OET Grade B Plan Week 5: Part A Detail and Timed Tasks

This week's sessions

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Day 1 · 🎧 Listening · about 30 minListening Part A: two consultationsRead this week's lesson, then do the listening set below. Read the notes and predict each gap before you play the recording. Play each recording once.
Day 2 · ✍️ Writing · about 35 minA timed letter, start to finishWrite the nursing referral letter again without looking at your first version: 5 minutes reading, then 30 minutes writing. Then compare the two: is the purpose clearer and the letter more concise?
Day 3 · 📖 Reading · about 35 minReading Parts B and C, timedDo Parts B and C together in 30 minutes. Before you check your answers, mark the questions you guessed.
Day 4 · 🗣️ Speaking · about 30 minRole-plays: your two weakest criteriaChoose the two criteria you found hardest in week 4. Record two cards, focusing on those two, and listen back for them.
Day 5 · 🔤 Vocabulary · about 20 minSpelling body and health wordsGo through the body and health words and write down any you can't spell confidently. Test yourself on them again at the end of the session.

This week's lesson: exact detail in Listening Part A

Part A of OET Listening is two consultations between a health professional and a patient. You complete the professional's notes as you listen. It looks like the easiest part, but at C+ it's often where marks slip away, because an answer that's nearly right scores nothing.

Predict before you listen

Use the time before each recording to read the notes and predict each gap:

What type of word? A number, a body part, a time, a medicine, a symptom?
What fits the grammar? "Feels like a ___" needs a noun, perhaps with an adjective. "Usually starts in the late ___" needs a time of day.
What comes before and after? The words around a gap help you find your place in the recording.

Write what you hear

Part A answers come from the recording. Write the words the speaker uses when they fit the gap, and don't change them into medical terms. If the patient says "a tight band", write that, not your own word for it.

Listen for corrections

Patients change their minds, just as in real consultations:

"Ibuprofen at first. Actually, no, sorry, paracetamol mostly, and only sometimes ibuprofen."

The answer is paracetamol. Signal words such as actually, sorry, I mean and no, wait tell you the next information replaces the first.

Small words change the meaning

At B, the details have to be exact:

Which side? right or left.
Which part? the outside of the foot, not just the foot.
Which situation? three out of ten walking on flat ground, but six going down stairs. Read the note to see which one it asks for.
How often and how many? five or six cups a day, two to three times a night.

Spelling counts

Practise spelling the words that come up often: body parts (shoulder, abdomen, ankle), symptoms (nausea, dizziness, breathless), and common medicine names. If you're not sure of a spelling, write your best attempt. A blank can't score.

Keep up with the recording

If you miss a gap, leave it and listen for the next one. Use the words in the notes to find your place again. At the end, go back and fill any gaps with your best guess.

Bringing it together

This week also brings back the other three sub-tests under time pressure: a full timed letter, all of Reading Parts B and C, and two role-plays. Keep using what you've practised:

Reading: paraphrase, the three traps, and paragraph by paragraph.
Writing: purpose first, keep or cut, a specific request.
Speaking: the four clinical communication criteria, and teach-back.

This week

Do the listening set, then check every gap you missed. For each one, decide: was it a correction, a small word, the wrong situation, or spelling? Count which one appears most, and listen for it especially in week 6.

Practice for this week

Listening Part A: two consultations

Loading questions…

Weekly check: OET practice test

Do Reading Part A in 15 minutes, then both role-plays with the timers. For the role-plays, check every task on the card and your teach-back question.

Start the weekly check

When you finish, come back to your plan home: your dashboard updates with the new score.

Answers, explanations and transcripts

Finish the test first, then open each section to check your answers. Every answer has an explanation.

Listening Part A: two consultations

Transcript: Part A, consultation 1: Mr Farouk (medicine)

Doctor: Come in, Mr Farouk. What's brought you in today?

Patient: It's these headaches. I've had them on and off for about six weeks now, but in the last fortnight they've been almost every day.

Doctor: Whereabouts is the pain?

Patient: Mostly across my forehead, and sometimes at the back of my neck. It feels like a tight band. It's not throbbing.

Doctor: And when do they usually start?

Patient: Late afternoon, mainly. I'm doing long shifts at the warehouse at the moment, and by about four o'clock it's there.

Doctor: Have you noticed anything that makes it worse?

Patient: Looking at the screen for the stock system, definitely. And I'm not sleeping well. Maybe five hours a night.

Doctor: What have you been taking for it?

Patient: Ibuprofen at first. Actually, no, sorry, paracetamol mostly, and only sometimes ibuprofen. But if I'm honest, I've been taking something most days.

Doctor: OK. Any problems with your vision, any weakness or numbness, or vomiting?

Patient: No, nothing like that. My eyes get a bit tired, that's all.

Doctor: And how much coffee are you drinking?

Patient: Probably five or six cups a day. More on night shifts.

Transcript: Part A, consultation 2: Ms Tran (physiotherapy)

Physio: Hi, Ms Tran, have a seat. So it's your right ankle?

Patient: Yes. I rolled it playing netball, nine days ago now. I heard a sort of pop at the time.

Physio: Were you able to walk on it straight afterwards?

Patient: Not really. I hopped off the court, and it swelled up within an hour. The bruising came out the next day, all down the outside of my foot.

Physio: What have you been doing for it since?

Patient: Ice for the first couple of days, and I've kept it up when I can. I bought a compression bandage from the chemist. I was on crutches, but I'm putting more weight on it now.

Physio: How's the pain?

Patient: About three out of ten when I'm walking on flat ground. Going down stairs is the worst. That's more like six.

