The short answer
Yes, spelling can cost you the mark in OET Listening Part A. OET's guide says that a small mistake may still be accepted if the meaning is clear, but it does not say how small. In Reading Part A, the rule is stricter, and an answer with one wrong letter scores zero.
You are sitting Listening Part A of OET, the Occupational English Test. A patient is describing the pain in her knee, and she says the word "swelling". You type it into the gap in the notes before her next sentence begins.
Later, you start to worry: did you type one "l" or two?
That one letter can cost you the mark. OET's official guide says that a small spelling mistake may be accepted if the meaning is still clear. The guide does not say how small the mistake must be. So the safe plan is to spell every answer as carefully as you write a drug name on a chart.
This article shows you how Listening Part A is marked, and the five habits that protect your answers.
What OET's guide says about spelling in Listening
Trained people mark your Listening Part A answers, and they read each one. That is why a small mistake can still get the mark: the person marking it can see what you meant.
OET's Listening Part A guide puts the rule in one line: "minor spelling variations may be accepted, as long as the intended meaning is clear". OET also accepts British and American spellings, so "anaemia" and "anemia" are both correct.
The guide's rule cannot help you when your mistake spells a different word. The meaning is then no longer clear, so the guide's condition is not met. "Injection" and "infection" are one letter apart, and they mean very different things in a patient's notes.
OET's Listening page adds a warning: you can still lose marks for spelling in Listening. So take extra care with the words that appear again and again in healthcare, such as the names of common illnesses.
A small mistake is a chance, not a promise
OET does not publish a list of the mistakes it accepts, and it gives no rule for how small a mistake must be. The people who mark the test decide each answer as they read it.
So "may be accepted" means a chance, not a promise. You cannot know whether your small mistake will get the mark. A spelling mistake that costs you the mark counts exactly the same as a listening mistake.
Other ways to lose a Listening mark
Spelling is not the only way to lose the mark for an answer that you heard correctly. OET's Listening page and its Part A guide name four more, and each one is easy to avoid once you know it.
- Changing the word form. If the speaker says "swelling" and you write "swollen", you lose the mark. Use the words you hear, without changing them.
- Adding extra information. An answer with information that is not in the recording loses the mark. If the patient mentions only swelling, "swelling and redness" is wrong.
- Copying from the notes. Repeating the printed words loses the mark, so write only the part that is missing. If the notes already say "pain in", write only "left knee".
- Giving two answers. Two answers that disagree with each other lose the mark, so write only the one that you heard. "Knee or ankle" loses the mark, even if one of the two is right.
Write only what you hear, in the exact form that you hear it.
Five habits that protect your Listening marks
Spelling under time pressure is a skill, and you can practise it like any clinical skill. These five habits come from OET's own advice and from the way the answers are marked.
- Write what you hear. If the speaker says "swelling", your answer is "swelling". The guide asks for the speaker's words, in the same form.
- If unsure, move on. Type the word the way it sounds and keep listening, because the next answer is already coming. OET's guide says the same about a question you miss: move on. On the computer, you can fix the spelling in the short pause at the end of the question.
- Hear the whole word. A missing "-s" or "-ed" can change what your answer means, so wait for the whole word before you type its last letters.
- Learn the common words. The names of illnesses, parts of the body and common treatments appear again and again. OET's Listening page asks you to spell commonly used words correctly.
- Keep a word list. After every practice test, add each word that you misspelled to your list, and learn it before your next test. OET's spelling page suggests exactly this.
Why OET Reading Part A is stricter about spelling
In Reading Part A, the answer is printed in the text in front of you, so the markers expect an exact copy. If the text says "ward fridge", your answer is "ward fridge", not "the fridge on the ward". OET's Reading page says that an answer which is not spelled correctly gets no mark. Its spelling page adds that an answer with one wrong letter scores zero.
The reason for the difference is where each answer comes from. In Reading, the correct spelling is on your screen the whole time. In Listening, you only hear the word, so a small mistake can still show that you understood it.
| What OET says | Listening Part A | Reading Part A |
|---|---|---|
| Where the answer comes from | What you hear | A text in front of you |
| A small spelling mistake | May be accepted if the meaning is clear | Scores zero |
| British or American spelling | Both count | Both count |
In Reading, copy each answer letter by letter from the text. In Listening, spell each answer as carefully as you can, and never expect a small mistake to get the mark.
Now think of the patient with the painful knee. You heard her say "swelling" and typed exactly that word. In the short pause before the next question, you checked the double "l". That is one mark you no longer need to worry about.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, a spelling mistake can cost you the mark. OET's guide says that a small spelling mistake may still get the mark if the meaning is clear. It does not promise this, so spell every answer as carefully as you can.
Yes. OET's pages say that both count, in Listening and in Reading, as long as the word is spelled correctly in one of them.
OET's Listening pages that we read do not say. In Reading, a short form counts only if the text uses it. So in Listening, the safe choice is to write the words the speaker says.
Yes, but you have only a little time. On the computer, there is a short pause at the end of each question. On paper, you get two minutes at the end of Listening to check all three parts.
Keep a list of them after every practice test, as OET's spelling page suggests. On Medlinga, the review tells you when you had the right word but spelled it wrong, so you know which words to add.
Test your Listening Part A skills
Knowing the spelling rules is a good start, but a recording that plays only once shows you what you can really do. On Medlinga, you can sit Listening Part A practice tests that follow OET's current published format. You get time to look at the notes, you hear two consultations, and you type your answers while the patient talks.
When you finish, you see every answer marked. The review also tells you when you had the right word but spelled it wrong. That shows you whether to practise your listening or your spelling, and it gives you the next words for your list.
How we checked this
We last checked this page against its sources on 29 October 2026.
Sources
- Listening Part A: the complete guide, OET, the exam board, checked 29 October 2026
- OET grammar and punctuation: how important is spelling?, OET, the exam board, checked 29 October 2026
- How can I prepare for the Listening sub-test, OET, the exam board, checked 29 October 2026
- How to get ready for the Reading sub-test, OET, the exam board, checked 29 October 2026