At

Swoosh
English
We care deeply about our
students, and we want nothing
more than for you to achieve
your goals. Writing in English
under exam conditions is always
a challenge, and the OET Writing
Test is no exception.

However, there is no need to

worry. By breaking down the
challenge into several achievable
tasks, you will soon see a great
improvement in your writing
quality and in your confidence.
This guide will give you everything
you need to become an expert
OET letter writer and, as a result,
be able to pass the test with the
score you need.
oet Occupational
English
Test
CONTENT PAGE

A. What is the OET Writing Test?

B. Simulation versus reality.
C. Analysing the Case Notes.
D. Planning your letter.
E. Formatting the letter.
F. The introduction.
G. The main body paragraphs.
H. Make the reading experience easy
for the reader.
I. Avoid common language mistakes.
J. Be a better learner.
K. OET Writing checklist
–The day of the test.
L. Swoosh English is here to help you.
What is
the OET
Writing
Test?
Similar to
the Speaking
section,
The content of the OET Writing test is
dependent on which Occupational Health
professional you are. You can be a vet,
physiotherapist, occupational therapist,
or pharmacist and many more besides,
but the most common professionals taking
the test are nurses and doctors. Whatever
health care job you have, you will be
provided with a set of case notes that are
typical, practical and easily understood
by those in your profession. Your task will
be to use those notes to write a letter to
a fellow professional. The most frequent
type of task given is to write a referral
letter, although the writing of discharge,
transfer and even advice letters are also
possible.
On the day of the exam, you will be given
5 minutes to read the case notes and
then a further 40 minutes to complete the
letter. The tone should be professionally
formal and informative. The main idea is
to communicate what the issue with the
patient is and what you want the reader of
the letter to do about it. Your professional
knowledge can help you analyse the notes,
but you are not expected to add any
information or knowledge from your own
experience. You should only communicate
what is relevant in the notes, nothing more.
 WANT TO PASS
YOUR EXAM?
Go to
www.swooshenglish.com
or click our logo below to sign up for your
FREE OET Academic course
where you will get access to tips,
techniques and strategies
to pass your exam.
Simulation
versus
reality.
The
OET Writing
test is not
abstract
It is not a hypothetical situation on
a subject that you may never have
considered before, as is often the case in
exams like IELTS. Although the patient in
the case notes is not real, he or she easily
could be. The OET examiners have used
real conditions and use real information
based on real, practical, professional
experiences. You aren’t really writing a
letter to a fellow professional, but it is as
close a simulation to that experience as
possible. That means your letter has to be
a very close simulation of a professional
letter.
On the other hand, you are also writing
to an examiner, who, similar to the OET
Speaking test, is playing the role of the
reader. That means two things. Firstly,
they expect to see this simulation of a real,
professional letter, but, secondly, they
also expect you to show them your level
of English ability. Therefore, you need to
find a balance between displaying both
professional and English efficiency.
Analysing
the Case
Notes.

Find out who the patient is.

Case notes, Identify the pain health issue.

especially Go down to the bottom of the page and

the long check who you are writing to.

ones,
(Depending on your profession)
Check if it is an urgent case.

Imagine you are writing directly to the other

can appear at first glance to be
very difficult to understand. They
are a long list of dates, symptoms,
treatments and outcomes all written
in note form, which is a challenging
form of English to read. So, how do
you deal with them?
professional (the reader), think about what he/
she needs and doesn’t need to know.
Quickly scan read through the notes and cross
out (cross out) anything that is irrelevant for the
reader.
Quickly scan read through the notes again and
highlight (highlight
highlight) or underline (underline)
anything that is important for the reader to know.
Think about the most logical and useful order to
write the information in. Think about the reader
when you do this.

Write a number next to each group of

information. (1) for the first thing you are going
to write about, (2) for the second and so on.
Planning
your
letter.

Planning will
help you
pass!
I know lots of students don’t like the idea of ‘wasting’ time planning,
but this can’t be said strongly enough: PLANNING WILL HELP YOU
PASS!!!!. It really is that important and is never a waste of time. We
recommend that you spend around the first five minutes of the 40
minutes planning your letter. Briefly write out, in note form, what
information is going to be in each paragraph. The following sections
of this guide will help you to be able to structure your plan correctly.
Formatting
the
letter

Address
Remember (in the top left of the page)

you are Date

simulating Greeting
(Dear Sir/Madam or Title + Name)

a real, Reference

professional (RE: Patient’s name + D.O.B.)

letter, Introduction paragraph

so it should look like one too. That means
you need to include the following in this
order:
Main body paragraphs
Polite ending
(If you have any further queries, please do not
hesitate to contact me’ or equivalent)

Ending
(Yours sincerely/faithfully followed by a name).
 SAY ‘YES TO
SUCCESS!’
with

Struggling to pass OET

with the score you need?
Don’t worry, the UK OET teachers
at Swoosh English are here to help you!

We have everything you need

to PASS FIRST TIME including
live classes, video courses,
practice mock exams, detailed speaking
and writing corrections PLUS much more...

