OET OVERVIEW

Listening 45 minutes Reading 60 minutes

A 2 Extract 15 Minutes
24 Total Question 4 Short Text
12 For Each Extract 20 Questions
5 For Each Text
Health Professional Talk With Assesses your ability to locate specific
Patient information from four short texts in a quick and
efficient manner.
Fill in the blank Matching, Sentence Completion Short answer
B 6 Extract 6 SHORT TEXTS (100-150 words each).
6 Question The texts might consist of extracts from policy
Health Professional Talk With documents, hospital guidelines, manuals or
Patient internal communications, such as emails or
MCQS= A,B,C,D memos.
6 BCQS= A,B,C
C 2 Extract 2 Long Text (800 Words Each).
12 Question 6 From Each 16 Questions
Extract 8 From Each Extract
Health Professional Talk Assesses your ability to identify detailed
Aspect Of Their Work meaning and opinion in two texts on topics of
BCQS= A,B,C interest to healthcare professionals
16 MCQS= A,B,C,D
WRITING 45 MINUTES
The Writing sub-test takes 45 minutes and is profession-specific. There is one task
set for each profession based on a typical workplace situation and the demands of
the profession – a nurse does the task for nursing,
The Writing sub-test structure
The task is to write a letter, usually a referral letter. Some alternative letter types are
a letter of transfer and a letter of discharge.
Along with the task instructions, you will receive stimulus material (case notes
and/or other related documentation) which includes information to use in your
response.
How is writing ability assessed in OET?
Your performance is scored against six criteria and receives a band score for each
criterion:
i. Purpose (Whether the purpose of the letter is immediately apparent to the
reader and sufficiently expanded in the course of the letter)
ii. Content (Whether all the necessary information is included and accurate for the
reader)
iii. Conciseness & Clarity (Whether unnecessary information is omitted so that the
letter is an effective summary for the reader)
iv. Genre & Style (Whether the register, tone and use of abbreviations are
appropriate for the reader)
v. Organisation & Layout (Whether the letter is organised and well laid out for the
reader)
vi. Language (Whether the accuracy of the grammar, vocabulary, spelling and
punctuation communicates the necessary information to the reader)
 SPEAKING SUB-TEST (20 Min) - 2 ROLE PLAY 5 MINUTES EACH
The Speaking sub-test is delivered individually and takes around 20 minutes. This
part of OET uses materials specifically designed for your profession. In each role-play,
you take your professional role while the interlocutor plays a patient, a client, or a
patient’s relative.
Role-plays
You receive information for each role-play on a card that you keep while you do the
role-play. The card explains the situation and what you are required to do. You may
write notes on the card if you want. If you have any questions about the content of
the role-play or how a role-play works, you can ask them during the preparation time.
The role-plays are based on typical workplace situations and reflect the demands
made on a health professional in those situations. The interlocutor follows a script so
that the Speaking test structure is similar for each candidate. The interlocutor also
has detailed information to use in each role-play. Different role-plays are used for
different candidates at the same test administration.
Assessment Criteria
Your performance on each of the two Speaking role-plays is scored against nine
criteria and receives a band score for each criterion. The nine criteria are seperated
into two different segments: Linguistic and Clinical Communicative.
Linguistic Criteria:
I. Intelligibility: The impact of your pronunciation, intonation and accent on how
clearly your listener can hear and understand what you’re saying
II. Fluency: The impact of the speed and smoothness of your speech on your
listener’s understanding
III. Appropriateness of Language: The impact of your language, tone and
professionalism on your listener’s understanding and comfort
IV. Resources of Grammar and Expression: The impact of your level of grammatical
accuracy and vocabulary choices on your listener’s understanding.
Clinical Communication Criteria:
i. Relationship-building: The impact of your choice of opening to the conversation
and demonstration of empathy and respect on your listener’s comfort
ii. Understanding and incorporating the patient’s perspective: The impact of how
fully you involve the patient in the conversation on your listener’s understanding
and comfort
iii. Providing structure: The impact of how you organise the information you
provide and introduce new topics for discussion on your listener’s
understanding
iv. Information-gathering: The impact of the type of questions you ask and how
you listen to the responses on your listener’s understanding
v. Information-giving: The impact of how you provide information and check this
information is being understood on your listener’s comfort and understanding.