OET Speaking role-plays

OET Speaking is a role-play. You play yourself as a healthcare professional, and the interlocutor plays a patient, a relative or a carer.

Step by step

1. Open Speaking and choose a role-play card for your profession.
2. Read the card:
   • Setting: where the conversation takes place
   • Your role
   • Interlocutor plays: who you're talking to
   • Your tasks: what you must cover
3. Allow your microphone. You'll do a short mic check ("Testing my microphone for the OET speaking practice").
4. Click Start preparation. You have preparation time to plan. Click Skip preparation to start sooner. The role-play starts automatically when the time ends.
5. Listen to the interlocutor, then answer out loud. Your turns are recorded one by one. Click Next after each turn.
6. At the end, your role-play is submitted (Submitting your role-play…) and assessed, usually in under a minute.

Your result

• Overall Score (0–500) and Grade, with Overall Feedback
• Linguistic criteria: Intelligibility, Fluency, Appropriateness of Language, Resources of Grammar & Expression
• Clinical Communication criteria: Relationship Building, Understanding the Patient's Perspective, Providing Structure, Information Gathering, Information Giving
• Conversation: every turn with your recording and its Transcription

Tips

• Start by introducing yourself and checking the patient's name and concerns.
• Use plain language, not medical jargon, and check the patient understands.
• Show empathy: "I can see this is worrying for you."
• Cover every task on the card before the time ends.