Ultimate Guide to Writing - OET Writing Sub-test - How the score works

Sep 2, 2026

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Ultimate guide to the OET Writing sub-test explains how to meet the assessment criteria and achieve the target grade. It breaks down the scoring framework across purpose, content, conciseness and clarity, genre and style, organisation and layout, and language. The guide focuses on writing with purpose, showing two parts: making the reason for the letter immediately apparent and sufficiently expanding it with relevant details. Practical guidance includes how to identify purpose from writing tasks and case notes, plus examples of referral and discharge introductions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages30

Reading Time1 h 16 min

AccessFree to download

What’s in this guide

How the score works

Writing with purpose

What are the two parts of purpose?

Part 1: How do you identify the purpose, and immediately establish it in your letter?

Identifying purpose in the case notes

The ultimate guideto the OET Writingsub-test www.oet.com HolaΩO82OHabariKamustao BawoniHRchRHello ## What's in this guide Welcome5How the score works5 01.Writing with purpose6 02.Choosing the right content11 03.Writing with conciseness and clarity15 04.The genre and style of your letter18 05.Organising and laying out your letter22 06.Understanding the right language26Candidate Writing Resources28 4-OET Writing guide # Welcome to the Ultimate Guide to Writing! We've created this guide to provide you everything you need to knowabout our Writing sub-test. In this guide,you can learn about the writing skills you will need tosucceed,and how to improve them. We'll also deep dive on each of the assessment criteria we use to scoreyour Writing sub-test. These criteria include: 01.Purpose02.Content 03.Conciseness &Clarity04.Genre &Style 05.Organisation &Layout06.Language ## How the score works Each of these criteria are assigned a score from O to 7,except forPurpose,which is given a score of O to 3.Test-takers securing grade Bwillhave achieved scores of 2 out of 3 for Purpose and 5 out of 7 forthe remaining criteria. What is "Purpose",and how do you write with purpose?Purpose is quite simplythe 'reason for writing'or'why you are writing',and it is the first of six assessmentcriteria for our Writing sub-test.Importantly,purpose must be clear to the readerand personalised to the situation. In Chapter One we will explain: →The two parts of purpose →How to identify and understand purposeHow to show purpose in your writing Understanding what we mean by purpose and how we expect you to demonstrate it in inyour writing is critical to getting the score you want,so let's take a close look to the twoparts of purpose. ## What are the two parts of purpose? Part 1:“Immediately apparent”:The first part of purpose is making thereason for the letter"immediately apparent".In other words,making it clearwhy you are writing the letter and why the reader should read it.By starting your letter with a clear explanation of its purpose,the readerdoes not have to spend time searching for what is important.This isimportant for healthcare professionals who often are time poor.Part 2:"Sufficiently expanding":The second part of purpose is"sufficiently expanding"the reason foryour letter.To effectively givethe right kind of care to patients,healthcare professionals need moreinformation than just the high-level overview outlined in the first paragraph.That means you should expand on this overview at the end of the letter byincluding additional relevant details about the reason for writing. These are some helpful questions to ask yourself to ensure youhave addressed both parts of purpose: IMMEDIATELY APPARENTSUFFICIENTLY EXPANDINGWhy are you writing the letter?Will the reader understand thesituation?Why should the letter be read?Are your requests obviousto find?Does the letter start with aDoes the letter provide moreclear explanation?detail than youropening explanation? ## Part1:How do you identify the purpose,and immediately establishit in your letter? How do you make the purpose immediately apparent in your letter?You will be writingabout a unique patient who willhave a unique set of healthcare needs,which means theletter you write will also have a unique purpose. In most cases,the Writing task willclearly state what your letter's purpose is.However,ifthe Writing task does not have all the information you need,you should be able to findthe rest of the information in the final section of the case notes. Example1 In this example,you can see this is a referral letter about further management of MrsSharma's sugar levels: Writing task:Using the information in the case notes,write a letter of referral to DrSmith,an endocrinologist at City Hospital,for further management of Mrs Sharma'ssugar levels.Address the letter to Dr Lisa Smith,Endocrinologist,City Hospital,Newtown. And here's an example of what yo

FAQs

How are the Writing assessment criteria scored in the OET Writing sub-test?

Each criterion receives a score from 0 to 7, except Purpose, which is scored from 0 to 3. To reach grade B, test-takers typically need 2/3 for Purpose and 5/7 for the other criteria.

What does “purpose” mean in OET Writing?

Purpose is the reason for writing—why the letter is being written and why the reader should read it. It must be clear to the reader and personalised to the specific situation.

How do you show purpose effectively in a letter?

Purpose has two parts: make the reason “immediately apparent” at the start, and “sufficiently expand” it with additional relevant details at the end so the reader understands the needed care.

Where can you find information to identify the letter’s purpose if the task is incomplete?

Use the final section of the case notes, just above the Writing task, to find missing details about the letter type and main topic, then build your introductory sentence to match the purpose.

Sep 2, 2026

Upload by Finn