OET Quick Tips

2014

Listening  (approx.  50  minutes)  

You have 1 minute before each section of a test starts...USE IT to read all the questions
ahead of you. This IS most important for Listening. If you try to listen and look at the question at the
same time, you will fall behind because there is only one chance to hear it...The tape of the
conversation or speech is never repeated.

• Write as much as you can in note form, because this is a note-taking activity
• Don't copy what you hear word for word
• Don't write in complete sentences
• Aim for a clear, concise, condensed and detailed presentation of information
• If the patient uses descriptive expressions particularly to describe his or her condition, you can
either:
o Take the exact words and put them in quotes, e.g. ‘under the weather’ or ‘2 weeks
and off food’
o Or paraphrase, like this: feeling unwell 2/52, no appetite
• Be careful to put your information under the relevant heading.
• If you write in the wrong section, don’t waste time erasing or re-copying; just use arrows to
indicate the shift
• Handwriting is important. Its hard to write legibly under time pressure, but remember, if your
work is unreadable you won’t gain marks  
Reading  (60  minutes)  
The reading section of the OET exam is for some the trickiest part of the whole exam. Part A in
particular can be quite intimidating because of its very short timeframe. Be very conscious of time!

Sometimes, the texts are about a person’s personal experience with a disease or issue. Other times, it
could be just a table containing statistics or other types of data. It could also be a health professional’s
professional opinion, the description of an illness or disease, or even how to treat or manage a
particular condition.

Learn to search out information by skimming through the ‘Text Booklet’. As Part A is only for 15
minutes, technically this does not allow you sufficient time to read all the paragraphs of information
provided. The technique to ace this is to find key words in the questions and quickly scroll through the
information text and identify the key word. Once you do, you will find the answer there.

Do not waste time wondering if this is the correct one or not...FILL IN THE BLANKS. Example - The
success and survival rate for patients undergoing balloon angioplasty during a myocardial infarct is
____%. The key word is "balloon angioplasty"...go to the information/text and search for this word and
you should find the data to fill in the blank. DO NOT READ THE WHOLE information/TEXT...you will
have NO time after reading to do you questions!!

The Part B reading section is a test of your comprehension ability. It involves two reading passages
and respective multiple-choice questions.  

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 OET Quick Tips
2014
 

In many instances with multiple-choice questions there are usually two answers that are right. You
have to choose the best one. You need to narrow it down to the one correct answer!
• Read and examine the headline of the passage very carefully, as it should tell you what the
passage is about
• Read the first paragraph very carefully, as it should tell you what the passage is about as well
• When you have done this, read through the passage very quickly from beginning to end so
you have an idea of what the passages are about. This is where your skim reading skills should
be used!
• Don’t worry if you do not understand every single word.
• If you have no idea, go through each of the options and cross off the ones (usually 2 options),
which are definitely wrong. This will narrow your options down to two usually
• If the question refers to a particular paragraph, and is asking you what the general
meaning/implication is, this is usually given at the end/ opening sentence.
• Usually the statements that are extreme or too precise are wrong:
o ALL A are B.
o A are always B.
o A is extremely B. etc.
• Unless, directly stated in the paragraph/ article, medicine usually has lots of exceptions and
grey areas. Avoid EXTREME/DEFINITIVE statements

Remember that a computer program marks this section of the OET exam. This means there is no
room for “error” in completing the computer answer sheet.
Writing  (45  minutes)
The Writing sub-test involves a task in which test takers, via interaction with a set of clinical case
notes, produce a letter (usually of referral) to another professional. The letter must record treatment
offered to date and the issues to be addressed by the other professional following instructions given
within the test. The letter must take account of the stimulus material presented in the case notes.

