Jobins Training · Free OET Practice
Occupational Therapy: practise your professional communication.
One full Writing task and one paired Speaking role play, with models, reasoning and a second attempt.
No registrationOriginal practiceModels explainedWriting · Full-length task
Hand function and return to valued activities
Attempt the task before opening the model. Use the five-minute reading period to study the notes and task without writing or marking them; write your letter during the following 40 minutes.
Jobins Training · Original OET practice
- WRITING SUB-TEST:
- OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
- TIME ALLOWED:
- READING TIME: 5 MINUTES
WRITING TIME: 40 MINUTES
Read the case notes and complete the writing task below.
Notes:
Assume that today’s date is 6 November 2026.
Ms Imogen Shaw, aged 61, is receiving occupational therapy from your community rehabilitation service.
- Service:
- Westbridge Community Rehabilitation, 12 Bridge Road, Westbridge
PATIENT DETAILS:
- Name:
- Imogen Shaw (Ms)
- Date of birth:
- 21 Jan 1965 (61 years)
- New residence:
- 15 Willow Road, Fairhaven
- Moving date:
- 13 Nov 2026
- Household:
- Lives with partner
- Occupation:
- School librarian; two three-hour shifts/week
- Hand dominance:
- Right
- Referral:
- GP, Sep 2026; bilateral hand osteoarthritis
Medical and functional background:
Hand osteoarthritis diagnosed by GP.
No recent injury or inflammatory arthritis diagnosis.
Hypertension; medication managed by GP.
No medication change requested through OT.
Wrist fracture 1998; fully recovered.
Hearing adequate; reading glasses used.
No cognitive concern identified.
Independent indoor/outdoor mobility; uses bus.
No falls in previous year.
Social background:
Retired from full-time administration in 2023.
Values cooking, gardening and grandchildren's craft activities.
Partner has shoulder pain.
Heavy domestic help not reliably available.
Frustrated by increasing reliance on partner.
Initial assessment – 11 Sep 2026:
Pain/stiffness with repeated pinch and grip.
Symptoms fluctuate with activity.
Jar opening and small buttons difficult.
Full kettle difficult to lift.
Dressing independent but slow.
Loose clothing preferred on painful mornings.
Cooking reduced to reheating meals.
Worried about dropping hot pans.
Repeated book handling aggravates pain.
Often works without planned pauses.
Gardening largely stopped.
Grip testing pain-limited; functional tasks observed.
Agreed goals:
Prepare a simple meal safely.
Complete library shift with less discomfort.
Reduce unnecessary reliance on partner.
Return gradually to valued gardening activities.
Occupational therapy – 18 Sep to 16 Oct:
Three sessions: task analysis, joint protection, pacing.
Two-handed lifting practised.
Sliding heavier items along worktop demonstrated where safe.
Jar opener, button hook and kettle tipper trialled.
Safe clinic use demonstrated by patient.
Alternate book handling with seated administration.
Manager discussion agreed with patient's consent.
Planned pauses before pain escalation encouraged.
Activity diary used to identify difficult tasks.
Equipment fit/technique assessed individually.
Home kitchen visit postponed during moving preparations.
Progress – 06 Nov 2026:
Preparing light lunches using adaptations.
Jar opener helpful; button hook used independently.
Work shifts completed with alternating tasks.
Planned pauses sometimes skipped when busy.
Full cooking pot still difficult to lift.
Partner currently assists with heavier pans.
Kettle tipper not purchased.
Wants new kitchen assessed before equipment choice.
No new swelling, sensory loss or acute deterioration.
Assessment and transfer plan:
Function improving; domestic limitations remain.
New home: different worktops/storage arrangement.
Home/task assessment before final equipment recommendation.
Consolidate pacing and safe task methods.
Support graded return to gardening.
Assessment and equipment-trial records enclosed.
Consent to transfer/continued input recorded.
No funded equipment order or local visit booked.
GP review for new swelling or sensory change.
