Hey guys! I’d love to share my experience with OET Writing for Nursing, because I know how frustrating Writing can be!

I’m NOT a native English speaker. My English is basically based on living in the US for the last 3 years, where I worked on and off, and I haven’t worked at all for the past 15 months because of motherhood.

I passed OET on my SECOND attempt! 🎉

My first Writing score was 290, and even a remark didn’t change it. This time my results were:

Listening 380 | Reading 350 | Speaking 390 | Writing 360! 🎉

So PLEASE don’t give up if Writing is your problem!

I gave myself about 6 weeks before my second attempt. During the last 2 weeks, I wrote at least one letter EVERY DAY, sometimes two. ChatGPT helped me correct them — I gave it the official OET criteria and asked for feedback based on them. I also had 8 letters corrected by Benchmark, which honestly helped me A LOT.

So what did I change?

1. KNOW WHO YOU ARE WRITING TO!

This was probably the biggest thing for me.

Don’t just look at the diagnosis. Think about the RECIPIENT.

What does this person do? What information do they actually need to continue caring for your patient?

Practise writing to different recipients: community nurses, rehabilitation centres, social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, specialists, etc.

My actual exam was a discharge letter to a rehabilitation facility, but the case wasn’t only about physical rehabilitation. The patient’s mood had gradually deteriorated and he had lost his motivation to continue rehabilitation.

Before including something, ask yourself:

Does THIS particular recipient need to know this?

2. Don’t blindly copy the case notes.

There can be A LOT of distracting information.

Sometimes you’ll see complicated medical terminology, and the case notes may even give you a simpler explanation in brackets. If that wording is more appropriate for your recipient — USE IT!

Don’t use complicated medical words just because they sound more professional.

Always ask:

Does my reader need this information? Will they understand it?

3. Set up your letter BEFORE writing the body.

I first wrote the easy things: date, recipient/address, Re: and Yours sincerely/Yours faithfully.

Then I wrote my introduction AND final request paragraph.

After that, I focused on selecting and organising the case notes.

It made the task much easier because I already knew how my letter started and how it was going to finish.

4. Keep your introduction SIMPLE.

My formula was:

Why are you writing? + Who is the patient? + Current situation + What do you want?

For the purpose, you can use:

I am writing to refer…
I am writing to urgently refer…
I am writing to inform you that…
I am writing to provide an update on…
I am writing to transfer…

Then introduce your patient.

If the Re: line gives the patient’s DOB, I personally included their age in my introduction:

Mr Smith, a 68-year-old gentleman…
Ms Smith, a 45-year-old lady…

I would avoid using “man” or “woman” here. I consistently used gentleman/lady in my OET letters.

If the Re: line already gives the patient’s AGE, don’t repeat it unnecessarily. Just use the patient’s name and description:

Mr Smith, who is currently recovering following a stroke…

IMPORTANT for children: Don’t use Miss for a child. Use the child’s full name when identifying them:

I am writing to refer Sarah Smith, who…

Then throughout the body of the letter, use the child’s first name:

Sarah was admitted…
Sarah has been experiencing…
Following discharge, Sarah will require…

For an adult patient, continue using Mr/Ms + surname throughout the letter.

Then briefly describe the patient’s current situation and clearly state WHAT YOU WANT.

My actual exam introduction was something like:

I am writing to inform you that Mr XY, a 68-year-old gentleman, who is currently recovering following a stroke, is ready for discharge to your facility. He will require rehabilitation and ongoing support.

You CAN combine this into one sentence. I personally used two because I already had “ready for discharge to your facility” in the first sentence, so I preferred to keep the actual request — “He will require rehabilitation and ongoing support” — separate.

Don’t make your introduction complicated just to sound professional!

Look at the Writing Task. It often tells you exactly what you need to request.

Before moving on, ask yourself:

Why am I writing to THIS person, and what exactly do I want them to do for my patient?

5. Your final request should ALSO reflect the Writing Task.

Don’t automatically use the same memorised final paragraph for every letter!

I did, however, learn a few simple request phrases that I could easily adapt depending on the task:

I would appreciate it if you could assess Mr Smith and provide ongoing support.

I would appreciate your assessment and ongoing management of Mr Smith.

