Skip to main content
Home
  • About us
    • The IH Bristol Story
    • Why Bristol?
    • The school
    • Client promise
    • Staff members
    • Student testimonials
    • Associations & Accreditations
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • My Bookings
  • Agents
  • Pinterest
  • Flickr
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • English Courses

    English Courses

    • Apply Now for an English Language Course in Bristol
    • General English
    • Cambridge Exam English Courses
    • IELTS Exam English Courses
    • Junior English Courses
    • OET Exam preparation
    • One to One English classes
    • Our specialist English courses
    • Best of Bristol 45+
    • Future Leaders & Entrepreneurs Programme
    • Group Bookings
    • Part-time English Courses
    • Hybrid Lessons

    More information

    • Why learn English with IH Bristol
    • Which course is right for you
    • Dates & Fees
    • Brochures & Price Lists
    • Travelling to Bristol
    • How to Pay
    • International Student Travel Insurance
    • Policies, Terms & Conditions
    • Bildungsurlaub Courses
    • Care of U18s
    • Student testimonials
  • Other Languages

    Languages we teach

    • Spanish
    • French
    • Italian
    • German
    • Mandarin
    • Welsh
    • Polish
    • Japanese
    • Arabic
    • Portuguese
    • Russian
    • Greek
    • Turkish

    Other Information

    • In company courses
    • Special Offers
    • FAQs
    • Enrol / Contact Us
    • Study abroad
    • Phrase of the week
  • Teacher Training

    Learn to teach English

    • Why train with us?
    • Cambridge CELTA course
    • CELTA Introductory Course
    • Foreign Teachers of English course
    • Shadow a teacher
    • Accommodation and travel
    • Apply for a Teacher Training Course
  • Take an Exam

    Cambridge Exams

    • Exams - Dates, Fees and Apply
    • Cambridge English FAQs
    • Cambridge English Exams (PET, FCE, CAE & CPE)
    • Exam Testimonials

    OET Exam

    • An Introduction to OET
    • OET Exam test dates and booking
    • OET Preparation
    • OET results & remarks
    • Stucture of OET test day

    Other Exams

    • Which English exam
    • Trinity Exam in spoken English
    • LanguageCert testing centre
    • Proctoring & room hire
    • Writing Exam Marking Service
    • Exams - parking suggestions
    • Contact us
  • Accommodation
  • Social Programme
  • Agents

Take an exam

  • Exams - Dates, Fees and Apply
  • FAQs
  • LanguageCert testing centre
  • Cambridge Exams (PET, FCE, CAE & CPE)
  • Which English exam is right for me?
  • Exam Testimonials
  • OET Exam test dates and booking
    • An Introduction to OET
    • Stucture of OET test day
    • OET results & remarks
  • OET Preparation
  • Trinity Exam in spoken English
  • Proctoring & room hire
  • Exams - parking suggestions
  • Contact Us

Useful Expressions

Check out IH Bristol’s extensive list of commonly used (and useful!) English expressions available for free to beginners up to advanced users. See our Useful Expressions

An Introduction to OET

An introduction to OET

International House Bristol are delighted to announce that we are now a test venue for the OET (Occupational English Test). OET is an international English language test that assesses the language proficiency of healthcare professionals seeking to register and practise in an English-speaking environment.

OET is now accepted by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), General Medical Council (GMC) and most recently the General Pharmaceutical Council in the UK as an alternative to the IELTS. 

OET tests health practitioners from the following 12 professions:

 

Why choose OET over other academic tests?

Do you need to take an English test to work or study in healthcare in the UK,  Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Ukraine, Dubai, Singapore or Namibia?

Then OET is the test for you!

By taking OET you will prove you have the right level of English plus you’ll be learning the kind of language you will need every day at work. As the only English language test made specifically for the healthcare industry, it uses real healthcare scenarios – which can make you feel more confident than an academic English test.

Additionally, as OET replicates the types of communication skills you would need in a healthcare workplace, you’re developing as a professional while you learn.

