Listening
OET Listening (Nursing) runs about 45 minutes and carries 42 marks across three parts. Every recording is a healthcare interaction - a nurse taking a history, a ward handover, a phone call to a GP, a conference interview - so clinical vocabulary (comorbidities, PRN, catheter care, escalation) is assumed, not taught.
What each part tests
- Part A - two consultation extracts of about five minutes each, with note-completion gaps. Answers must be the exact words from the recording, up to three words. It tests detail: medications and doses, allergies, symptom timelines, social circumstances, and what the nurse advised.
- Part B - six short workplace extracts of about one minute, each followed by a three-option multiple-choice question. It tests gist, purpose and attitude: why a colleague is calling, what a shift coordinator is concerned about.
- Part C - two longer interviews or presentations of about five minutes, with six three-option questions each. It tests main idea, opinion, inference and the speaker's stance, not just facts.
Worked example
You hear: "She'd been on metoprolol 50 milligrams twice a day since the bypass, but the GP switched her to atenolol last month." The note reads: Current beta-blocker: ____ "Metoprolol" is wrong - the tense marker "switched her to" signals a change, and Part A rewards the current term. "Beta-blocker" is too vague and is not the words heard. "Atenolol" is correct: exact word, current information.
Traps that cost marks
- Paraphrasing in Part A: "breathlessness" for "short of breath" scores zero. Copy what you hear.
- Losing your place after a gap. Read the notes ahead so the next prompt is already in mind.
- Part B: choosing an option that is generally true in a hospital but not what this speaker means.
- Part C: selecting a detail option when the question asks for the speaker's attitude.
- Spelling and plurals: "allergy" versus "allergies" is a different answer.