20/11/2023
What is OET?
OET™ (the Occupational English Test) is the world’s only global English language test developed specifically for healthcare professionals. OETassesses the English language proficiency of foreign trained healthcare professionals who are seeking to register and practice in an English-speakingenvironment.
It provides a valid and reliable assessment of allfour language skills – listening, reading, writing andspeaking – with an emphasis on communication inhealthcare settings.
OET tests health professionals from thefollowing 12 professions:
Dentistry Dietetics Medicine
Nursing
Occupationaltheraphy
Optometry Pharmacy
Physiotheraphy
Podiatry Radiography Speech
Pathology
Veterinaryscience
OET is owned by Cambridge Boxhill LanguageAssessment (CBLA). CBLA is a joint venture betweenCambridge Assessment English and the Box HillInstitute. Cambridge Assessment English, a not-forprofit department of the world-renowned Universityof Cambridge is the world’s leading provider oflanguage assessment for learners and teachersof English. Cambridge Assessment English alsodevelops IELTS.
Valid & Reliable
OET was developed in the late 1980s, undercontract to the Australian Federal Government, anddesigned by the University of Melbourne’s ProfessorTim McNamara - one of the original developers ofthe world-renowned IELTS (International EnglishLanguage Testing System) test.
Backed by over 30 years of research by theLanguage Testing Research Centre (LTRC) at theUniversity of Melbourne, OET has gone through a continuous cycle of research, validation andevaluation to ensure it is fit for purpose and relevant today.