OET

Exam

Exam preparation OET Occupational English Test

Recommended courses to prepare this exam

OET (Occupational English Test) is an international English exam that assesses the English proficiency of health and medical professionals who wish to enroll and work as a health professional.If you are from the health sector (Dentist, Dietetics, Nursing, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Speech Therapy, Medicine, Dentistry, Optics, Podiatry, Radiology, Occupational or Veterinary Therapy) and want to work in countries such as Australia, Dubai, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom or Singapore, passing the OET (Occupational English Test) in Cambridge will open all the doors of the health sector.

OET is available for the next 12 professions in the health sector.

  • Dietetics
  • Nursing
  • Pharmacy
  • Physiotherapy
  • Medicine
  • odontology
  • Optometry
  • Speech pathology
  • Chiropody
  • Bone scan
  • Occupational therapy
  • Veterinary

Subtests that the OET test is divided

  • Listen (45 minutes)
  • Reading (60 minutes)
  • Writing (45 minutes)
  • Talking (20 minutes)

The OET is a sanitary English exam that is conducted 14 times a year and has 4 parts (listening, reading, speaking and writing) and 5 possible scores ranging from A (the highest that can be achieved) to E ( the lowest they can grant you). OET focuses on the real communication of health professionals in real work environments. To enroll in the medical / nursing sector, it is necessary to get A or B in each of the 4 parts. The test result is published 15 business days after taking the exam.The four tests of the OET exam (listening, reading, speaking and writing) are focused on real and daily tasks that evaluate the most important linguistic skills of each health profession.

Details of the 4 tests of the OET exam.

OET Listening test.

You have approximately 45 minutes in total and it is the same content for all health professions.The listening test: it consists of the following three sub-parts:
  • Part A: Audios of a consultation. You have approximately 5 minutes with each of the two audios and evaluate the candidate's ability to identify specific information during a consultation. They should listen to two recorded consultations between health professionals and patients and complete the notes of the health professional using the information they hear.
  • Part B: Short audios of the workplace. You have approximately 1 minute with each of the 6 audios.Part B assesses the candidate's ability to identify the detail, essence, opinion or purpose of brief excerpts from the health care workplace. They should listen to six recorded excerpts (for example, team reports, transfers or dialogues between health professionals and patients) and answer a multiple-choice question in each excerpt.
  • Part C: Presentation audios. You have approximately 5 minutes with each of the two audios.Each audio has six different questions that assess the candidate's ability to follow a recorded presentation or an interview on various health topics. You have to listen to two different audios and answer six multiple choice questions for each excerpt.

OET Reading test.

You have approximately 60 minutes and it is the same content for all health professions.The candidate must demonstrate that he can read and understand different types of text on health-related topics.The reading test consists of the following three sub-parts
  • Part A: Expedited reading task (lasts 15 minutes) and assesses the ability to locate specific information in four short texts quickly and efficiently. The four short texts relate to a single topic of medical care and should answer 20 questions in the allotted time period. The 20 questions consist of matching, completing sentences and short answer questions.
  • Part B: careful reading tasks (lasts 45 minutes) and assesses the ability to identify the detail, essence or main point of six short texts from the health care workplace (between 100 and 150 words each one). The texts are excerpts from policy documents, hospital guidelines, manuals or internal communications, such as emails or notes. Each text has a multiple choice question with three options.
  • Part C: assesses your ability to identify the meaning and opinion detailed in two texts on topics of interest to health professionals (800 words each). For each text, you must answer eight multiple choice questions from four options.

OET Speaking test.

You have approximately 20 minutes and it is based on typical situations in the workplace of each profession.In each oral expression test, the interlocutor verifies the identity and profession of the candidate and there is a brief introductory conversation about the student's professional background. Then the role-playing games are presented one by one and you have three minutes to prepare each one. Role plays last approximately five minutes each.Role playing games. You receive information for each role-playing game in a card that you keep while doing the role-playing game. The card explains the situation and what to do. You can write notes on the card if you wish. If you have any questions about the content of the role-playing game or how the role-playing game works, you can ask about it during the preparation time.Role plays are based on typical situations in the workplace and reflect the demands made to a health professional in those real situations. The interlocutor follows a script so that the structure of the oral expression test 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 in the same test.

OET Writting test.

You have approximately 45 minutes and it is based on typical situations in the workplace of each profession.There is a set of tasks for each profession based on a typical work situation and the demands of the profession: a nurse does the nursing task, a dentist does the dentistry task, and so on.The structure of the writing test consists of writing a letter, usually a reference letter. Some types of alternative letters are a transfer letter and a medical discharge letter. Sometimes a letter is used to advise or inform a patient, caregiver or group in Pharmacy, Veterinary Sciences and occasionally for Speech Pathology and Occupational Therapy. Another variation of the task, with a different approach, is a written response to a complaint (for radiography).Along with the homework instructions, the student receives stimulus material (case notes or other related documentation) that includes information to use in their response.

OET exam grades and scores

  • Grade A: score between 450 and 500 points
  • Grade B: score between 350 and 440 points
  • Grade C: score between 200 and 340 points
  • Grade D: score between 100 and 190 points
  • Grade E: score between 0 and 90 points


#LanguageCourseCountry
City
WeeksAge MinimumProfilesLevelsRelated Exams
   
1ENGeneral English Course + OET 20+8LCombined General English 20 lessons course plus OET Occupational English Test preparation course 8 lessons in Liverpool, England {367}. School: LILA* Liverpool.
England
Liverpool
1-50 16Adults 16+English + OET B2C1OET
2ENFull-time Cambridge OET Course 15 lessonsCambridge OET Occupational English Test preparation course full-time 15 lessons per week in York, England {1918}. School: British Study Centres BSC York.
England
York
1-1 18Adults 18+AfternoonCambridge OETB2C1OET
3ENFull-time Cambridge OET Course 15 lessonsCambridge OET Occupational English Test preparation course full-time 15 lessons per week in Manchester, England {1917}. School: British Study Centres BSC Manchester.
England
Manchester
1-1 18Adults 18+AfternoonCambridge OETB2C1OET
4ENFull-time Cambridge OET Course 25 lessonsCambridge OET Occupational English Test preparation course full-time 25 lessons per week in Portsmouth, England {838}. School: LSI Portsmouth - IH Portsmouth.
England
Portsmouth
118Adults 18+Cambridge OETB2C1C2OET
5ENFull-time OET Course 20 lessonsOET Occupational English Test preparation course One-to-One online in the afternoon in Cork, Ireland {337}. School: CEC Cork English College.
Ireland
Cork
1-1 18Adults 16+AfternoonCambridge OETOne to OneB2C1C2OET