‘OET’ stands for ‘Occupational English Test’. It is an exam taken by nurses, doctors, pharmacists and other allied health professionals who have qualified abroad and want to register with the NMC, GMC, GPhC and other professional bodies.

As part of the registration process, candidates must meet English language requirements by passing OET (or IELTS).

As you will know, across the NHS there are thousands of overseas-qualified professionals who are working in jobs beneath their skill level due to not yet fulfilling the registration requirements of the relevant regulatory bodies.

By supporting these individuals to pass OET, they will be a crucial step closer to achieving professional registration and being able to fulfil vacancies in clinical posts. OET tests Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking skills and places an emphasis on real-life healthcare scenarios.

OET is a challenging exam, comprising of multiple components and advanced English language. The skills required to pass the exam are complex and not easily understood by most candidates studying alone. Significantly, it has a low pass rate for candidates who take it for the first time without any specialist support. It is also expensive to resit the exam. We would therefore recommend training in order to maximise the chances of candidates passing successfully and therefore ensuring greater cost-effectiveness in the long-term.

Our courses cover all 4 sub-tests – Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking. Initially, we focus on teaching and developing the required skills for each area. These include exercises designed to improve candidates’ quick reading skills, inference and analytical skills, understanding of grammar and vocabulary, use of formal tone in written English, attention to detail, ability to summarise complex information, and spoken communication, amongst many others. Alongside this teaching, we undertake mock exams with all candidates to ensure that they are on track to pass and to identify any areas for development which we need to return to in their lessons. 

In addition to the teacher-led classes, candidates complete self-study workbooks, additional practice tests, and have access to our full library of videos and lesson recordings to complement their training. These materials are available to all candidates via our online study portal which they gain access to upon registration. 

We assess candidates dynamically throughout their training to identify when we believe they will be ready to take the test and to offer support with booking their exam.

The majority of the training that we undertake is online. However, we are available to travel to your organisation to provide in-person training. We also offer hybrid training, whereby after an initial period of in-person teaching, candidates join our online classrooms.

We invite you to contact us to discuss the best option for your staff and organisation.

We understand there is immense pressure on budgets within NHS Trusts and we seek to be a cost effective provider of OET training. The price per person will be dependent on a variety of factors, including course type, delivery method and group size. We will work with you to design a training package that maximises teaching and learning opportunities for your employees while working within your budget.

We recognise that sponsoring employees to undertake OET preparation is a significant investment on the part of your organisation and work with you to ensure that the training represents value for money. You will be assigned a dedicated Relationship Manager who will monitor the attendance, participation and progress of your employees to ensure that they are completing the training as required and are on track to pass the exam. Your Relationship Manager will update you on this information regularly in order to identify any candidates who may need additional support or motivation. In addition to these Progress Reviews, you can contact your Relationship Manager at any time to ask questions or discuss any concerns.

At the outset of our work with your organisation, we will undertake baseline assessments of each employee to determine their current level of English and their understanding of the key skills required for OET. On the basis of this, we can estimate how much training each employee will require and anticipate when they will be ready to take the test. Generally, we work with candidates for 8 to 12 weeks to prepare them for the exam. However, the actual length of the training will be determined by the package we provide to you. Please click here to discuss this with our team in more detail.

It is not necessary for all employees to begin training together, particularly if you are primarily interested in our online provision. Our lesson times and course start dates are fully flexible to meet the needs of candidates. Please contact us to discuss this further.