  • OET is widely recognised as proof of English proficiency for registration, study and work in the healthcare sector, as well as for visas in some countries. Click here for a list of organisations that recognise OET results as proof of English language proficiency
  • OET is recommended by past test takers as the preparation and test materials help you develop language skills for success in your career – see stories about people like you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between OET and IELTS? Which is easier?

  • The key difference for you as a health care worker, is that 100% of the OET exam topics, readings, roleplays, etc are from realistic healthcare contexts; IELTS is more General English with some academic English focus, too. The OET medical contexts should therefore both improve your confidence in the exam (you will be very familiar with the healthcare vocabulary and contexts), and also help you when you are back at work - our preparation course will give you feedback on your performance and English.
  • We've written a blog post with a more detailed explanation of this here

Is this an exam you need to prepare for?

  • The OET exam has quite specific formats for each paper, each of which will need quite specific exam strategies. We will raise your awareness of the different strategies to try to use, give you practice, reflection and feedback time for these. This will maximise your confidence and chances of success going into the exam.

I've watched online preparation materials and videos - how is an intensive course different?/Is a formal course necessary?

  • Online preparation videos and blogs are good and have a place in your own self study preparation. However, there is no interactive element, and therefore no chance for you to ask live questions, and no chance for you to have any feedback on your own individual progress, English weaknesses, and skill specific strategies. This is what you do get when you do our IH Bristol preparation course.

Is the course suitable for all 12 professions?

  • No, the OET preparation course is authorised in the UK to prepare health care workers for nurses, midwives and doctors.

My healthcare profession isn't listed, is this is the exam/course for me?

  • Our OET exam centre has exams for the various OET disciplines, but our preparation course is focused on nurses, midwives and doctors.

    How long does an OET certificate last?

    • You need to check with the relevant registered body in the UK (eg NMC or GMC). These typically state that OET qualifications are valid for two years. 

    I am not yet a qualified healthcare professional, will this course help me?

    • No, this preparation course is for those already qualified in their own countries as healthcare professionals and is not a Medical English course. This preparation course is only for nurses, midwives and doctors.

    Book the exam | Book the preparation course

     

    Research

    Research indicates that the test is appropriate in content and difficulty for the healthcare workplace.

    A 2013 study by Cambridge English Language Assessment (Vidakovic & Khalifa, 2013) found that success at OET is a good indicator of workplace readiness in terms of language proficiency. 93% of health professionals agreed or strongly agreed that their employees and colleagues who have taken OET use English effectively in the health-related workplace. OET test takers found that the relevance to their professional contexts of test topics and content helped them engage more with the test preparation process, and made them feel confident about their ability to communicate effectively with patients, carers, and colleagues.

    In a 2013 study by the Language Testing Research Centre (LTRC) at the University of Melbourne (Macqueen, Pill, Elder, Knoch, 2013), OET test takers reported that the test tasks were highly relevant to workplace communication, and therefore taking OET had a beneficial impact in terms of acculturation as well as language proficiency. The research was conducted in Australia and noted that preparing for the test helped set their expectations of professional life and the workplace in the Australian context, and aspects of test content and tasks helped them participate more effectively when working in Australia.

    CBLA, in partnership with the LTRC and Cambridge Assessment English, is engaged in an ongoing programme of research and validation to ensure that OET continues to reflect the demands of communication in the workplace and that the test experience continues to have a positive impact on candidates and other stakeholders.

     

     

     

     

    • translation-spanish
    • translation-portuguese
    • translation-japanese
    • translation-korean
    • translation-chinese
    • translation-turkish
    • translation-german
    • translation-russian
    • translation-italian
    • translation-french
    • cambridge-assessment
    • english-uk
    • british-council
    • cambridge-english
    • el-gazette
    • Contact Us
    • Policies, Terms & Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Job Vacancies
    • Login
    International House Bristol (OR)
    27 Oakfield Road, Clifton
    Bristol BS8 2AT
    UK
    (registered address)
    International House Bristol (QA)
    2 Queens Avenue, Clifton
    Bristol BS8 1SE
    UK
    Tel: +44 (0) 117 9090911
    Email: info@ihbristol.com
    © 2022 IH Bristol - All rights reserved