OET Sample tests and test preparation strategies

Find out how your sample tests and its answers can help you in preparation

Have you ever thought about the importance of attending the OET sample tests? 

It’s the best way for you to test your skills, to have better understanding of the format and to see the areas that need improvement. The best part about this is you can use the OET sample test’s answers to prepare for your OET. 

There are quite a handful of things you can do with your OET sample test’s answers. 

• Excel at your OET writing and speaking. 

Do you know, to improve your writing and speaking skills, you can use your listening and reading papers? 

Let me tell you how. 

You can take all the needed information from Listening part A to create a referral letter. While referring the patient to a doctor or relevant department, make sure that all the important patient information are included in your referral letter. 

In case, you want to practice speaking, use Reading part A as the topic. You can use a friend or a colleague to take part in your speaking practice. Try imagining that you have a patient going through this condition. Start discussing the situation and explain what’s happening or going to happen, also answer any questions if you are being asked. 

• Rectify your strength and weakness. 

Using the required skill for each part of your test is the most important thing when it comes to OET. It helps you get maximum correct answers. Each part requires you to have different skill set. 

Practicing part A, B and C can help you raise your ability on a very higher level. 

• Part A = First listening and then reading to find particular details. 
• Part B = Comprehending the main idea of communication. 
• Part C = Understand how meaning is created by using opinion language and examples from research.  

If you take a closer look at the above explanation, you can understand that the skills required for each section is different. Which means you can’t approach each part with the same mind frame. 

Since the exam is timed, it can cause a lot of pressure to you and you would feel like you want to answer each question quickly and move on. But the most important thing you need to remember is that, you have more time available for part B and C. So relax and pace down when needed. 

• Note down your answers using official answer key. 

Marking down the answers and calculating the score is the first thing everyone would love to do. But the most importantly, if you get a score of 30-32 consistently as you take sample tests over and over, then you have all the chances to get a B band.  

• Analyse the questions you got wrong. 

Taking time to analyse the questions you got wrong is as important as being happy for the right answers. Because, doing so will help you to have deeper understanding towards your mistakes and, that can help you to get better. 

Most common reasons for people to make mistakes are listed below. 

• Unfamiliar words

You may not know the meaning of all the words you hear or read while going through the listening and reading tests. But if you end up fi9nding unfamiliar words in every sentence or question, you really got to work on your vocabulary. 

The best way to learn new words is to make note of them if you end up coming across any. Write it down on a notebook and understand the meaning of it. Keep using the new word regularly in your writing and speaking until it gets registered in your head. 

If you come across a new word the best thing you can do is to understand if the word is; 

• A noun ( name, place or thing ) 
• An adjective ( Positive or Negative ) 
• Is it a positive word or negative? 

You can use this strategy to understand the question or sentence as good as you can without having to know the exact meaning of the word. Rather than being distracted by the word, you can approach it with this tactic. 

• Mis-reading the question. 

If you don’t spend enough time reading the questions from part B and C, there are high chances of you making mistakes. It’s important to dig deeper on these two parts while listening and reading. Often ask yourself, what information am I listening or reading for. If you don’t do this, there are very high possibilities for you to be distracted by the wrong answers which look very similar to the right answer. 

• Typos on part A 

Since you have the option to copy the answer and pasting it from one of the texts, it’s very important to have accurate spelling. It’s better not to make any spelling mistakes ( typos) here on part A to avoid losing marks. 

• Not answering the question. 

Since there’s no deduction for the wrong answers, it’s really bad to leave questions unanswered. Not answering a question can definitely cause you losing marks. So it’s important to answer every question even if you are not really sure about it. Rather than leaving it without answering, take a wild guess. 

• Running out of time. 

This can easily happen if you don’t really manage your time. Since part A is time bound, we are going to talk about part B and C. 

Let me show you a strategy that you can follow to manage your time while attending part B and C: 

• 10 minutes for part B 
• 35 minutes for part C ( 17.5 minutes per part c text ) 

So now that you know how you can use your own test samples to better yourself. Good luck with your preparations.