Four weeks is a realistic preparation window for most practising doctors. You already have the clinical knowledge and vocabulary — what you need is familiarity with the OET format, structured practice under timed conditions, and targeted work on whichever sub-test is furthest from Grade B. This plan assumes you can dedicate 2 to 3 hours per day, with longer sessions on days off.
Before you begin: take a free diagnostic mock test on oet.com. Score yourself honestly. Identify your weakest sub-test — that is where your extra time goes throughout the plan.
Week 1: Learn the Format, Establish Your Baseline
- Day 1: Take a full diagnostic mock test under timed conditions (all four sub-tests). This is your baseline. Record your scores.
- Day 2: Study the OET exam format thoroughly. Understand the question types for Listening Parts A, B, and C. Read the Writing assessment criteria. Review how Speaking role-plays are scored.
- Day 3–4: Medical vocabulary consolidation. You likely know most clinical terms, but OET requires you to explain them in patient-friendly language. Practise translating 'hypertension' into 'high blood pressure,' 'myocardial infarction' into 'heart attack,' and so on. Build a list of 30 common conditions with their plain English equivalents.
- Day 5: Write your first practice referral letter from sample case notes. Do not time yourself yet — focus on understanding the structure, content selection, and the six grading criteria.
- Day 6: Complete two Speaking role-plays. Record yourself. Listen back and check: Did you open with a clear purpose? Did you use patient-friendly language? Did you show empathy? Did you summarise and close?
- Day 7: Listening practice. Complete a full Part A exercise. Review every answer you missed — was it a vocabulary gap, a speed issue, or a failure to anticipate what the gap required?
Week 2: Sub-Test Deep Dives
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- Day 8–9: Reading intensive. Complete one full Reading test per day (60 minutes). Strict time allocation: 15 minutes Part A, 20 minutes Part B, 25 minutes Part C. After each test, identify whether your errors were comprehension failures or time management failures.
- Day 10–11: Writing intensive. Complete two timed referral or discharge letters per day (40 minutes each). After each letter, check: Is the purpose in the first sentence? Have you selected only relevant content? Is it 180 to 200 words? Could you cut any sentence without losing meaning?
- Day 12: Speaking day. Do four role-plays — two history-taking scenarios and two explanation/counselling scenarios. Focus on structuring your consultations: opening, information phase, addressing concerns, closing with a summary.
- Day 13: Listening day. Complete a full Listening test. Part A is the priority — practise simultaneous listening and note-taking. For Part C, practise identifying the speaker's opinion versus factual statements.
- Day 14: Weakest sub-test focus. Spend the entire session on whichever sub-test scored lowest in your diagnostic. If it is Writing, do three timed letters. If it is Speaking, do six role-plays. If it is Listening, do two full Part A exercises.
Week 3: Full Mock Tests and Gap Closing
- Day 15: Full timed mock test (all four sub-tests in one sitting). Compare scores with your Day 1 baseline. You should see improvement.
- Day 16: Error analysis day. Go through every wrong answer from the mock test. Categorise errors: vocabulary, time pressure, content selection, comprehension, or format. This tells you exactly where to focus.
- Day 17–18: Double down on your two weakest sub-tests. Alternate between them with focused practice exercises.
- Day 19: Writing polish. Write one letter in 35 minutes, leaving 5 minutes for proofreading. Develop a personal checklist: purpose first, relevant content only, no bullet points, specific closing request, professional tone.
- Day 20: Speaking confidence. Practice under realistic conditions. Sit at a desk, use a timer, and have your practice partner respond with unexpected emotions or questions. Build flexibility.
- Day 21: Rest or light vocabulary review. Do not cram new material.
Week 4: Peak Performance
- Day 22–23: Second full mock test. This should be your best score yet. If any sub-test remains below target, spend Day 24 entirely on that area.
- Day 24: Targeted remediation based on mock test results.
- Day 25: Writing and Speaking refinement. One timed letter. Two role-plays. Focus on quality, not quantity.
- Day 26: Quick drills. One Part A Listening, one Part A Reading — the sections with the most time pressure.
- Day 27: Final mock test. Full timed conditions. This gives you a realistic prediction of your exam day score.
- Day 28: Light review only. Re-read your mistake log. Do one short speaking practice. Prepare test-day logistics — ID, test centre address, arrival time. Get a full night's sleep.
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Tips for Busy Doctors
If you are preparing during residency or house jobs, consistency beats volume. Thirty minutes of focused daily practice is more effective than sporadic five-hour weekend sessions. Use clinical shifts productively: mentally practise explaining conditions in patient-friendly language during real consultations. Listen to English-language medical podcasts during commutes. Write one referral letter during lunch breaks.
The GMC requires Grade B in a single sitting with no score combining. This raises the stakes compared to NMC or AHPRA, where combining is allowed. If you are targeting GMC registration, your preparation must be balanced across all four sub-tests — a strong Speaking score cannot compensate for a weak Writing score.
After the Exam
Results take 16 business days. If you achieve Grade B across all four sub-tests, you can proceed directly to your GMC or AHPRA application. If you miss the threshold in one sub-test, you can retake just that sub-test (at a reduced fee) after a two-week waiting period — unless you are targeting GMC, which requires all four in one sitting. In that case, focus your next round of preparation entirely on the failed sub-test and retake the full exam.
Four weeks of structured, daily preparation is enough for most practising doctors. The clinical knowledge is already there — the skill you are building is the ability to demonstrate it within the OET format.