Listening Section

The exam is approximately 45 minutes, with three parts and 42 questions. 

You will have to hear some recordings and answer the questions while listening. The recordings can be related to patient consultations, workplace extracts, and recorded presentations. The purpose is to test various listening skills, like identifying specific details, gist, speaker’s central theme, etc. The questions can be in the form of note-completion and multiple-choice questions.

Reading Section

This section covers questions from generic healthcare-related subjects. You get approximately 60 minutes to complete this test. The test is divided into three parts with  42 questions. It examines your ability to locate specific information after a glance at a longer paragraph and understand the text’s explicit or implied meaning.

To prepare for this section, you must read different medical text types like hospital guidelines, manuals, internal communications, policy documents, etc., to better understand numerical and textual information.

Writing Section

This section includes a 45-minute writing task based on the demands of a specific profession. One can prepare by writing referral letters, letters of transfer, letters of discharge, etc. It is marked independently by a minimum of two trained assessors on six main criteria: purpose, content, conciseness & clarity, genre & style, organization & layout, and language.

Speaking Section

The time allotted for this sub-test is 20 minutes, and it uses material specific to your profession to assess your speaking communication skills. Here, you will have to perform different role-plays of approximately 5 minutes. You will play the part of your professional role and the other dialogist will act as a patient/ client/ patient’s relative. The tasks are recorded, and the audio is marked (independently by a minimum of two trained OET assessors) on factors like fluency, language appropriateness, relationship-building, empathy, listening skills, information-giving, etc.

Eligibility for OET exams

The OET authorities have not laid down any specific academic or age requirements to appear for the OET exam for the nurses. Any candidate willing to work in the healthcare department can appear for the OET exam. 

How to Register for OET Exam for Nurses?

1. Go to the OET official website and click the ‘Book a Test’ tab.
2. Select the location and venue where you want to take the exam. You can search for the nearest location by entering the city name.
3. Click on the ‘Book Now’ option. It will redirect you to the booking portal.
4. Log in to the booking portal and click the ‘Apply for the Test’ tab. If you are a new user, you must first complete the registration process by entering the required details. 
5. Select the time, location, and profession for which you want to give the OET exam.
6. Proceed to checkout and enter the payment details to complete your test booking