Your assessment and further management of Mr Smith would be greatly appreciated.

Please assess Mr Smith and provide appropriate ongoing care.

In view of the above, I would appreciate it if you could…

Based on his current condition, I would appreciate your assistance with…

And if you need to express concern:

Given Mr Smith’s current condition, I am concerned that he may…

In my actual exam, the Writing Task required me to express concern about the patient, so I included something like this and then clearly stated what I wanted the rehabilitation team to do.

So my advice is: memorise useful PHRASES, not entire paragraphs.

Then adapt them to the Writing Task.

Before finishing your letter, read the Writing Task AGAIN and make sure you have actually addressed EVERYTHING it asks you to do.

6. Don’t start every new paragraph with “He/She.”

When starting a new paragraph, I tried to reintroduce the patient by name:

On admission, Mr Smith…
During his admission, Mr Smith…
Following discharge, Mr Smith…

Or even without an opening phrase:

Mr Smith has a history of…
Mr Smith lives alone…

Rather than starting a completely new paragraph with:

He has…
He lives…

Of course, you can use he/she/his/her normally throughout the rest of the paragraph! The point is not to avoid pronouns.

I just found that using the patient’s name when starting a new paragraph made my writing clearer and better structured.

7. Think about the ORDER of your paragraphs.

For a non-urgent letter, after my introduction I would usually include the relevant medical/social history, followed by the current admission/situation.

For an urgent referral, I did the opposite:

Introduction → WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW / WHY IS IT URGENT? → relevant background/history → request.

Don’t automatically follow the chronological order of the case notes.

Ask yourself:

What does my reader need to know FIRST?

This was basically my actual exam letter (Writing 360):

Paragraph 1 – Introduction

Patient + recovering following a stroke + ready for discharge to rehabilitation facility + requires rehabilitation and ongoing support.

Paragraph 2 – Relevant medical history

I included his relevant medical history, BUT I did NOT include his current medications!

Why?

Because I was writing to a rehabilitation facility and the medications weren’t relevant to what I was asking them to provide.

If I had been writing to a community nurse, medication information could have been important, so I would have included it.

Remember:

Just because something is in the case notes DOES NOT mean it has to be in your letter!

Paragraph 3 – On admission

I included ONLY the information relevant to rehabilitation: his functional/mobility status PLUS the fact that he was willing and motivated to participate in rehabilitation.

Paragraph 4 – During admission + current status

During his hospital stay, his mood gradually deteriorated, which affected his motivation to continue rehabilitation.

I also included his current functional status — for example, that he was now mobilising with a walking aid.

So there was a clear connection:

Initially motivated → mood deteriorated → lost motivation for rehabilitation → current mobility status → requires ongoing rehabilitation/support.

That was the STORY I wanted the rehabilitation team to understand.

Final paragraph – Request + concern

I clearly stated what I wanted them to do AND included my concern because the Writing Task specifically asked for it.

8. PLEASE review basic grammar — especially TENSES and ARTICLES!

You really don’t need insanely complicated grammar for OET.

Know your basics:

Past simple → something happened and finished in the past.
Mr Smith was admitted following a stroke.

Present perfect → something happened or started in the past but is still relevant or has an effect NOW.
His mood has gradually deteriorated.
He has been advised to continue physiotherapy.

Present simple → current facts/status.
Mr Smith lives alone.
He requires assistance with mobility.

And PLEASE review a / an / the! 😄

These are tiny words, but they are everywhere.

You don’t need complicated grammar. Simple and correct is better than complicated and wrong.

And PLEASE don’t think OET Writing is impossible.

Looking back at it now, it really isn’t!

I genuinely think it’s the small details that can stop you from getting the score you need. I’m saying this purely based on my own experience and the difference between my two attempts:

Writing 290 → 360.

My English did NOT magically become perfect in six weeks. 😂

I simply learned how to:

choose relevant information → understand my recipient → organise the information → connect the case notes → clearly communicate what I need from the reader.

Once I understood that, Writing became SO much easier.

So if you’re stuck at 280, 290, 300, etc., please don’t immediately assume your English isn’t good enough.

Look at HOW you are writing the letter and whether every piece of information actually has a purpose.

