OET Exam 2026: Fees, Eligibility, Dates, and Pattern for Indian Candidates

The OET exam, short for Occupational English Test, checks whether healthcare professionals can communicate safely and accurately in English inside a clinical setting. It is owned by Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment, a venture between Cambridge Assessment English and Box Hill Institute.

Unlike a general English test, every OET exam task is built around real healthcare situations: reading a discharge summary, writing a referral letter, or talking a patient through a procedure. This is why most Indian nurses and doctors preparing for OET exam registration abroad find it closer to their daily work than IELTS.

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The OET exam covers 12 healthcare professions:

Dentistry, Dietetics, Medicine, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Optometry, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Podiatry, Radiography, Speech Pathology, and Veterinary Science.

In practice, OET exam for nurses and OET exam for doctors make up the vast majority of Indian candidates, since nursing and medical registration abroad almost always need proof of English proficiency in a healthcare context. Nursing alone accounts for over 60 percent of all OET candidates globally, with Medicine making up another large share, and the remaining ten professions together forming a small fraction.

Preparation time depends on your starting English level, not just your profession. Candidates with strong, consistent English who are comfortable with healthcare vocabulary often need 3 to 4 weeks of focused practice on the OET exam pattern, mainly to get used to the letter-writing format and profession-specific Speaking role-plays.

If your English is functional but not yet fluent for clinical scenarios, plan for 2 to 3 months. Most of that time should go into timed Reading and Listening practice and writing full-length referral letters under exam conditions, since these are the areas Indian candidates most often underestimate.

A lot of Indian candidates search for OET exam eligibility, expecting a cutoff, a degree check, or a minimum experience requirement. There isn't one. OET exam eligibility works differently: you simply choose your profession from the list of 12 at the time of booking, and the Writing and Speaking sub-tests are set for that profession. Listening and Reading stay the same for everyone.

This matters for OET exam eligibility for nurses and doctors in particular, since the real eligibility question is not "can I sit OET" but "which profession version should I book" and "what score does my target regulator need."

OET exam fees are the same across all 12 professions and every Indian city. For 2026, the OET exam fee for the full assessment (all four sub-tests) is AUD 587.

Rs. 66 per AUD is the rate used in this article. OET exam fees in India are charged in AUD, so the INR amount moves with the exchange rate at the time of payment, and it is worth checking the live rate before you pay.

The OET exam pattern has four sub-tests, taken in the same order for every candidate.

Listening and Reading use the same OET exam syllabus for every profession. Writing and Speaking are profession-specific, so the OET exam pattern for a nurse and the OET exam pattern for a doctor use different case material even though the structure and scoring stay identical. The full OET exam takes close to three hours.

OET exam scoring runs on a 0 to 500 scale for each sub-test, which is converted into a letter grade from A (highest) to E. Grade A covers 450 to 500, Grade B covers 350 to 440, and Grade C+ covers 300 to 340.

Most regulators, including the UK's NMC and GMC, Australia's AHPRA, and the UK's HCPC, need Grade B in all four sub-tests. There is no combined or average score in OET: each sub-test is graded and reported on its own.

As confirmed directly on OET's official booking page, the remaining Global OET on Paper dates for 2026 are 7 November, 21 November, 5 December, and 19 December, and India follows this global paper schedule. Not every date carries every profession: 7 November and 5 December are open to Nursing, Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, radiography, and Veterinary Science, while 21 November and 19 December are open to Nursing and Medicine only. OET on Paper runs on fixed Saturdays, typically once or twice a month.

OET on Computer and OET@Home are not tied to these Saturdays. They run on many more dates through the month, so candidates needing a specific window usually find a slot faster on these formats than on paper.

2027 OET exam dates have not been published yet. If you are planning registration timelines for next year, check the official OET booking page closer to the date rather than assuming a fixed monthly pattern will carry over.

Major OET exam centres in India include New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Pune, and Chandigarh, alongside OET on Computer venues in several other cities.

1. Create an account on the official OET website.
2. Select your profession from the 12 options.
3. Choose your test format: OET on Paper, OET on Computer, or OET@Home where available.
4. Pick your preferred test centre and date.
5. Pay the OET exam fee online to confirm your booking.
6. Upload the required identification documents before the booking deadline.

Online payment is mandatory; offline or cash payments are not accepted for OET exam registration.

• A valid passport (the ID used at booking must match the one carried to the test centre)
• A recent passport-size digital photograph
• Proof of your healthcare profession where your target regulator requires it
• A working email ID for your OET account and result notifications

OET exam results are typically available online about 16 business days after your test date, with your official Statement of Results following a few business days later. OET on Computer results sometimes come sooner, though this depends on your test centre and the mode you chose.

OET itself does not fix an OET exam validity period. Regulators decide the validity period independently, and most apply a 2-year window, though they measure it differently:

Because the validity window is regulator-specific, it's worth timing your OET exam close to when you expect to submit your registration, rather than well in advance.

Neither test is universally "better." The right one depends on your profession and your target regulator.

OET suits nurses and doctors well because its Writing and Speaking tasks mirror real clinical situations rather than general topics, which can feel more natural if you already work in healthcare. IELTS remains the better fit for visa routes that aren't healthcare-specific or where a regulator hasn't added OET to its accepted list yet.

Most major healthcare regulators, including the NMC, AHPRA, and NMBI, accept both OET and IELTS Academic on equal terms, but the required scores can differ by country. New Zealand's Nursing Council, for instance, asks for 350 in Listening, Reading, and Speaking with 300 in Writing, which is close to the Grade B threshold most regulators set under OET's own scale. Checking your specific regulator's score table before choosing a test avoids retaking the wrong one later.

For a closer look at how the two line up on format and scoring, see our OET vs IELTS comparison. If cost is part of your decision, our IELTS exam fee in India breakdown is a useful side-by-side.

Counselor insight: Candidates who have worked for a few years in an Indian hospital often score higher on OET's Speaking and Writing than on IELTS, simply because the scenarios match their day-to-day vocabulary. If your spoken English is strong but mostly general rather than clinical, start with OET sample materials early so the profession-specific letter format doesn't catch you off guard on test day.

• Lock in your OET exam fee calculation at the live AUD to INR rate before you pay, since OET exam fees in India are charged in AUD.
• Check your target regulator's OET exam validity rule separately, since OET itself does not set a universal expiry.
• If you need a faster slot than the fixed OET on Paper Saturdays allows, book OET on Computer or OET@Home.

Still unsure whether OET or IELTS fits your profession and target country? Book a free session with a LeapScholar counselor and get a personalized OET exam plan before you register.