seat in a Specialized Program of the same type that has vacant seats. These seats will be made available; interested applicants will be seated in order of their applicant score. In accepting a seat, the applicant will no longer be eligible for their primary or alternate choice program.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What happens if I accept the offer for my alternate application program? Will I remain on the waitlist for my primary application program?
Yes, you will remain on the waitlist for your primary choice program. If a space becomes available for you in your primary choice program, you will be automatically offered a seat in that program and removed from the alternate program. You will be notified of the change by email and you will be required to accept the new offer of placement.
If you wish to remain in your alternate program, you must contact your current school by email and request to be removed from your primary choice waitlist. This ensures that if a seat becomes available in your primary choice you will not be automatically removed from your alternate program and seated in your primary choice program. Being removed from the primary choice waitlist is final and you cannot be returned to the waitlist.
If you are a non-TDSB student, please email CentralPrograms@tdsb.on.ca to be removed from the waitlist. Please include the applicant’s first and last name in the email.
I am on the waitlist for one (or both) of my programs. What happens now?
As spaces become available in programs, applicants will be moved from the waitlist to the vacant seats. If you are offered a seat, you will receive an email notification, along with an acceptance deadline.
You can use your results link to see your position on the waitlist change over time.
What do I do if I accept an offer now and change my mind?
Applicants may decide to attend their local school, or attend a school through Out-of-Area Admissions. If you accept a Specialized Program offer and change your mind, please notify your current school in writing before February 25, 2026, if at all possible, so that another student has the opportunity to take your spot. If you are a non-TDSB student, please email CentralPrograms@tdsb.on.ca to inform us of your decision.
My child is not a TDSB student but has accepted an offer for a Specialized Program. How do I get them registered?
A unique link to a registration package for the Specialized Program will be sent to your email address starting in mid-February. Please complete and submit the registration package and contact the school to arrange an appointment where you will need to provide the necessary documentation. Registrations should be completed before noon on March 12, 2027.
Academic Achievement and Demonstration of Knowledge and Skills
Applicants will be selected for September 2027 admission in TDSB Specialized Programs based on their academic achievement in the 2025-26 school year and based on their level of skill and knowledge.
An applicant’s overall score will be based on specific marks (see chart below) from the 2025-26 school year (weighted for 30% of their applicant score) and their demonstration of knowledge and skills (weighted for 70% of their applicant score).
Elementary applicants will be scored based only on their demonstration of knowledge and skills (audition or portfolio).
Report 2 (June 2026) marks will be used. When a Report 2 mark is not available, the Report 1 (February 2026) mark will then be used.
Marks and Demonstrations of Knowledge and Skills for Leadership Programs
|
School/Program |
Marks Included in Applicant Score |
Demonstration of Knowledge and Skills |
|---|---|---|
|
Leadership
Ursula Franklin Academy (formerly Integrated Technology) |
Average of Language, Math, Science, Geography and History |
The In-Person Assessment will take place on Wednesday, December 9, 2026 (or Monday, December 14, 2026 if there is inclement weather). 60-minute assessment:
Written responses and outlines will be reviewed for:
|
Doors at each site will open at 3:30 p.m. Applicants arriving late will not be given additional time.
Addressing Vacant Seats
Specialized Programs with Vacant Seats Prior to the end of February
Should seats remain available in some program locations, all unseated applicants for the same type of program will be offered the vacant seats. Applicants can indicate which of the programs they may wish to be considered for.
- Interested applicants will be seated in ranked order, based on their applicant score.
- If seated, the applicant will no longer be eligible for their original primary or alternate program choices.
In programs with more applicants than seats available, applicants will continue to be placed centrally in available seats according to their ranked order. This central placement process will conclude on February 24, 2027.
After this date, schools may only fill vacant seats with local applicants who are registered to attend the school, also following their ranked order.
Ranked Order Local Waitlists
Following the placement deadline (February 24, 2027), seats may become vacant in a Specialized Program. To address these unfilled seats, schools with local catchment areas will receive ranked order local lists. These lists will include, in ranked order:
- Applicants who live in-area of the school offering the Specialized Program.
- Applicants who are pre-registered to attend the school in 2027-28. This may include current TDSB and students new to the TDSB registered to attend the school in September.
Note: Applicants attending the school through Out-of-Area Admissions will not be included. Students attending the school through Secondary Schools without a Boundary will be included.
Should space become available in the Specialized Program, applicants will be considered for seats in ranked order. These moves will be made in late June or early September. This process is being established to help ensure that as many students as possible are given the opportunity to participate in focused programming across the TDSB.
Schools without local catchment areas will make offers until February. This includes: Claude Watson School for the Arts, Etobicoke School of the Arts, Karen Kain School of the Arts, Rosedale Heights School of the Arts and Ursula Franklin Academy.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Why would a seat become unfilled?
A student may decide not to attend a Specialized Program for several reasons. For example:
- Family moves to another area of the city, or away from Toronto
- Family circumstances
- Health circumstances
- Before or after starting the program, the applicant chooses another school or program that better meets their needs
Prior to the centralized process, seats went unfilled in many programs. The number was not known centrally.
Why are no further offers made through the Central process after the date of final offers?
The March Break is a time when schools start planning and building a schedule for the upcoming school year. At the core of this work is the staffing allocation for the upcoming year (the number of teachers assigned to work in each school), which is directly connected to the number of students attending the school.
Moving students from one school to another in the future can significantly impact the number of teachers that are assigned and permitted to teach in each school. When numbers shift, the result can lead to a partial school reorganization, an entire school reorganization, or the withdrawal and reassignment of teachers from one school to another in the fall. All of these changes create significant disruption to students across the system.
Is this a change in practice?
Secondary programs, which were at one time overseen by the former Optional Attendance procedure, had the same timeline for the expiry of waitlists. Secondary Specialized programs were not to make offers to new students after the end of February. The expiry of waitlists on the date of final offers, is NOT a change in procedural practice.
What will happen to the staffing of Specialized Program schools that do not have a local catchment area if seats remain unfilled?
The staffing allocations for the five Specialized Program schools without a local catchment are not impacted if seats remain unfilled. A fixed staffing model is allocated based on the projected number of students.
What is the TDSB doing to minimize the number of seats that go unfilled in Specialized Programs?
The Specialized Program admissions team and the individual programs are actively taking many steps. The steps include, but are not limited to:
- Making more offers than there are seats available to minimize unfilled seats
- Active communication with seated applicants and their parents/caregivers about the programs and the importance of declining seats before the expiry of waitlists
- Partnership with the Special Education and Inclusion department, with the inclusion of seated lists in the Identification, Placements and Review Committee meetings (IPRC) for students potentially entering Intensive Support Programs in Grade 9
