What is OET?
Inadequate language proficiency is known to be a barrier to effective communication between healthcare professionals and patients. The gap in communication could, in turn, impact the quality of care. The OET (Occupational English Test) aims to bring in a whole new character to this communication process between patient and healthcare professionals.
OET assesses the English language proficiency of people in the field of healthcare. The test is approved by many countries for visas, study, migration, among others.
OET evaluates language proficiency in four areas: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. The tests will assess a candidate’s ability to understand and respond to questions about general healthcare, and interpreting presentations, as well as texts–in a general healthcare setting.
OET at New Edge
OET at New Edge
New Edge provides high level training to help clients achieve their desired scores through comprehensive coaching, time management tricks, and mock tests.
We encourage every test taker to prepare for OTE Academic, even if English is your first language.
Writing:
The OET writing paper requires a candidate to write a letter, usually a letter of referral. For some professions, a different type of letter is required, e.g. a letter of transfer or discharge, or a letter to advise a patient, carer or group. Candidates are given case notes which must be included in their letter.
Listening:
The OET listening test consists of two parts. In Part A, candidates listen to a simulated consultation (dialogue) between a professional and a patient, and they are required to take notes under certain headings. In Part B, candidates listen to a health professional giving a short talk on a health-related topic and are required to complete a range of open-ended and fixed-choice questions.
Speaking:
The OET speaking test is in the form of one-to-one conversations with an interlocutor. It starts with a short warm-up interview about the candidate’s professional background. This is followed by two role plays.
Candidates get 2–3 minutes to prepare for each role play. Role plays last about five minutes and are based on typical interactions between a health professional and a patient. The candidate adopts their usual professional role (e.g. as a nurse) and the interviewer plays a patient or sometimes a relative or carer. For veterinary science, the interviewer usually does the role-play of an owner or carer of the animal.
Reading:
The reading test consists of two parts. In Part A, lasting 15 minutes, candidates are asked to skim read 3 or 4 short texts and complete a summary paragraph by filling in the missing words. It is designed to test the reader’s ability to scan texts within a time limit, source information from multiple texts, and synthesis information. In Part B, lasting 45 minutes, candidates are asked to read two passages on a general healthcare topic and answer 8–10 multiple choice questions for each text. It is designed to test the reader’s ability to read and comprehend longer texts.
This five-step guide will lend you a hand while preparing for your PTE journey:
- Know your target score
- Be familiar with the test format
- Be aware of how the test is scored
- Select your preparation resources judiciously
- Practice, practice, practice!
We, at NECS, have tried to decipher the major issues faced by non-native English speakers; and have come up with tactics and training techniques to lend them a hand to comprehend English in an improved way using OTE modules.