Duration
2–3 Months
Level
Healthcare English Proficiency Preparation
Modules
9 Modules
Certification
International
OVERVIEW
EXAM PATTERN
Test Structure
Four sub-tests taken on the same day — Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking
Listening
Approximately 45 minutes. Part A consultation extracts, Part B short workplace extracts, Part C recorded presentations and interviews
Reading
60 minutes. Part A is a 15-minute expedited text-matching task; Parts B and C are workplace texts and longer healthcare articles
Writing
45 minutes. A profession-specific letter — usually a referral letter — written from a set of case notes
Speaking
Approximately 20 minutes. Two role-plays in your professional role, with an interlocutor playing a patient or carer
Scoring
Each sub-test is scored from 0 to 500 and reported as a grade from A to E. Grade B is 350–450; C+ is 300–340
Typical Requirement
UK NMC: Grade B in Listening, Reading and Speaking, with C+ accepted in Writing · AHPRA Australia: Grade B in all four sub-tests
Test Delivery
OET on Paper or OET on Computer at a test venue, or OET@Home. Results are typically available within about two weeks
CURRICULUM
OET Orientation & Grading Criteria
How OET is structured and assessed, what each grade band means, what the NMC and AHPRA actually require, and a diagnostic test to establish your starting point in each sub-test.
Listening Part A — Consultation Extracts
Note-taking from patient consultations under time pressure: catching symptoms, history, medication names and dosages accurately, and spelling clinical terms correctly.
Listening Parts B & C
Short workplace extracts and extended presentations and interviews. Identifying gist, detail, opinion and attitude, and eliminating plausible-sounding distractors.
Reading Part A — Expedited Text Matching
The 15-minute skim-and-scan task that catches most candidates out. Locating information fast across four short texts, and managing the clock so Parts B and C are not rushed.
Reading Parts B & C
Workplace policy and guideline extracts, and longer healthcare articles requiring inference. Reading for purpose, tracking an argument, and handling vocabulary-in-context questions.
Writing — The Referral Letter
The sub-test where grades are most often lost. Selecting and organising relevant case-note content, addressing the right reader, structuring the letter, and meeting the assessment criteria for purpose, content, conciseness, genre, language and presentation.
Speaking — Clinical Role Plays
Repeated role-plays with structured feedback on the linguistic criteria (intelligibility, fluency, appropriateness, grammar and vocabulary) and the clinical communication criteria — relationship building, understanding the patient's perspective, structuring the consultation and providing information.
Medical Vocabulary, Grammar & Pronunciation
Building precision in the language nurses use daily: clinical terminology and its lay equivalents, patient-appropriate register, tense accuracy in handover and history-taking, and pronunciation work targeted at Nepali-speaker patterns.
Full Mock Tests & Graded Feedback
Timed full-length mocks across all four sub-tests, marked against the official criteria, with a written report showing your grade in each sub-test and exactly what stands between you and a B.
WHO THIS COURSE IS FOR
Nurses pursuing UK NMC registration
OET is the healthcare-specific English route accepted by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and for most nurses it is more attainable than the equivalent IELTS score.
Nurses applying to Australia, New Zealand or Ireland
AHPRA, the Nursing Council of New Zealand and the NMBI all accept OET, making it a single test that serves several destinations at once.
NCLEX candidates who need an English score for their visa
Nurses already preparing for the NCLEX who need a recognised English qualification for the occupational visa stage, and who would rather be tested on clinical material than on general topics.
UK NMC REGISTRATION PATHWAY
- 0101
Diagnostic & Enrolment
Week 1A full diagnostic across the four sub-tests establishes your current grade in each, so the course targets the sub-tests that are actually holding you back.
- 0202
Sub-Test Training
Weeks 2–10Structured teaching of Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking, with weekly marked writing tasks and one-to-one speaking role-plays throughout.
- 0303
Mock Tests & Booking
Weeks 10–12Timed full-length mocks confirm you are consistently at Grade B, and we help you book your OET sitting — on paper, on computer at a venue, or OET@Home.
- 0404
NMC Application
After resultsWith your OET result, open your NMC account and submit your application, qualifications and Nepal Nursing Council verification for evaluation.
- 0505
Test of Competence Part 1 — CBT
1–3 monthsSit the NMC computer-based test, which examines clinical knowledge and numeracy. This can be taken remotely from Nepal.
- 0606
Certificate of Sponsorship & Visa
Varies by employerInterview with UK employers, receive a Certificate of Sponsorship, and apply for the Health and Care Worker visa.
- 0707
Test of Competence Part 2 — OSCE
After arrival in the UKSit the practical Objective Structured Clinical Examination at an approved UK test centre, usually within twelve weeks of arrival, with employer-provided preparation.
- 0808
NMC PIN & Registration
Final stepOn passing the OSCE, the NMC issues your PIN and you begin practising as a registered nurse in the United Kingdom.
Timelines are indicative. Licensure, examination and visa decisions rest with the relevant authorities, and their requirements and processing times change — our counsellors keep you updated at every stage.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
In the United Kingdom
Registered Nurse in NHS trusts and private hospital groups
Care homes, nursing homes and community nursing services
Health and Care Worker visa sponsorship with relocation support
Other OET-Accepting Destinations
Australia — accepted by AHPRA for nursing and midwifery registration
New Zealand and Ireland — accepted by the Nursing Council of New Zealand and the NMBI
Recognised for US occupational visa purposes and by healthcare employers across the Gulf and Singapore
CERTIFICATION
OET for Nurses course completion certificate from Opal Global Skills Academy
Official OET Statement of Results issued by OET (Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment) on sitting the test
