OET Writing Practice — Timed Case Notes & Sample Tests in a Replica of the Real Exam
Sit the OET Writing sub-test the way it is actually delivered on computer. The case notes open first for five minutes with the answer box locked, exactly as in the real test; then the box unlocks and the forty-minute writing clock runs while the notes stay on screen and a live word count updates as you type. Samples cover Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy, and combine the official OET sample tests with an exclusive Ultimacy collection written by Dr Ahmed Elgendy. The first sample in each profession is free to try. Join 1,800+ OET candidates preparing with OET Ultimacy.
Try one sample free. Unlock every set of case notes in one plan.
The free sample is a full-length, fully timed attempt — but it is a free trial of one sample, not a free service. Everything below comes with a single Ultimacy Premium subscription, available for 1, 3 or 6 months and starting with a 3-day free trial.
- Every set of case notes, official and exclusive
- Candidates' letters for every sample
- Save, reopen and re-time any letter
- Download your letter as a PDF
- 56 computer-based Reading mocks and 56 Listening mocks
- All exam recalls, organised by exam date
- 100+ exam-standard Speaking cards
- Personal AI-assisted study planner
- Premium vocabulary & recalls groups
- Weekly live practice with the whole cohort
What happens in a timed OET Writing attempt
Five minutes of reading
The case notes open and the clock starts. The answer box is disabled and the notes cannot be highlighted, so the reading time is spent doing what it is for: working out who the letter is addressed to and which details actually belong in it.
Forty minutes of writing
The box unlocks by itself the moment the five minutes end. The case notes stay on screen for the whole writing phase, so you can go back to them at any point, and the highlighter becomes available.
A live word count
A running count sits directly beneath the answer box and updates as you type, so you learn what 180-200 words of your own handwriting-free prose actually looks like before exam day.
Save, reopen, compare
Save the letter to your account, download it as a PDF, reopen it later with the clock still tracking, and read what other candidates wrote for the very same case notes.
OET Writing format: the facts you are marked on
The details below come from the OET Test Handbook and OET's published Writing assessment criteria. They are the rules the practice above is built to rehearse.
45 minutes: 5 + 40
OET Writing is 45 minutes in total: five minutes of reading time, then forty minutes of writing time. There is one letter to write. The timing is identical for every profession, and you may consult the writing instructions and the case notes at any point during the forty minutes.
180-200 words, body only
OET gives 180-200 words as a guide rather than a rule. Only the body of the letter counts: the addresses, the date, the greeting and reference lines, the closing sentence, the complimentary close and your job title all sit outside it. There is no automatic penalty for going over or under, but length that is badly off shows up indirectly in the criteria scores.
Six assessment criteria
Two OET assessors mark every letter against six criteria:
- Purpose — 0-3
- Content — 0-7
- Conciseness & Clarity — 0-7
- Genre & Style — 0-7
- Organisation & Layout — 0-7
- Language — 0-7
The scores are combined and converted to the 0-500 scale that appears on your Statement of Results. Grade B is 350-440; OET states that candidates securing a B will have reached 2 out of 3 for Purpose and 5 out of 7 for the remaining five criteria. Spelling, punctuation and grammar all sit inside Language, which is why a clinically perfect letter can still miss a B.
Worked example — Sample 01, an official Medicine referral
Sample 01 is one of OET's own published sample tests for Medicine, rebuilt inside the timed runner. You are a practitioner who has been seeing an adult patient over a short series of consultations, and the writing instructions ask you to write a letter of referral to a named hospital specialist so the patient can be investigated and given a definitive diagnosis. The case notes give the patient's details, social and family history, previous medical history, a run of dated consultation entries and a management plan.
How the five minutes are spent
Read the writing instructions before the notes, not after. It names your reader and it names the purpose, and those two things decide what counts as relevant. Then read the notes once with that purpose in mind. Most of a set of case notes is background that a specialist does not need.
How the forty minutes are spent
Dr Ahmed Elgendy's suggested split, and the one the runner is designed around: a few minutes to select and order the content, the bulk of the time to draft a body of three or four paragraphs, and the last five to seven minutes to check the word count, the tenses and the reference line. This is OET Ultimacy coaching advice, not an OET rule.
What the finished letter has to do
State the purpose in the opening line so Purpose is unmistakable; carry across only the relevant history so Content is complete without padding; keep sentences tight for Conciseness & Clarity; hold a consistent professional register for Genre & Style; group the story into logical paragraphs for Organisation & Layout; and proofread for Language. Reading how other candidates handled the same notes is often faster than being told — and for context on which letter types keep appearing, the real candidate exam recalls are the record.
Samples for Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy
OET Writing is profession-specific: nursing candidates write nursing letters, medicine candidates write medicine letters, and the same holds across all twelve OET professions. Only the case notes change — the 45-minute timing, the letter format and the six assessment criteria are identical for everyone. OET Ultimacy currently covers Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy, and new samples are added over time.
Two collections sit behind the filters. The first is the set of official OET sample tests, rebuilt so they can be sat under real timing instead of read as a PDF. The second is the Ultimacy collection, written by Dr Ahmed Elgendy to exam standard and available nowhere else. You can filter by profession and by letter type across six types:
- Referral
- Urgent referral
- Discharge
- Transfer
- Update
- Request
How the practice works
- Pick a sample — filter by profession and letter type, then open it. The first sample in each profession opens without a subscription and without an account.
- Sit it under exam timing — five minutes reading with the notes locked, then forty minutes writing. Nothing is skippable, because on exam day nothing is.
- Save it and look outward — save the letter to compare against the letters other candidates wrote for the same notes, request a paid written correction from Dr Ahmed Elgendy, or work through the reasoning systematically in the structured OET Writing course.
Curated by Dr Ahmed Elgendy
Dr Ahmed Elgendy — licensed medical doctor and certified OET instructor. He selects and writes the case notes in the OET Ultimacy Writing runner and personally writes the corrections candidates request, so the clinical detail in every sample is written by someone who has practised medicine and taught the exam.
OET Writing Practice — FAQ
How long is the OET Writing sub-test?
How many words should an OET Writing letter be?
What are the six OET Writing assessment criteria?
What score do I need for a B in OET Writing?
Can I practise OET Writing for free on OET Ultimacy?
Does OET Ultimacy give sample answers or AI scoring for my letter?
Is OET Writing different for nurses, doctors and pharmacists?
Can I highlight the case notes during the five minutes of reading time?
What types of OET letter can I practise here?
Try one sample free — then unlock the whole collection
The free Medicine sample shows you exactly what the five-minute lock and the forty-minute clock feel like — then unlock every set of case notes, the candidates' letters library and the rest of the platform with Ultimacy Premium. Every sample is written and curated by Dr Ahmed Elgendy.