Free OET Practice Test
32 questions in the style of OET Listening and Reading. Consultation extracts, workplace briefings, expeditious reading of guidelines and careful reading of clinical documents. Find out whether you would reach Grade B.
20 minutes, 32 questions
Four sections covering the two sub-tests you can practise alone.
Grade B or not
Grade B is what regulators require. See if you would get there.
Full sub-test breakdown
You must reach B in every section — find your weakest.
What is OET?
OET is the English test designed specifically for healthcare professionals who want to register and work in an English-speaking country. Unlike IELTS, every text, recording and task is set in a clinical context — consultations, handovers, ward briefings, guidelines and case notes.
It is available for twelve professions, including nursing, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, physiotherapy and radiography. The Reading and Listening sub-tests are common to all professions; Writing and Speaking are tailored to yours.
Why most candidates choose OET over IELTS
The two are accepted interchangeably by the NMC and GMC, but they are not equally easy for clinicians. In OET you are reading discharge summaries and drug guidelines rather than academic essays about glaciers, and listening to patients describe symptoms rather than lectures on architecture. If you work in healthcare, the content is already familiar — only the exam technique is new. That is why many nurses who have failed IELTS repeatedly pass OET.
What this practice test covers
Thirty-two questions across the two objectively-marked sub-tests: Listening Part A (consultation extracts, where you extract clinical detail from what a patient says), Listening Parts B and C (workplace extracts and presentations), Reading Part A (expeditious reading — locating specific facts fast across several texts) and Reading Parts B and C (careful reading of policies, guidelines and journal extracts).
Writing and Speaking are profession-specific and assessed by examiners, so they are not included here.
What grade do you actually need?
Your result maps onto the OET grade scale:
The requirement people get wrong
Almost every regulator, including the NMC and GMC, requires Grade B in all four sub-tests — not an average. A candidate with A, A, A and C+ has not met the standard. Some regulators now allow combining results from two sittings within a limited period, which is worth checking, but the safest approach is to be comfortably at B in your weakest skill before booking. That is precisely why the section breakdown below matters more than a total score.
How to prepare
Reading Part A is where most candidates lose marks, because it demands a skill clinicians rarely practise deliberately: locating one specific fact across several texts in a very short time. Train it explicitly rather than reading the texts fully. For Listening Part A, practise note-taking while a patient speaks naturally — including hesitations and self-corrections, which the real test deliberately includes.
Frequently asked questions
No. This is an independent practice test built by Quizinq for study purposes. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment or OET. The official test must be booked through the OET website.
Yes, by most healthcare regulators including the NMC and GMC, and for many UK visa routes. Always confirm with your specific regulator, since requirements differ by profession and country.
Grade B in each of the four sub-tests is the usual requirement, roughly equivalent to IELTS 7.0. Crucially it must be B in every section, not on average.
Choose the one you are registering in. Reading and Listening are identical across professions; only Writing and Speaking differ, so this practice test is relevant whichever you take. See all our quizzes.
Some regulators allow it within a limited window, provided no individual grade is below a set minimum. Check your regulator’s current policy, as this has changed in recent years.