OET or the Occupational English Test is a language proficiency test that assesses your communication and language management skills concerning your occupational environment in the healthcare sector. It is an authentic language assessment test for medical aspirants and practitioners, regulated by Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment Trust. Largely taken by nurses and doctors across various countries, this test ensures a sound environment to study, register, or practice in an English-speaking nation. Suppose you are a healthcare professional seeking to work in the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Dubai, Singapore, Namibia, or Ukraine. In that case, OET is the best option to prove your language adequacy in challenging healthcare situations. Some educational institutions use OET in their admission procedures as a standard test to evaluate their prospective students’ healthcare and language capacities.
OET is available in three modes of delivery. The most popular method is the traditional, on-paper mode. You can also take the OET online at a test centre. Due to the persisting covid situation, many opt to take the test in proctored mode, at home, using a laptop or desktop. However, irrespective of the mode you prefer, the pattern, level of difficulty, and evaluation would be the same.
OET test can be taken 14 times per year across various venues around the world. The results take approximately 15-16 business days to be announced online, and the official statement of scores sent postal may take even more to reach you. The validity period for the test is two years from the date of the announcement of results. OET is available in three modes of delivery. The most popular method is the traditional, on-paper mode. You can also take the OET online at a test centre. Due to the persisting covid situation, many opt to take the test in proctored mode, at home, using a laptop or desktop. However, irrespective of the mode you prefer, the pattern, level of difficulty, and evaluation would be the same.
OET Exam Pattern
OET evaluates the four skills for effective communication: listening, reading, writing, and speaking through situational communication and patterns in medical settings.
Listening:
1. Part A Consultational Extracts (5 minutes each)
- The task includes listening to 2 recorded consultations and completing the notes.2. Part B Short Workplace Extracts ( 1 minute each )
- The task includes listening to 6 extracts and answering one multiple choice question for each extract.3. Part C Presentation Extracts (5 minutes each)
- The task includes listening to 2 extracts and answering six multiple choice questions for each.Reading:
1. Part A Expeditious reading task (15 minute
- 4 short texts and 20 questions2. Part B Careful reading task
- 6 short texts and one multiple choice question for each3. Part C Careful reading task
- 2 detailed texts and 8 multiple choice questions for each * 45 minutes, together for Part B and Part CWriting
Speaking:
OET Score Scale
Unlike other assessment tests like IELTS, OET does not provide an average score or band. Rather, it evaluates the test taker's performance by grading the four subunits (listening, reading, writing and speaking) individually. Each section is evaluated on a scale of 500, which corresponds to a grading system from A to E, the former being the highest.
Letter Grade A
Letter Grade A is the highest score in the OET test, which shows that the test taker is an expert in the language under healthcare circumstances. They can communicate excellently with fluency, appropriate vocabulary, tone and register, and can understand any written or spoken form of the language. The IELTS band equivalent to grade A is 8.0-9.0. If you wish to score a grade A in OET, you should have a numeric score of 450-500 in all four sections.
Letter Grade B
Letter Grade B, which corresponds to the numerical score ranging from 350-440, implies that the grade holders exhibit operational command in the language with occasional imprecision and mistakes and understand a range of healthcare situations. The IELTS band score with respect to Grade B is 7.0-7.5.
Letter Grade C+ and C
Letter Grade C+ is awarded to those test-takers whose numeric score averages from 300-340, while grade C is given to those who score between 200-290. The grade scorer can understand and follow standard medical communication and interact satisfactorily despite occasional errors and hesitations. The IELTS band score that matches Grade C+ is 6.5, whereas that matches with C ranges from 5.5 to 6.0.
Letter Grade D
Letter Grade D scorers can handle the language modestly and understand straightforward, professional communication, regardless of misunderstandings and frequent errors in the interactions. The numerical score scale of grade D ranges from 100-190, while any score below 5.5 in the IELTS band score approximates the grade.
Letter Grade E
Letter Grade E is the lowest grade in OET. The grade scores can manage strained and broken elementary interactions on familiar topics with many errors, misusages and inaccurate expressions and can scarcely understand simple messages. Analogous to numerical scores from 0-90, grade E calls for more effective training and practice so that your language proficiency may be elevated to further better grades.
Usually, educational institutions and job interviewers ask for a minimum of grade B as a required criterion for admission or evaluation, which Gen English Academy helps you fulfil. You can even score a perfect grade A with our intensive training and practice sections.