Physio: Has it given way at all?

Patient: Once, on Tuesday, stepping off a kerb. It didn't hurt much, but it gave me a fright.

Physio: And what are you hoping to get back to?

Patient: Netball, ideally. Our finals start in five weeks.

Transcript: Part B: a pharmacist and an assistant

Pharmacist: That customer asking for the strong cold and flu tablets: before you sell her anything, could you check whether she's breastfeeding? She mentioned a new baby. Some of those products aren't suitable, and if they're not, I'd like to talk to her myself about other options.

Transcript: Part B: a nurse unit manager

Several of you have asked whether the new bedside handover is optional on night shift. It isn't. I know night staff are worried about waking patients, and that's a reasonable concern. So if a patient is asleep, you can do the safety checks quietly at the bedside and hand over the rest at the desk.

Transcript: Part C: a physiotherapist on telehealth

Telehealth has been a real help for patients in remote areas, there's no question about that. People who would have driven four hours for a twenty-minute review can now do it from home. Where I'm less convinced is first assessments. You learn an enormous amount by actually putting your hands on a joint, and I don't think video replaces that yet. So for me, it's a very good tool for follow-up, but not a substitute for everything.

Answer key (19 answers)

#	Question	Answer	Why
1	Headaches on and off for about ___	six weeks (also accepted: 6 weeks)	Part A tests exact detail, and correct spelling counts. Notice the self-correction: he says ibuprofen first, then corrects himself to paracetamol mostly. At grade B, always write the corrected information.
2	almost daily for the last ___	fortnight (also accepted: two weeks, 2 weeks)	Part A tests exact detail, and correct spelling counts. Notice the self-correction: he says ibuprofen first, then corrects himself to paracetamol mostly. At grade B, always write the corrected information.
3	Site: forehead and back of the ___	neck	Part A tests exact detail, and correct spelling counts. Notice the self-correction: he says ibuprofen first, then corrects himself to paracetamol mostly. At grade B, always write the corrected information.
4	Feels like a ___	tight band (also accepted: band)	Part A tests exact detail, and correct spelling counts. Notice the self-correction: he says ibuprofen first, then corrects himself to paracetamol mostly. At grade B, always write the corrected information.
5	not throbbing. Usually starts in the late ___	afternoon	Part A tests exact detail, and correct spelling counts. Notice the self-correction: he says ibuprofen first, then corrects himself to paracetamol mostly. At grade B, always write the corrected information.
6	Worse when looking at a ___	screen (also accepted: computer screen)	Part A tests exact detail, and correct spelling counts. Notice the self-correction: he says ibuprofen first, then corrects himself to paracetamol mostly. At grade B, always write the corrected information.
7	Sleep: about ___	five hours (also accepted: 5 hours, 5, five)	Part A tests exact detail, and correct spelling counts. Notice the self-correction: he says ibuprofen first, then corrects himself to paracetamol mostly. At grade B, always write the corrected information.
8	a night. Taking ___	paracetamol	Part A tests exact detail, and correct spelling counts. Notice the self-correction: he says ibuprofen first, then corrects himself to paracetamol mostly. At grade B, always write the corrected information.
9	most days, sometimes ibuprofen. Coffee: ___	five or six cups (also accepted: 5 or 6 cups, 5-6 cups, five to six cups, 5 to 6 cups)	Part A tests exact detail, and correct spelling counts. Notice the self-correction: he says ibuprofen first, then corrects himself to paracetamol mostly. At grade B, always write the corrected information.
10	___ ankle, rolled playing	Right	Listen for the detail the notes ask for: the worst pain is going down stairs, not walking. Write the patient's words when they fit the gap.
11	ankle, rolled playing netball ___	nine days (also accepted: 9 days)	Listen for the detail the notes ask for: the worst pain is going down stairs, not walking. Write the patient's words when they fit the gap.
12	ago; heard a 'pop'. Bruising along the ___	outside	Listen for the detail the notes ask for: the worst pain is going down stairs, not walking. Write the patient's words when they fit the gap.
13	of the foot. Self-management: ice, elevation, ___	compression bandage (also accepted: compression)	Listen for the detail the notes ask for: the worst pain is going down stairs, not walking. Write the patient's words when they fit the gap.
14	crutches. Pain: 3/10 walking on flat ground; ___	6/10 (also accepted: 6, six, six out of ten, 6 out of 10)	Listen for the detail the notes ask for: the worst pain is going down stairs, not walking. Write the patient's words when they fit the gap.
15	going down stairs. Ankle gave way once, stepping off a ___	kerb (also accepted: curb)	Listen for the detail the notes ask for: the worst pain is going down stairs, not walking. Write the patient's words when they fit the gap.
16	Goal: return to netball; finals in ___	five weeks (also accepted: 5 weeks)	Listen for the detail the notes ask for: the worst pain is going down stairs, not walking. Write the patient's words when they fit the gap.
17	The pharmacist wants the assistant to	B. find out more before making a sale	'Before you sell her anything, could you check…' He'll talk to her himself if needed, so the assistant isn't asked to refuse (A) or recommend (C).
18	What does the manager say about bedside handover at night?	B. It is required, with some flexibility for sleeping patients.	'It isn't [optional]'… 'if a patient is asleep, you can… hand over the rest at the desk.' She agrees with part of the staff's concern but not their conclusion.
19	What is the speaker's view of telehealth physiotherapy?	A. It is useful, but less suitable for first assessments.	'Where I'm less convinced is first assessments… a very good tool for follow-up, but not a substitute for everything.' Contrast markers like 'where I'm less convinced' signal the speaker's real attitude.

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