Go to
www.swooshenglish.com or
click our logo below!
The
introduction
There are
three main
elements you
need in every
introduction
no matter what type of letter you
are writing. By including these, you
are starting the letter by clearly
communicating with the reader what
the letter is about and what you want
them to do about it. The purpose must
be apparent from the start.
The three elements are:
The Purpose
(I am writing to refer/discharge/
transfer...)
The Main Health Issue
(, who has been diagnosed with
COPD,…)
The Request
(for your further assessment and
management.)
*Please note, if the case is urgent, make
that clear in the first sentence.
(I am writing to urgently refer Ms Johnson…)
*For hospital letters include the admission
and discharge date in your opening.
The
main body
paragraphs

This is one When reporting about a patient’s specific

of the most
difficult parts
of OET Letter
Writing
; in which order should you organise the
relevant information you have selected?
Each set of case notes is different, and
the situation you are describing and
requests you are making are not the same;
therefore, each letter will have a slightly
different structure.
history, we change the order of the
information depending on who we are
telling it to. This is important to ensure they
understand the most important information
and to ensure they remain engaged. This
is the case whether we are talking to them
on the phone or writing them a letter as in
the OET exam.
As you write, keep the reader in your mind
at all times. If you received this letter,
which information would you want first,
second and so on.
Make the
reading
experience
easy for the
reader

You want the reader Using linking phrases is a natural way to

guide the reader through your letter. Each
(the examiner/fellow paragraph should either begin with a date
( or time) or linking phrases.
professional) to easily
Here are some examples for the beginnings
understand what you of each paragraph in a letter:

are communicating. (Introduction paragraph)

To do that, it is essential to make your letter I’m writing to refer…
cohesive. That means using a combination
(Main Paragraph 1)
of dates, linking words and linking phrases. Today, the patient was admitted…
The correct dates will help the reader
understand the severity and duration of (Main paragraph 2)
the patient’s condition, plus the recovery The patient first presented on
14.02.17 with…
and the effectiveness of any treatment.
Linking words are a good way of showing (Main paragraph 3)
addition and contrast inside a paragraph In terms of the patient’s
medical history,…
but be careful not to overuse them. Only
use linking words when you want to add (Main paragraph 4)
something very different or show an In view of the above,…
obvious contrasting piece of information.
Avoid
common
language
mistakes

As the
OET Writing Test
is also a
language test,
there are, of course, common language mistakes that students often
make. Please check out Swoosh English’s blogs (click on the links
below)to see what those mistakes are. You should identify which ones
you make and avoid them in the future.
 WANT TO PASS
YOUR EXAM?
Go to
www.swooshenglish.com
or click our logo below to sign up for your
FREE OET Academic course
where you will get access to tips,
techniques and strategies
to pass your exam.
Be a
better
learner

Swoosh English
is here to help
you pass the OET 1. Make your own mini-OET dictionary. Every
time you learn a new word through case
Writing test at notes, classes, blogs and corrections, write
them down in a notebook or a computer
every stage document like this.

Word Type Meaning / Translation Example

However, it is a fact that the most Synonym
successful students are the ones Undergo Verb Do / Carry Someterse The patient
out a (Spanish) underwent a
that also take responsibility for their procedure colonoscopy on
6/11/18.
own learning as well. That means
several things.
2. Take responsibility for your mistakes. You
should analyse the corrections and comments
your teachers give you, and, instead of simply
ignoring them and writing your next letter
quickly, you should be clear WHY you have
made those mistakes before you write the
next letter. Doing that will mean you are
more likely to improve your scores and pass
the test.

You can use the link to the Self-Reflection form

below to help you which paid Swoosh English
students will find in our courses. Check out
our courses here: www.swooshenglish.com

3. Be realistic. Be honest with yourself. If you

are not consistently getting the scores you
need, then do not take the exam yet because
you are not ready to. Instead, use the help of
the Swoosh English classes and resources to
improve. Once you start to get the scores you
need, not just once, but consistently, you will
be ready to not only sit the OET Writing test
but pass it with the desired score.

4. Practice writing under exam conditions.

Although, not immediately, because it is more
important to work on quality at first rather than
speed. However, once your level of ability is
sufficiently high, you should start writing your
letters under exam conditions. The following
is a recommended schedule.

• 5 minutes reading and analysing the case

notes.
• 5 minutes planning your letter.
• 30 minutes writing it (quickly checking
each sentence after you finish them).
• 5 minutes to check for relevant content
and language mistakes.
OET
Writing
checklist
–The day
of the
test

1. Be calm. Be confident.
If you are sitting in the exam, it is because you have already
done the hard work and you have already demonstrated that
you can get the scores you need on a regular basis.

2. Open up the case note and 6. What does the reader need to
take a deep breath. know?

3. Who is the patient? 7. What is it unnecessary to tell

the reader?

4. What is the patient’s main 8. Underline, highlight and order.

issue(s)?

5. Who am I writing to? 9. Start your plan.

 15. Make sure you end the letter in
10. What do I need to make it look an appropriate way.
like a letter?

16. Use the last 5 minutes to read

through the letter, thinking about
11. What should be in the the reader.
introduction – purpose / problem
/ request?
17. Would the reader understand
12. What order should the main it and know what to do next?
paragraphs be in?

18. Is the content accurate and

relevant?
13. Start writing.

19. Is the language appropriate

14. Use your plan and the and accurate?
highlighted notes to write each
sentence. After finishing each
sentence, quickly check it for
accuracy of content, vocabulary
and grammar. 20. Take another deep breath.
You have finished. Well done.
is here to help you!
Swoosh English has a vast amount of resources
including live classes, videos, correction ser-
vices, blogs and articles and a team of highly
trained professionals for you to use.
If you have any doubts, any questions or need
any further guidance, please contact us at
www.swooshenglish.com