OET Writing guide

12 common OET Writing mistakes and how to fix them

Most OET letters that miss a B do not fail because of one big problem. They lose a mark here and a mark there to the same predictable habits. Below are the twelve we see most often in practice letters, each with a quick before-and-after and a fix you can apply in your next attempt.

Quick overview

If you are unsure what each criterion rewards, read OET Writing criteria explained first.

1. Copying the case notes line by line

The notes are raw material, not a draft. Turning every bullet into a sentence produces a long, flat letter where the important points are hidden.

• Before: "BP 150/90 on admission. BP 140/85 day 2. BP 130/80 day 3. BP 128/78 on discharge."
• After: "His blood pressure has settled to 128/78 on his new medication."

Fix: before writing, mark each note as needed, maybe or not needed for this reader. Write from your selection, not from the page.

2. No clear purpose in the opening

The reader should know what you want from them within the first two sentences.

• Before: "I am writing about Ms Achieng, a 34-year-old accountant who presented to our clinic."
• After: "I am writing to refer Ms Achieng, who has a suspected thyroid nodule, for an ultrasound and endocrinology assessment."

Fix: write your opening sentence first, using "I am writing to [refer / update you on / request]…".

3. Writing for the wrong reader

A school nurse, a surgeon and an occupational therapist need different information from the same notes.

• Before (to an occupational therapist): a paragraph on troponin levels and angiogram findings.
• After: "He becomes breathless after climbing one flight of stairs and has difficulty getting in and out of the bath."

Fix: ask, for every note, "Will this reader act differently because they know this?" If not, leave it out.

4. Note form and missing words

Dropping articles and verbs makes the letter read like a chart entry.

• Before: "Pt c/o chest pain, SOB. Given GTN, relief."
• After: "She reported chest pain and shortness of breath, which were relieved by glyceryl trinitrate."

Fix: every sentence needs a subject and a verb. Check that "the", "a" and "was" have not disappeared.

5. Tense errors

Letters mix past events, present condition and future plans. Confusing them muddles the timeline.

• Before: "He is admitted on 3 June and has been discharged tomorrow."
• After: "He was admitted on 3 June and will be discharged tomorrow."

Fix: use past simple for completed events with a date, present perfect for events up to now without a specific time ("has improved"), present simple for current status, and "will" or "is due to" for plans.

6. Including irrelevant social history

Hobbies, pets and past jobs are often included in the notes as distractors.

• Before: "Mr Delacroix is a retired architect who enjoys sailing and has two grandchildren."
• After: Omitted, unless relevant, for example: "He lives alone on the third floor with no lift, which may affect his recovery."

Fix: keep social details only when they change care: living situation, support, occupation-related risks, smoking or alcohol linked to the condition.

7. Missing follow-up requests

Many letters describe the patient well and then simply stop.

• Before: "Thank you for your help with this patient."
• After: "I would be grateful if you could check her INR on Friday and adjust her warfarin dose accordingly."

Fix: list the actions in the notes marked "plan" or "follow-up" and make sure each appears in your closing paragraph.

8. Writing far too much

A 300-word letter usually means selection failed somewhere. The target is a body of roughly 180–200 words.

• Before: "I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that the patient…"
• After: "Mrs Kowalczyk…"

Fix: cut timelines, empty phrases and repeated information. Our OET word count guide has a full 280-to-200-word worked example.

9. Informal or emotional tone

• Before: "Hope you're doing well! Poor Mr Ibrahim has had a really tough time."
• After: "Mr Ibrahim has had a difficult recovery following his surgery."

Fix: avoid contractions, exclamation marks and chatty openings. Stay polite, factual and professional, even when writing to a patient or relative.

10. Jargon and abbreviations for lay readers

When the reader is a parent, teacher, carer or the patient, clinical shorthand becomes a barrier.

• Before (to a parent): "Liam has T1DM and needs BGL checks QID."
• After: "Liam has type 1 diabetes and needs his blood sugar checked four times a day."

Fix: for non-medical readers, write abbreviations in full and explain terms in plain English. Even for doctors, avoid unusual or ward-specific abbreviations.

11. Poor paragraphing

One giant block, or one paragraph per note, both make the letter hard to follow.

• Before: a single 190-word paragraph moving from admission to medication to home situation to request.
• After: purpose; current condition and treatment; relevant background and risks; requests.

Fix: plan three to five paragraphs, each with one job, ordered by what matters most to the reader. The OET letter format guide shows a full template.

12. Not re-reading before time runs out

Wrong doses, a misspelt patient name or "he" instead of "she" are easy to catch and expensive to leave.

• Before: "Mrs Tanaka was started on metformin 500g twice daily. He tolerated it well."
• After: "Mrs Tanaka was started on metformin 500mg twice daily, which she has tolerated well."

Fix: protect the last four or five minutes. Do one pass for accuracy (names, numbers, dates, pronouns) and one for grammar (tenses, articles, sentence endings).

How to stop repeating the same mistakes

Knowing the list is not enough; you need to see which of these appear in your letters. After each practice task, pick the two mistakes that cost you most and rewrite only those parts. Track them across a week. Our grade B practice routine turns this into a simple weekly plan.