Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm To the Board of Trustees of Franklin Strategic Series and Shareholders of Franklin Biotechnology Discovery Fund and Franklin Natural Resources Fund Opinions on the Financial Statements We have audited the accompanying statements of assets and liabilities, including the schedules of investments, of Franklin Biotechnology Discovery Fund and Franklin Natural Resources Fund (two of the funds constituting Franklin Strategic Series, hereafter collectively referred to as the "Funds") as of April 30, 2023, the related statements of operations for the year ended April 30, 2023, the statements of changes in net assets for each of the two years in the period ended April 30, 2023, including the related notes, and the financial highlights for each of the five years in the period ended April 30, 2023 (collectively referred to as the "financial statements"). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of each of the Funds as of April 30, 2023, the results of each of their operations for the year then ended, the changes in each of their net assets for each of the two years in the period ended April 30, 2023 and each of the financial highlights for each of the five years in the period ended April 30, 2023 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Basis for Opinions These financial statements are the responsibility of the Funds' management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Funds' financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Funds in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB. We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as of April 30, 2023 by correspondence with the custodian, transfer agent and brokers; when replies were not received from brokers, we performed other auditing procedures. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions. /s/PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP San Francisco, California June 16, 2023