Assessors give a score from 1 to 6 for each of the five criteria listed below:

• Overall task fulfilm ent – including whether the response is of the required length (The body
of the letter should be approximately 180-200 words)
• Appropriateness of language – the use of appropriate vocabulary and tone in the
response, and whether it is organised appropriately
• Comprehension of stimulus – including whether the response shows you have
understood the situation and provided relevant rather than unnecessary information to your
reader
• Control of linguistic features (grammar and cohesion) – including how effectively you
communicate using the grammatical structures and cohesive devices of English
• Control of presentation features (spelling, punctuation and layout) – including
how these areas affect the m essage you want to com m unicate

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 OET Quick Tips
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Remember the 4 key steps:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sam ple Letter (The body of the letter should be approximately 180-200 words):  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Resource: http://www.amt.org.au  

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 OET Quick Tips
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Speaking  (approx.  20  minutes)  

OET speaking session is a dialogue (role-play) between you (the health professional) and the
interviewer (the patient). However, the majority of time is devoted to you to show off your speaking
skills.

The interviewer will be advised to speak minimally unless prompted by you with
questions.

• After the interviewer introduces the scenario, ask questions to clarify or establish the
situation/concern more fully.
o e.g. So how long have you had this pain for? What is exactly is it about the drug that
you are concerned about?
• If you need more time to think about your response but you don’t want a big gap of silence,
mirror or reflect the concerns or questions the interviewer raises. This is not only good for you
to buy time but also a great way of expressing empathy and demonstrating that you
comprehend fully what they are saying.
o e.g. So from what I can understand Mr/s …., you are worried about your son’s lack of
concentration at school. I can see that it must have been so serious that you
considered the possibility of an underlying medical complication. I am sure that coming
up with a diagnosis would clear a lot of things up for you.
• Don’t ever assume that the patient knows everything about the medical concern that they are
coming to you with. That is why they are consulting with you. Describe and define every basic
aspect of their health condition.
o e.g. Hypotension -> define it/ ask the patient if they fully understand what it is.
Particularly if they have concerns with compliance, going into a bit more detail
scientifically may be more persuasive for the patient.
• If you need to explain to the patient about a certain procedure or therapy, ~remember!~
although the interviewer can see you, the examiner can’t as the role-play is voice recorded.
Therefore, make a concerted effort to describe every little detail in words, however obvious it
may sound. It is not the knowledge that they are grading you on but your speaking fluency.
o e.g. using a walking frame: be descriptive right down to which hand/foot goes where
and when.
• If you have no idea about the disease condition/treatment, hypothesis.
o e.g. That sounds like a respiratory condition, which the doctor will be able to clarify to
you about. However, from my understanding of respiratory conditions in general, it is
important that you are supplied with sufficient oxygen and make sure that your airways
are cleared of mucus or any foreign particles etc.

Remember to speak slowly ad clearly. This will not only stretch out the time and minimise the amount
of mistakes that you may say but also dilute out any thick accents.  

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 OET Quick Tips
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Marking  
The OET Centre works with the Language Testing Research Centre at the University of Melbourne to
ensure the reliability of test results and analysis.

Each of the four sub-tests is assessed in a specific way:

• Assessors who receive comprehensive training before each administration mark the Listening
sub-test.
• Computer scans the answer sheet and the data analysed.
• Two assessors independently mark each writing script.
• Two assessors independently mark each speaking recording.

How is the final grade obtained from the score for each sub -test?

Listening and Reading: There is no fixed score-to-grade link for these sub-tests. The
grades are re-set every time the test is taken because different test materials are used each time. Test
elements may be removed if they are found not to contribute to the overall reliability of the sub-test.

The Listening and Reading sub-test scores rank all candidates taking a sub-test at the sam e
time, from strongest to weakest performance. To establish where the boundaries between the grades
(A-E) are, we look at the grades set for a specific Writing sub-test and Speaking sub-test. A m ean
average of the percentage in each grade for these two sub-tests is taken and applied to the
spread of performances on the Listening and Reading sub-tests.

For example, if 8% of candidates have grade A for W riting and 10% have grade A for
Speaking, the average is 9% . Then, the strongest 9% of candidates in the Listening
and Reading sub-tests are also awarded a grade A for those sub-tests. This process is
carried out for all five grades.

Resource: https://www.occupationalenglishtest.org  

MAJESTiiC  GCG  
 

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