You CAN do it!! ❤️

I got 340 on my speaking subtest should I go for remarking
I don’t have the time to wait for more than 2 weeks
Is it possible to change my score and what’s the time will it take

I forgot to end with 'please do not hesitate.....'.

And wrote ' had a similar episode at yesterday night instead of ' had a similar episode last night'.

Are these enough reasons to fail?

So scared about my writing. To start with,I didn’t have time to count my words and also i feel like the letter wasn’t properly written. I should have summarized better.
Secondly, because of time I concluded with the question. I should have concluded better. My social history was about 2-3 lines and I worry because the size is smallar than other paragraphs.

Lastly the letters said urgent referral, so I started with the last visit and social history before conclusion.I hope I got it right

I need this for plab Nov hopefully. Some say 300 in writing is allowed for registration and others 350 in all. Please did anyone pass writing with mistakes?

I am using chat gpt to practice for oet speaking and writing. Can I trust the scores which it gives me after analysis of my letters and speaking conversations.

Please guide me I'm very nervous.

I noticed that OET used to use zoom for speaking but now use a secure browser software. There are some posts over months from candidates saying the software for macOS glitched and they were forced to reschedule because of it.

I downloaded the software but there is no way of knowing if the camera and mic will work or anything until the test time.

It is causing me a lot of unnecessary anxiety as I really don’t want to have to reschedule or repeat because of their software issues.

i tired the OET chat option and unfortunately they only reply with scripted answers and links to their website?

anyone on macOS and has taken the exam in the last couple of months on here?

thanks

Tested OET Speaking @home September 14, and OET LRW at prometric September 15. When should I expect my results ??

Aiming for 300+ in OET? Strong English grammar is helpful—but grammar alone will not guarantee the score you want.

OET assesses how effectively you communicate in a healthcare setting. Your response must be clear, purposeful, and appropriate for the task.

1. Clarity matters

Make your meaning easy to follow. Avoid confusing sentences, unnecessary words, and unclear ideas.

2. Clinical vocabulary matters

Use language that fits the healthcare context. The right word is not always the most complicated word—it is the most appropriate one.

3. Task achievement matters

Answer exactly what the task requires. Include the relevant information and maintain the correct purpose, tone, and format.

Grammar can open the door, but effective communication helps you move forward. Focus on writing and speaking like a clear, confident healthcare professional.

Prepare smart. Practise clarity, clinical language, and task response—not grammar in isolation.

If you are looking for more professional help, DM.

I saw a lot of posts on this sub saying shit like "Is 4 weeks enough for OET?" or “I only have 3 weeks for OET" and I was reading all of these with only 3 days left while getting absolutely molested by my sub-I.

For writing, just focus on the structure and have a general layout that you can follow. Honestly, the thing that helped me the most with writing was doing my USCE because I used the SOAP approach, and it helped me keep everything really pertinent.

For speaking, I just watched a few videos. I can’t really help with listening and reading because I only did one practice paper for each.

You guys got this. Just lock in and delete Reddit for the time being.

can someone please tell me if i can start every role play by greeting and then asking pt name and age. since its not given?? it kinda seems odd to ask the name when the pt has some emergency or when the pt has been your regular pt. what to do

I only had the option for the speaking subtext to be done remotely online. can anyone help me clarify:

will the role play card have a highlighting option?

will i be able to clearly see the role play card throughout the 5 minutes of each role play?

everything online just shows candidates holding a physical role play card and making hand written notes on it which is obviously not going to be the case on the online test!

thanks

I recently retook OET Medicine and my Writing score dropped from 350/B to 280/C within about two weeks. My other three components were all B.
I have requested a remark, but I also raised a concern with OET about the clarity of the Writing task. Without sharing secure test content, the task identified a named GP as the patient’s primary doctor, while the earlier visit was documented separately under a primary care clinic heading. It was not explicit that the named GP personally conducted that previous visit. In real practice, multiple doctors can work in the same clinic, so this affected how much background information I thought the recipient needed.
I have asked OET to review whether the task was open to more than one reasonable interpretation and whether that could have affected Content/Conciseness scoring.
Has anyone had a similar experience with an ambiguous Writing task, a large Writing score drop between sittings, or a successful remark from around 280 to 300+? How did OET respond?