Writing Task:
Using the case notes, write a transfer letter to Mr Elias Grant, Occupational Therapist, Fairhaven Community Rehabilitation Service, 17 Bridge Street, Fairhaven. Request continued rehabilitation for Ms Shaw following her move, including assessment of her new home.
In your answer:
- Develop the relevant notes into complete sentences.
- Write in paragraphs rather than note form.
- Use an appropriate letter layout.
The body of your letter should be approximately 180–200 words.
After your attempt: identify the recipient, the purpose, three essential facts and two details you deliberately left out. Then compare your decisions below.
Reveal the model letter
6 November 2026
Mr Elias Grant
Occupational Therapist
Fairhaven Community Rehabilitation Service
17 Bridge Street
Fairhaven
Dear Mr Grant,
Re: Ms Imogen Shaw | DOB: 21 January 1965
Please continue occupational therapy for Ms Shaw, who moves to Fairhaven on 13 November. Bilateral hand osteoarthritis continues to limit heavier kitchen tasks, and her new home requires assessment before equipment recommendations are finalised.
Initially, painful gripping and pinching affected jars, buttons and kettle handling. She dressed independently but slowly and had largely stopped cooking and gardening. Repeated book handling aggravated symptoms during her library shifts. Her partner's shoulder pain limits the assistance available.
Three sessions addressed joint protection, pacing and task modification. Ms Shaw now prepares light lunches and uses a jar opener and button hook independently. Alternating book handling with seated work enables her to complete shifts, although she sometimes skips planned pauses. Full cooking pots remain difficult to lift.
She safely trialled a kettle tipper in clinic but has not purchased one. Please assess the new kitchen, consolidate pacing and support a gradual return to gardening. The different worktop and storage arrangements may affect equipment choice. There has been no acute deterioration or new sensory loss. Ms Shaw agrees to continued therapy, and the assessment and equipment-trial records are enclosed. A home visit and funded equipment order have not been arranged.
Yours sincerely,
Occupational Therapist
Model body: 194 words using a space-separated editorial count. This is one possible response; it is not an officially scored letter or a sentence template to memorise.
Why these details were selected
What the reader needs
- Occupational performance: current limitations and retained abilities, not diagnosis alone.
- Actual response to adaptations and unresolved risks/support limits.
- Equipment trial versus purchase, new environment and specific continuation request.
What can be omitted or condensed
- Remote healed fracture, retirement date and routine glasses information do not drive the transfer.
- Do not list every hobby; retain gardening because it is an agreed therapy goal.
Accuracy traps
- A successful clinic trial does not establish suitability in the new home.
- Do not say equipment has been funded or a visit booked.
- Do not infer that osteoarthritis has resolved because function has improved.
Accuracy repair: a fresh exercise
A draft says: A funded kettle tipper has been installed in her new kitchen.
Correct it using the case notes before opening the answer.
Check the repaired sentence
A kettle tipper was trialled in clinic but has not been purchased; the new kitchen needs assessment.
The correction preserves what is known, what has happened and what remains outstanding. Compare the changed words with the relevant dated note.
Review the six Writing criteria
| Criterion | Use it to review your attempt |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Can the reader identify the action or explanation needed from the opening? |
| Content | Are essential facts accurate, including dates, status and remaining needs? |
| Conciseness and clarity | Have you selected and combined information without losing necessary meaning? |
| Genre and style | Does the wording suit this recipient’s role and knowledge? |
| Organisation and layout | Do paragraphs help the reader locate the problem, evidence and next step? |
| Language | Are grammar, vocabulary, spelling and sentence links clear and accurate? |
Choose one factual correction and one language improvement for a second draft. This checklist is for learning; it does not calculate an OET grade.
Speaking · One paired role play
Practise the professional conversation
Use 3 minutes to prepare the professional card, then about 5 minutes for the conversation. The candidate stays in the professional role. A partner plays the patient, parent or animal owner. This is one role play; the OET Speaking sub-test contains two.
