OET is the profession specific examination and assessment for English language geared towards healthcare professionals, which is assessed by Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment Unit Trust (CBLA). This is a joint venture between Cambridge Assessments English (CAE – Australia) and Box Hill Institute (UK).

This exam is generally preferred over IELTS specifically in relation to healthcare professionals wishing to immigrate or find work within the 12 sectors.

At Native English UK, we focus only on two specific exam types – Medicine (doctors) and Nursing.

Like other standardised English exams, the total exam length is around 2 hours, 50 minutes and is broken down into 4 specific areas.

Listening (45 minutes):

The Listening section lasts for around 45 minutes and consists of 3 parts with a combined total of 42 questions. The topics covered are related to general healthcare and are designed to be understandable for candidates from all professional backgrounds. You will only listen to each recording once and are required to write your answers as you listen.

Part 1: Two distinct interactions between a medical expert and a patient.

Part 2: Six brief conversations or speeches taking place in professional environments.

Part 3: Two extended talks or discussions featuring healthcare professionals.

Reading (60 minutes):

This section lasts around 1 hour, and has 3 parts, containing both academic and healthcare related texts.

Part 1 – Rapid Reading Task: In the initial task, individuals will need to read four concise essays and locate specific information within the texts. The essays will cover general healthcare subjects, and the questions may involve tasks such as matching, completing sentences, or providing short answers.

Part 2 – Detailed Reading: In the second task, participants will receive several brief texts related to various healthcare topics. They will be required to identify the main points and answer multiple-choice questions. The texts can include policy guidelines, hospital guides, manuals, emails, memos, and internal communication.

Part 3 – Reading Comprehension: The final task in the Reading section will also involve careful reading. Candidates will be expected to comprehend the detailed meaning of a given topic and answer multiple questions about it.

Writing (45 minutes)

The Writing section, spanning 45 minutes, involves composing a letter that typically serves as a professional recommendation within the candidate’s specialized field. The candidate will receive background information related to their task, which they can choose to include or omit in their reference letter. This task is tailored to the candidate’s specific profession, meaning a nurse would write a nursing-specific letter, while a dentist would write a dentistry-specific reference letter.

Speaking (20 minutes)

This task is taken with a live examinations’ assessor 1:1. The assessment includes two role plays tailored specifically to each profession. Lasting a total of 20 minutes, candidates are tasked with individually acting out their professional roles in realistic scenarios set in a professional healthcare setting. This profession-specific exercise requires candidates to engage in roleplay, with the panel member portraying a patient in the first part, and then switching roles in the latter part.

Candidates are given 3 minutes of preparation time for each side before the start of each enactment. The role plays simulate workplace situations that capture the atmosphere of the healthcare environment. Candidates are provided with sufficient background information to adequately prepare for their roleplay sessions.