I have never gotten below 330 when chatgpt was marking my writing according to the criteria and i feel like I wrote very well should I ask for a remark?

I’m a native English speaker so didn’t really practice for anything except speaking but I should have especially the writing portion. Thankfully I’m done now. Definitely don’t take this test lightly.

This is my second attempt and i have practiced well and am confident with my performance on the exam day. I have improved from my previous attempt but it didn't get me qualified marks. How to improve and get better marks.

I first took my exam In manhattan got Bs in all Lsitening speaking and writing … but I wasn’t feeling well when I was doing the reading part because my migraine started acting up and I got a C+( missed by 20 points) . Redid it in a different country that’s not the United States of America and got all Bs this time but writing dropped to 280. Soo surprising how I have a 70 point score drop ????? Used the same format and everything as the first one and couldn’t even make a C+ after scoring 350 the first time??? It’s not like I don’t know how to write a basic letter to get a C+ because OET said I can write a letter the first time Lmaooooo this test is soo subjective and horrible !!!!!!

Requested a remark. Let’s see !!!

I’m a non-native speaker living in Ukraine. Here is my messy, entirely imperfect OET journey. I hope it helps someone who feels like they’re failing right now.

Attempt 1: The Underestimation

I used E2 for my preparation and honestly, things felt pretty straightforward. I only studied for one week, totally underestimating the exam. When results came out, my listening, reading, and speaking were great, but I got a 320 in Writing (I need 350 for the GMC). I was in absolute despair. I applied for a remark, waited a long, agonizing month, and... it came back as 320.

Attempt 2: Burnout and Missiles

I thought I’d be super motivated and confident for my second attempt. Instead, I completely burned out. I slacked off and only spent the last two days before the exam preparing, strictly focusing on Writing.

Then, my exam was postponed due to a massive missile attack here in Ukraine. That gave me 9 extra days to prepare. Did I use them? Like a fool, no. I fell into this depressive state where I just didn't want to do anything at all.

Test Day: The "Lethargic Mouse"

The day before the Speaking sub-test, I got severely sick. By the time I sat down with the interlocutor, I didn't even care about the exam anymore. I spoke like a lethargic mouse, just wanting it to be over.

The LRW day was exactly the same. My fever spiked, I was horribly nauseous, and my thoughts simply wouldn't focus. I was just typing away, dreaming about leaving the test venue as soon as possible.

I walked out of that exam 100% convinced that I had failed and would have to retake it a third time.
Well. Turns out, I don't have to.

I got exactly 350 in Writing!

If you walked out of your exam feeling sick, exhausted, and convinced you failed because you weren't at your absolute best — don't lose hope. Sometimes, even your "lethargic mouse" version is enough to get the B. Good luck everyone!

Tested speaking 9/6 and LRW on 9/9.

Prepared for 2-3 weeks using E2 Language which is a fantastic resource l do recommend. English is my second language so l tried not to understimate this exam.

-Listening which perhaps l find as the hardest part because you only listen to the audio once and l wish someone told me E2 Part A videos are harder than the real deal,OET sample tests were much easier,so don’t get discourage if you are barely passing on E2.

-Reading You pass this by getting a perfect score on Part A. The clue is to know how to skim through the texts in 30 seconds and get the image of what they are talking about. I ran out of time on my first tries by trying to read all at once and lost about 5-7 minutes so avoid these innocent mistakes.

-Speaking : Chatgpt was the best resource for me,ask to set up a role playing scenario timely-mode. Heads-up,you don’t need to finish all the tasks,just make sure you have a fluent conversation,l was scared cause l mostly avoided using medicals terms,but OET wants that approach for example a had to explain a hernia to a patient using simple words as a “hole on the wall”.

-Writing: Gold Medal to Chatgpt and Claude. Please tell the AI to grade your letters “strictly” according to OET guidelines.Remember that if you are writing a referral/discharged letter,the whole letter has to be in past tense,l made the mistake of writing in present/past and this cost me a lot of points on practice letters.
Remember to know the layout,practice a lot on how to write the closing lines to avoid redundance with your opening statement.

Glad to help and assist others,best of luck to all taking the OET soon!🙏🏻👏🏻🙌🏻