Breaking news: the OET has officially announced that an online version of the OET exam will be available very soon.
This is great news for all of you who felt that your dreams for the future had been paused for a long-term period.
The banning of large groups of people coming together during the COVID-19 epidemic had previously meant that doing an exam such as the OET was virtually impossible.
This will very soon be resolved as the brand new OET online test can be done from the comfort of your own home.
There are a number of details about this exam which remain to be confirmed and here at Swoosh English we will keep you updated as soon as we get the information.
For now, though, here are all the important points we already know about the OET online exam. We will cover the following questions:
The main reason is due to the threat and disruption caused by COVID-19. The global pandemic has meant it has not been safe to hold physical tests in most parts of the world.
The OET online exam will be a solution to this as it will make the OET exam available from your own home so that you will not have to put yourself or anyone else at risk in order to take it.
Also, there is the fact that many countries, such as the UK and the US, currently need as many doctors and nurses as possible to help them deal with the impact of the global pandemic.
It is therefore extremely important that doctors and nurses are able to sit and pass their OET exams in order to be able to work in these countries and contribute to their healthcare systems.
Will the OET online exam be an official test?
Yes. The goal of the OET online exam is to support healthcare systems by allowing for increased numbers of healthcare professionals to work in them.
The OET online exam will, therefore, need to have the same official status as the paper-based OET test.
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When will the OET online exam be available?
So far a specific date has not been confirmed but it has been officially announced that the OET online exam will be available in the “coming months”.
That could mean that the exam is available as early as June or it could be later. We will update you on this as soon as more information is made available.
What is the same and what is different about the online and paper-based OET exams?
Again, we are still waiting for full details to be confirmed but we know as of now that the OET online exam will have the same tasks as the paper-based OET exam.
So, for example, there will still be roleplay tasks for the OET speaking exam and a letter-writing task for the OET writing exam.
The language level assessed by the exam will also be the same, so you should expect the same grading criteria and the same mark scheme to apply.
The key difference will be the way the test is taken.
The OET online test will be taken in the comfort of your own home on your own laptop or computer as opposed to the paper-based OET test which is taken in a test centre using a pen and paper.
There may also be differences in the OET exam fee but this is yet to be confirmed.
How can you take advantage of the OET going online?
By taking the opportunity now to get prepared. The sooner you start studying and preparing using online practice tools and materials, the sooner you will be ready to pass the OET online exam.
How should you prepare for the OET online exam?
By using online OET materials that cover each section of the OET exam. For listening, for example, you should listen to and answer questions related to OET listening tasks.
For reading, you should read and answer questions based on the same format as the OET reading exam.
For writing, you should practise writing OET letters based on a set of case notes as you will have to during the OET writing exam.
And for speaking, you should practise preparing for and participating in a roleplay with a patient as you will need to for the OET speaking tasks.
All of this will provide practice in doing test materials in an online format and it will help you to improve your confidence, your ability, and, most importantly, your OET results when doing the same tasks during the OET online exam.
How can Swoosh English help you?
We offer a range of OET courses that can help you to pass your OET exam online. Our OET materials include online OET mock exams, which are made up of all the tasks from all four sections of the official OET test.
At Swoosh, you can get access to these exams in order to practise developing your confidence and skills for the official OET online exam.
We also offer a writing correction service, where you will be provided with a set of case notes from which you must write a letter using the official OET exam format.
Your letter will then be marked by an expert OET English teacher, who will also provide you with feedback on how you can improve your response in the future.
This will be followed with an OET writing Grade A sample letter, which you can use as a comparison with your own writing.
We also offer live classes providing OET coaching to help improve your ability to pass the exam and we offer both group and one-to-one classes that will focus on all aspects of the OET test.
So, start your preparation now to be ready for when the OET online exam arrives. It could be here much sooner than you think.
Get 8 Sets of OET 2.0 Practice Mock Exams+ Post Exam Analysis Videos: https://go.swooshenglish.com/mock-exam
