OET Nursing Explained | Test Overview and Strategies

If you’re a nurse planning to work abroad, mastering the Occupational English Test (OET) is one of the most important steps in your journey.

OET isn’t just an English test—it’s a real-world assessment of your ability to communicate safely and effectively in a healthcare environment.

In this guide, we’ll explain the structure of the OET Nursing test, share practical preparation strategies, and point you to official resources to help you succeed.

OET Nursing Preparation

Test Overview

Let’s start with the basics—understanding what the OET is.

Category	Details
Name	Occupational English Test (OET)
Test Content	Communication and healthcare-related topics within a professional medical context
Test Duration	Listening: 40 minutes Reading: 60 minutes Speaking: 20 minutes Writing: 45 minutes
Scoring	Each section is scored out of 500 points
Passing Score	Aiming for 350 points (Grade B or higher) in each section is recommended. Note: Writing is often accepted from around 300 points (Grade C+).
Test Fee	587 AUD
Official Website	https://www.occupationalenglishtest.org/

The Occupational English Test (OET) is an international English proficiency exam for healthcare professionals. Its goal is to measure whether candidates can communicate safely and effectively in English in real medical settings.

The test assesses four skills—Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking—using healthcare-related content.

There are 12 profession-specific versions of OET, but Listening and Reading are shared across all professions, while the Writing and Speaking tests are tailored for each field, including nursing.

For many international nurses, the Listening section tends to be the most challenging, while others find Reading to be their weak point.

Preparation Before Starting OET

Before diving into OET-specific study, aim to reach at least one of the following baseline levels:

IELTS 6.0 – 6.5
TOEFL iBT 70

Any of these is fine, but IELTS tends to be the most compatible with OET in terms of vocabulary and scoring criteria—especially for Speaking.

Some learners try to skip straight into OET study thinking it will be “more efficient,” but this almost always leads to frustration. Like any professional skill, OET success is built on strong fundamentals.

Since there are only a few official OET materials available, learners often find themselves running out of study resources quickly.

That’s why we recommend focusing especially on Reading skills—your reading ability forms the foundation for every other section.

If your reading skills are solid, everything else becomes much easier.

Listening Preparation

Let’s start with what many nurses find the hardest part—Listening.

Your goal should be to understand every sentence clearly. More than half of the Listening questions involve note completion or dictation, which requires precise comprehension.

Recommended practice method:
Use the official OET mock test audio. Play one sentence, pause, and write down exactly what you hear.
At first, you may only catch two or three words—that’s perfectly fine. Keep replaying until you can reconstruct the full sentence.

Afterward, compare your notes with the transcript. For every word you missed, listen again repeatedly and try shadowing the correct version aloud.

Because OET resources are limited, supplement with external materials such as the OET Health Report and British Council Listening practice.

Dedicate around 70% of your total study time to Listening. Even strong English users usually need at least six months to reach a passing score.

Reading Preparation

For Reading, if you can achieve IELTS Reading 6.5, you’re generally strong enough to pass OET Reading without much extra preparation.

To become confident in reading:

Know the vocabulary
Understand sentence structure
Grasp the meaning accurately

When reviewing, pay attention to these three points and work through the text sentence by sentence.

Many nurses struggle with understanding meaning in complex sentences.
If that’s you, try rewriting difficult passages in your own words—or translate and explain them to yourself. Creating your own explanation ensures you truly understand.

Note that official OET reading materials rarely include explanations, so developing this skill independently is crucial.

Writing Preparation

OET Writing follows a clear and repetitive format.
Most tasks are based on similar medical scenarios, and around 30 task types are reused over time.

The key to scoring well is:

Making the purpose of the letter clear
Selecting only the most relevant information

You don’t need to memorize difficult medical terms.
Generally, nurses can achieve a passing score with English equivalent to IELTS Writing 6.0.

Start by practicing writing short referral or discharge letters at that level, then ask a teacher or mentor for feedback.
It’s very difficult to evaluate your own writing objectively—getting outside feedback is essential.

Speaking Preparation

Finally, the Speaking test. This section is generally easier to pass compared to Listening and Reading.

The most important skill is natural communication—keeping a smooth pace and using empathy when speaking with the interlocutor, who plays the patient role.

Practice speaking in complete sentences without stopping mid-sentence. If you hesitate too much, examiners may assume you lack confidence or fluency.

Aim for a speaking level equivalent to IELTS 6.0.
Common reasons for low scores include:

Flat intonation or rhythm
Talking too much about irrelevant topics

Understanding your weakness—whether rhythm or content—is the first step to improvement.
Remember, improving your speaking often requires changing how you sound, not just what you say.

Sample Questions and Test Content

You can access official sample tests on the OET website.

Even though there’s a separate Nursing version, Listening and Reading sections are shared across all healthcare professions, while Writing and Speaking are customized for nurses.

Listening Test

The Listening test is divided into three parts:

Part A: Consultation between a doctor and a patient — write answers based on what you hear.
Tip: Be familiar with terms for symptoms, prescriptions, dosage, and frequency.
Part B: Short healthcare dialogues — select the correct answer from multiple choices.
Part C: Longer healthcare talks or interviews — choose the best answers from options provided.

Reading Test

The Reading test also consists of three parts:

Part A: Read four short texts and write answers directly onto the question sheet.
Part B: Read six short workplace texts (100–150 words each) and answer multiple-choice questions.
Part C: Read two longer texts (around 800 words each) and answer comprehension questions.

Accuracy is key—answers in Part A must match the text exactly.

Writing Test

The Writing section involves composing a letter related to your profession.
For nurses, this typically means writing a referral or transfer letter to another healthcare professional or facility.

You can view the official sample task for nursing on the OET website.

Ref: Official Sample Task – OET Nursing

Speaking Test

The Speaking test includes two role-plays:

Warm-up & Introduction – General questions about your background and experience (not scored)
Role-play 1 – Receive a role card, prepare for 3 minutes, and perform a 5-minute dialogue with the interlocutor
Role-play 2 – Repeat the process with a new scenario

The interlocutor plays the role of a patient, relative, or caregiver, depending on the case.
You can access sample role-play cards (PDF) and watch official sample videos on the OET YouTube channel.

Ref: Official Sample Task – OET Nursing（PDF）
Ref2: Official Sample Role play（Youtube）

Conclusion

Preparing for OET Nursing requires consistency, structure, and patience.

Listening tends to take the longest to improve, while Writing and Speaking can progress faster with feedback and regular practice.

By focusing on your weaknesses early and developing a routine that mirrors real hospital communication, you’ll move closer to the fluency required for success abroad.

If you’re preparing for OET, consider exploring our practice resources at OET Bank.

We’re designed not just as mock tests, but as powerful review tools that make it easier to analyze weaknesses and focus on what’s needed to pass.

Explore professional learning materials and courses:
👉 https://oet-bank.com/shop