About OET

OET is an international English language test that assesses the language proficiency of healthcare professionals seeking to register and practise in an English-speaking environment. It provides a validated, reliable assessment of all four language skills listening, reading, writing and speaking with the emphasis on communication in healthcare professional settings. OET tests candidates from the following 12 health professions: Dentistry, Dietetics, Medicine, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Optometry, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Podiatry, Radiography, Speech Pathology and Veterinary Science.Candidates are encouraged to prepare thoroughly for their OET test.Language proficiency and test taking skills.

About the Test

OET assesses listening, reading, writing and speaking. There is a separate sub-test for each skill area. The Listening and Reading sub-tests are designed to assess the ability to understand spoken and written English in contexts related to general health and medicine. The sub-tests for Listening and Reading are common to all professions. The Writing and Speaking sub-tests are specific to each profession and are designed to assess the ability to use English appropriately in the relevant professional context.

Listening sub-test

The Listening sub-test consists of three parts, and a total of 42 question items. You will hear each recording once and are expected to write your answers while listening. All three parts take 45 minutes to complete. The Listening sub-test has the following structure:

Part A – consultation extracts 

Part A assesses your ability to identify specific information during a consultation. You will listen to two five-minute health professional-patient consultations and you will complete the health professional’s notes using the information you hear.

Part B – short workplace extracts 

Part B assesses your ability to identify the detail, gist, opinion or purpose of short extracts from the healthcare workplace. You will listen to six one-minute extracts (e.g. team briefings, handovers, or health professional-patient dialogues) and you will answer one multiple-choice question for each extract.

Part C – presentation extracts 

Part C assesses your ability to follow a recorded presentation or interview on a range of accessible healthcare topics. You will listen to two different five-minute extracts and you will answer six multiple-choice questions for each extract.

Reading sub-test

The Reading sub-test consists of three parts, with a total of 42 question items. You are given 60 minutes to complete all three parts (15 minutes for Part A and 45 minutes for Part B and Part C). The Reading sub-test has the following structure:

Part A – expeditious reading task 

Part A assesses your ability to locate specific information from four short texts in a quick and efficient manner. The four short texts relate to a single  healthcare topic, and you must answer 20 questions in the allocated time period. The 20 questions consist of matching, sentence completion and short answer questions.

Part B and Part C – careful reading tasks 

Part B assesses your ability to identify the detail, gist or purpose of six short texts sourced from the healthcare workplace (100-150 words each). The texts might consist of extracts from policy documents, hospital guidelines, manuals or internal communications, such as email or memos. For each text, there is one three-option multiple-choice question.

Part C assesses your ability to identify detailed meaning and opinion in two texts on a topic of interest to healthcare professionals (800 words each). For each text, you must answer eight four-option multiple-choice questions.

Writing sub-test

The Writing sub-test consists of one profession specific task based on a typical workplace situation. The writing test takes 45 minutes to complete: 40 minutes to write your letter and 5 minutes at the start to read the case notes on which to base your writing. The Writing sub-test has the following structure:

  • The task is to write a letter, usually a referral letter but sometimes a different type of letter such as a letter of transfer or discharge, or a letter to advise or inform a patient, carer, or group.
  • 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.

Speaking sub-test

The Speaking sub-test consists of two profession specific role-plays and is delivered individually. It takes around 20 minutes to complete. In each role-play, you take your professional role (for example, as a nurse or as a pharmacist) while the interlocutor plays a patient, a client, or a patient’s relative or carer. For veterinary science, the interlocutor is the owner or carer of the animal. The Speaking sub-test has the following structure:

  • In each Speaking test, your identity and profession are checked by the interlocutor and there is a short warm-up conversation about your professional background. Then the role-plays are introduced one by one and you have 3 minutes to prepare for each. The role-plays take about five minutes each.
  • 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.