IELTS or OET for Nurses - Which Should You Take?

Set as the golden standard for English proficiency tests, the IELTS test was launched in 1989 and evaluates the fluency of English in both written and spoken formats.

Accepted by over 12,000 institutions in more than 150 countries, the IELTS has both paper-based and computer-based versions of its test, which is split into four sections: speaking, writing, listening and reading.

Designed to cater to 12 professions in the healthcare industry including nurses, dentists, optometrists and physiotherapists, the OET is an English language test which assesses the language communication skills of healthcare professionals.

It was initially intended to be accepted only in Australia and New Zealand. However, in November 2017, the UK’s Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) started accepting OET test scores while evaluating prospective candidates.

The OET is a popular option among healthcare professionals because it uses profession-specific content, making it highly relevant to those who need to be able to communicate in medical scenarios – from understanding a patient in a consultation session to writing a discharge or referral letter.

While it is good to be fluent in medical English, it could be helpful to gain a better understanding of English as a whole – which is what the IELTS will help you to achieve.

Used by international students and professionals across industries, the IELTS covers a bigger range of topics and content including social trends, the environment, education and cultural values.

Hence, having the ability to discuss such topics, write essays and understand articles could potentially offer you job flexibility while enabling you to be better at communicating.

There are two versions of the IELTS test: Academic and General Training, which are used by organisations to assess language skills for vocational or immigration purposes.

While the listening and speaking portions of the test are the same for both, the Academic test’s reading and writing components are more tailored to higher education as compared to General Training.

On the other hand, the OET offers 12 versions of the test for the different healthcare professions. For these tests, the reading and listening sections are the same. However, the speaking and writing portions are geared towards specific scenarios in which each profession has to communicate in English.

While both the IELTS and OET assess the same four language skills, the IELTS has a shorter test format.

Listening

For the listening component, the IELTS requires you to listen to four recordings and answer questions based on them while the OET has two parts that span over a longer period of time.

The first part involves taking notes on a patient consultation followed up by answering questions after listening to a healthcare lecture in the second.

Reading

The IELTS reading portion involves answering questions and completing tasks based on three long passages of text from newspapers or journals.

As for the OET, its reading component has two parts: the first part requires you to complete a summary of the topics discussed in four short texts while the second part involves answering multiple-choice questions based on two longer texts.

Writing

For the IELTS writing section, you’ll have two tasks – to first study and write about some data or graphs provided, after which you’ll be required to write an essay based on a selected subject.

When sitting for the OET writing component, you’ll be required to read case notes and write a follow-up, discharge or referral based on them.

Speaking

During the IELTS speaking component, you’ll be discussing general topics such as your hobbies and interests, and for the later part, you’ll speak about a topic assigned to you on a task card.

For the OET speaking component, you’ll be interacting with the examiner based on medical scenarios on a selected topic card, where you’ll assume the role of a nurse while the examiner acts as a patient.

IELTS is recognised by 12,000 organisations globally, including government organisations, regulatory bodies and higher education institutions for education, career and migration purposes. IELTS is available in more than 4000 test locations in over 140 countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK and the USA.

The OET is recognised by healthcare regulatory bodies and higher education healthcare educators including Ireland, the UK, Dubai, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA with over 580 test centres in 80 countries.

As more places offer IELTS, there are more available test dates. Hence, it is easier to book a test date at your convenience.

Apart from that, the IELTS is much cheaper than the OET.

Are you thinking of taking your IELTS test en route to becoming a certified nurse?

At IDP, we have decades of experience in helping students to prepare for their IELTS test and we can help you too.

With a wealth of resources available to help you effectively prepare for your IELTS test, we’ll definitely be able to give you an extra push towards getting a good score.

Take your IELTS test with us today!