OET stands for the Occupational English Test, an English language test designed specifically for healthcare professionals who want to work or study in an English-speaking environment. It assesses proficiency in the four language skills—Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking—using real-world healthcare scenarios and tasks, and is recognized by regulators, hospitals, and universities worldwide. The test includes 12 different specializations, tailored to specific healthcare professions such as nursing, medicine, dentistry, and physiotherapy.
Modes
There are three delivery modes of OET:
- OET Test on Paper at a test venue
- OET Test on Computer at a test venue and
- OET@Home®
The test tasks, format and level of difficulty remain the same for all the OET tests regardless of the mode of exam delivery.
Both computer-based test modes are evaluated by the highly-trained examiners who mark paper-based OET.
The four parts of OET
- Listening (approximately 45 minutes)
- Reading (60 minutes)
- Writing (45 minutes)
- Speaking (approximately 20 minutes).[1]
Scoring
For each of the four sub-tests that make up OET, candidates receive a score from 0-500 in 10-point increments eg. 350,360, 370. The numeric score is mapped to a separate letter grade, ranging from A (highest) to E (lowest). There is no overall grade for OET.[16]
| Letter grade | Numeric score | Description of ability |
| A | 450-500 | Can communicate very fluently and effectively with patients and health professionals, using appropriate register, tone and lexis. Shows complete understanding of any kind of written or spoken language. |
| B | 350-440 | Can communicate effectively with patients and health professionals, using appropriate register, tone and lexis, with only occasional inaccuracies and hesitations. Shows good understanding in a range of clinical contexts. |
| C+ C | 300-340 200-290 | Can maintain the interaction in a relevant healthcare environment despite occasional errors and lapses and follow standard spoken language normally encountered in his/her field of specialisation. |
| D | 100-190 | Can maintain some interaction and understand straightforward factual information in his/her field of specialisation, but may ask for clarification. Frequent errors, inaccuracies and mis- or overuse of technical language can cause strain in communication. |
| E | 0-90 | Can manage simple interaction on familiar topics and understand the main point in short, simple messages, provided he/she can ask for clarification. High-density of errors and mis- or overuse of technical language can cause significant strain and breakdowns in communication. |