Read only your own card before starting. The partner should open their card privately and reveal information in response to the conversation. These cards are a separate scenario from the Writing case.
Candidate card · Occupational Therapist
Setting: Home rehabilitation visit
You meet Lewis, aged 62, who has hand osteoarthritis and difficulty opening containers and lifting a full kettle. He lives with his partner and wants to keep preparing breakfast independently. You have assessed the main tasks and can offer an individual equipment trial and task modifications. He dislikes the idea of “disability equipment”. No equipment has yet been ordered or funded.
Tasks
- Explore what preparing breakfast means to Lewis and which part is most difficult or worrying.
- Acknowledge concerns about equipment and independence without dismissing his preferences.
- Explain how changes to task sequence, grip and equipment can reduce demand; offer an individual trial rather than claiming one device suits everyone.
- Discuss pacing and a realistic way to share heavier tasks while preserving choices.
- Agree one trial, explain the review process and check understanding; avoid promising funding or complete pain relief.
Partner card — Patient only
Role-player card · Patient
You are Lewis, 62. Making breakfast for yourself and your partner is important to you. You nearly dropped a full kettle last week but have not told your partner. You think accepting equipment means losing independence and worry that it will make the kitchen look clinical.
- Open with: “I do not want my kitchen full of gadgets.”
- If asked about priorities, explain the importance of making breakfast yourself.
- When safety is explored, reveal the near-drop without any injury.
- Ask whether your partner should simply do everything from now on.
- If offered a suitable trial, agree to test one item and ask whether you must purchase it immediately.
Respond naturally to what is asked. Do not give every detail at once or create an unrelated medical quiz. If the explanation is unclear, ask for clarification.
Review selected exchanges and explanations
These are selected teaching exchanges, not a full five-minute transcript. Compare how the response changes with the concern. Several different responses could work.
Patient: “I do not want gadgets.”
Occupational Therapist: “Keeping your kitchen familiar matters to you. Which part of breakfast would you most like to manage more comfortably? We can start with that task and compare options before deciding whether any equipment is useful.”
Why this helps: Starts from a valued occupation, not from selling a device.
Patient: “Should my partner do everything?”
Occupational Therapist: “The aim is to support what you want to do safely, not take it all away. We could look at which steps you can manage and which heavier parts need a different method or shared help.”
Why this helps: Preserves autonomy while acknowledging genuine task demands.
Patient: “Do I have to buy it today?”
Occupational Therapist: “No decision is needed before we have checked whether it works for you. We can trial it, review comfort and safe use, and then discuss the available arrangements and any costs.”
Why this helps: Separates trial, suitability and provision; does not invent entitlement to free equipment.
Repeat with a changed response
Partner is unavailable during the day. Revise the proposed task-sharing plan and reassess safe independent options; do not continue relying on absent help.
Keep your professional role, listen to the changed information and adapt the next step. Do not repeat a memorised answer when the situation has changed.
Review all nine Speaking criteria
| Criterion | Use it to review your attempt |
|---|---|
| Intelligibility | Can your partner follow your speech without repeated effort? |
| Fluency | Can you keep the exchange moving while allowing natural pauses? |
| Appropriateness of language | Does the register and explanation suit this person? |
| Resources of grammar and expression | Can you express time, uncertainty, reasons and choices accurately? |
| Relationship building | Do you show attention to the person’s particular concern? |
| Understanding and incorporating the patient’s perspective | Does the plan respond to their priorities and constraints? |
| Providing structure | Do you signal changes of topic and explain information in manageable stages? |
| Information gathering | Do you ask, listen and clarify rather than assume? |
| Information giving | Do you explain clearly and check what the person has understood? |
Ask your partner for one example of something clear and one moment that needed clarification. If you record yourself on your own device, review only with everyone’s agreement. The website does not record speech or generate an OET score.
Format and clinical background references
Exam format: OET test handbook. These original cases were written for language practice after reviewing official task formats. The following sources inform clinical plausibility; the fictional patient records are not copied from them.