OET Exam : Eligibility | Career | Format | Test Preparation

OET

Occupational English Test

Introduction

OET, or Occupational English Test, is an English proficiency test specially designed for healthcare professionals seeking jobs in English Speaking Countries. Its organizing body is Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment, which was born with an association of Cambridge English and Boxhill Institute. Most desired study destinations worldwide include Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. Applicants can get admissions in fields like Occupational Therapy, Dentistry, Nursing, Radiography, Veterinary Science, Medicine, Speech Pathology, Physiotherapy, Dietetics, Podiatry, Pharmacy, and Optometry. The test can be conducted in three modes, i.e., OET on Paper at a Test Venue, OET on Computer, or OET @ Home. In addition, it is recognized by the General Medical Council (GMC) and has gradually become a preferred choice in the healthcare environment in an international setting. Join iKounselor for OET test preparation for overseas healthcare workers.

Eligibility

Test-takers need to meet the eligibility criteria to appear on the exam. It may differ across the countries and institutions you are planning to attend. However, the general criteria are explained below:

Qualification: There is no such educational requirement to apply for the OET Exam. Any student belonging to the health sector looking for job opportunities in this sector is eligible to appear in the OET test.
Age: There is no minimum or maximum age requirement for the OET exam.
Language Proficiency: You must have a reasonable proficiency level in English, equivalent to level B2 or above, on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
ID Requirements: You must carry a valid ID during the exam registration process. You must provide a valid passport and national ID during the registration process.

Also, know about other language proficiency tests like IELTS , TOEFL , PTE , and more.

Career

Test-takers can pursue numerous career opportunities in the health sector after appearing and achieving a decent score in the OET Exam. They can go in any of the 12 fields mentioned in the introduction. Some of them are discussed below.

Note- Training for OET through iKounselor includes flexible OET flexible training schedules for working healthcare professionals. Consequently, you can secure a high score after practicing Mock Tests, Personalized Sessions, Problem Solving, and Strategy Sessions.

Employers and nursing regulatory bodies widely recognize nurses who qualify for OET in good numbers. They can apply in hospitals, clinics, aged care facilities, and community health centers in foreign lands.

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Format

The OET exam consists of four sections: listening, reading, writing, and speaking. These sections are 40, 60, 45, and 20 minutes long, respectively. Further, these sections are subdivided into various parts that examine the varied skills of the test-taker.

Listening: It is a 40-minute long section with 42 questions divided into three parts – Consultation extracts, Short workplace extracts, and interview extracts. Basically, you need to listen to the recorded extracts and respond accordingly. The evaluation is based on your ability to identify information, detail, gist, or opinion.
Reading: The reading section lasts 60 minutes compiling 42 questions in total. Like the listening section, it is also divided into 3 sub-sections, i.e., expeditious reading tasks, short workplace extracts, and longer articles. It examines skills such as skimming and scanning, as well as attitude or opinion of text via matching.
Writing: It is the profession-specific section, where there is one task set for the profession based on the real-life workplace challenge. The candidate needs to perform tasks considering real-life scenarios as per their profession, for which they get 5 minutes of reading time and 40 minutes to record the response.
Speaking: It takes around 20 minutes to evaluate the participant's spoken English. The participant must perform two role-play tasks, where the candidate always plays the professional role, and the interlocutor takes the role of the other party (patient, animal's owner, or carer).

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Test Preparation

The test is of generic healthcare interest, which is common to candidates across professions. The test has 40 minutes of audio. Time is provided for the candidates to write the answers. The listening sub-test structure consists of:-

Part A – consultation extracts- this is done to check the aptitude of the examinee to identify specific information during a consultation.

Part B – short workplace extracts- these are conducted to test the examinee's aptitude for identifying the detail, gist, opinion, or purpose of short extracts from the healthcare workplace.

Part C – presentation extracts- This is conducted in a manner that follows a pre-recorded presentation and interview on a diversified range of accessible healthcare topics.

Part A – consultation extracts- this is done to check the aptitude of the examinee to identify specific information during a consultation.

Part B – short workplace extracts- these are conducted to test the examinee's aptitude for identifying the detail, gist, opinion, or purpose of short extracts from the healthcare workplace.

Part C – presentation extracts- This is conducted in a manner that follows a pre-recorded presentation and interview on a diversified range of accessible healthcare topics.

FAQ

iKounselor offers one such program. Its intensive OET training programs tailored specially for allied health professionals ensure effective preparation. Also, you can benefit from their online OET preparation courses.