The Occupational English Test (OET) is accepted as proof of proficiency in English for visas, study and employment in the healthcare sector. Students of our Medical English course can gain an OET qualification in order to facilitate their career in healthcare. We asked Renata from London Exam Centre to provide us with some helpful advice for students who are planning to sit the OET.

 
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• The first port of call regarding the OET exam preparation is the OET website, where you'll be able to find free tips and advice. Exam preparation materials are also available to purchase.

• Know the structure of individual tests as each test requires different skills.

• Practise writing with pen/pencil for a prolonged time as the Listening test lasts for 50 minutes.

• Make sure your responses are legible – if you have messy handwriting it might be worth practicing beforehand!

• Be aware that during the Listening test you must multitask – you're listening, reading questions and writing responses simultaneously.

• Use the pauses prior to the individual extracts effectively during the Listening - you may want to underline the key words so you know what responses you need to write while you listen.

• You need to write full answers while you’re listening - as this is a Medical English exam the spelling of medical terminology can be tricky.

• Be critical and only write down the relevant details.

• Learn how to scan texts and how to find relevant information quickly – this will help you with Reading Part A (which is only 15 minutes long).

• When doing exam practice, you ought to time yourself – time management is essential for any exam to ensure that you complete it within the time limit.

• If you're doing a draft version during the Writing, make sure you put aside some time for transferring your response on the page which is marked. This also applies to Part B of the Reading section.

• You must transfer your answers within the test time - there's no extra time for transferring your responses!

• Simple but to-the-point advice; answer the questions!

If you're thinking about gaining the OET qualification, check out our Medical English courses!