How the OET computer-based test works

It is early on test day, and you are walking into the test centre with your passport in your hand. You are taking OET, the Occupational English Test, on a computer, and you have never taken a test this way before. You want to know what the next few hours will look like.

OET's page on the computer test says that it has the same structure, content, length and marking as the paper test. What changes is the way you answer, and when you check your answers.

This article explains each step of test day, in order, and then what to practise before you go.

OET test day, step by step

Knowing each step before test day makes the morning calmer, just as a clear handover makes a shift calmer. OET's test-day guide asks you to arrive 30 minutes before the start, and the day then runs in this order.

1. Check-in. Staff check your ID and take your photo.
2. The locker. Your phone and your other belongings go into a locker, and you cannot open it while you sit Listening, Reading and Writing.
3. Your desk. You type your 8-digit confirmation number, confirm that your details are correct, and accept the test's terms.
4. The tutorial. A short tutorial on the screen shows you how the test works.
5. The test. You take Listening first, then Reading, then Writing.
6. Speaking. You take it on a different day, up to five days before or after the other three. It is online from home, or at the test centre in some countries.

If your details on the screen are wrong, raise your hand, and a member of staff will come to help. The staff cannot help you answer a test question.

If you need the toilet during the test, you go through the security check again, as you did when you arrived. You get no extra time for it, so go to the toilet before you start.

How long each sub-test takes

Plan for about two and a half hours at your desk for Listening, Reading and Writing. Add the time it takes to check in before the test starts. Speaking comes on another day.

Listening on a computer

At the test centre, you listen through noise-cancelling headphones that the centre provides. Each recording plays once, so you have one chance to hear each word. That is why you need to listen closely from the first sentence.

In Part A, you hear two consultations between a health professional and a patient. You see notes with gaps in them, and you get 30 seconds to look at the notes before each recording starts. While the patient talks, you type a word or a short phrase into each gap.

In Parts B and C, you choose one answer for each question, and only one question is on the screen at a time. Part A has 24 questions, Part B has 6 and Part C has 12. So 24 of the 42 Listening marks come from typing.

The biggest change from paper is when you check your answers

On paper, you get two minutes at the end of Listening to check all three parts. On a computer, those two minutes are gone. Instead, OET's Listening page says that there is a short pause at the end of each question.

Reading on a computer

Reading takes 60 minutes, and it starts with its shortest part. Part A has 20 questions and only 15 minutes of its own, and the limit is strict. When the time is up, Part A closes, and you cannot go back to it.

After Part A, Parts B and C share the other 45 minutes. Part B has 6 questions and Part C has 16. So every minute you spend on Part B is a minute that Part C does not get.

In Part A, you copy each answer from the texts. Use exactly the same form of the word or phrase that the text uses, and spell it correctly. British and American spellings both count, so "oedema" and "edema" are both correct. An abbreviation counts only if the text uses it, so if the text says "blood pressure", write "blood pressure", not "BP".

Writing and Speaking

Writing takes 45 minutes, and you type your answer to a task for your own profession.

Speaking takes about 20 to 30 minutes. You do two role plays from your profession, and you get three minutes to read each role-play card before you start. Trained OET markers mark your performance after the test, so the person you talk to is not the person who marks you.

OET on computer and on paper is the same test

If you are still choosing between computer and paper, you are choosing a way of working, not a different test. OET's page on the computer test says that the two tests have the same structure, content, length and marking. It adds that people who prefer typing may find the computer more comfortable.

What changes is the way you work. You type instead of writing by hand, and in Listening you check each answer in the pause after it, not at the end.

Results can come sooner, too. OET says that they can arrive in as little as 48 hours after you finish all four sub-tests.

What to practise before test day

Practise the way you will sit the test: type your answers, use a timer, and wear headphones.

• Typing while you listen. Play a practice recording once and type short answers as you hear them. Then check every spelling against the answer key.
• Checking in the pause. After each Listening answer, read it once, fix it if you need to, and keep listening. Do not plan to check at the end.
• Copying exactly. In Reading Part A, copy each answer letter by letter from the text, and then look at it once more.
• Timing yourself. Do Reading Part A from a practice paper in 15 minutes, with no extra time. Repeat this until you finish with some time left.

So when you walk into the test centre with your passport in your hand, the way the test runs will already feel familiar. You will know when to type, when to check and when to move on.

Try a practice test that runs like test day

You now know what happens on test day, but sitting a timed test shows you what still needs work. On Medlinga, you can sit Listening and Reading practice tests that follow OET's current published format for the computer test. Each recording plays once and each section has its own clock. You type or click your answers, as you do at the test centre.

When you finish, you see every answer marked and explained. That shows you which part to practise next.