OET Writing Sample Letters for Nurses 2026: Format, Marking Criteria, and Two Fictional Examples

OET Writing is one 45-minute formal letter written from case notes, and OET writing sample letters for nurses can teach it even if you’ve never written one.

Worried it’s too hard? OET (the Occupational English Test) is an English test for health professionals, and each sub-test is one of its four parts. Our OET exam guide covers fees, dates, and the test pattern.

Get My university Shortlist in 60 Secs

0%

Choose your dream country

Please select a country

UK

USA

Germany

Australia

Ireland

New Zealand

Canada

UAE

France

Sweden

Italy

Other

When do you want to study abroad?

Please select an option

Recommended Jan 2027

Sep 2027

2028 or later

2028 or later

What's your highest level of education?

Please select an option

Bachelor's

Master's

MBBS / MD

Diploma

12th Grade

10th Grade

Have you completed Class 12th?

Please select an option

Yes

No

What was your Class 12 CGPA/percentage?

Please enter a valid CGPA/percentage (0-100)

Are you a student or a parent/guardian?

Please select an option

Student

Parent/Guardian

Other

What do you want to study?

Please select a course

Select your current city

Please select your city

 

Please Enter Your Name

 

IN +91 UAE +971 QA +974 SA +966 KW +965 OM +968 BH +973

Please Enter a Valid Number

 

Please Enter Your Email

How Leap will help you

Personalised University Shortlist

Express Applications with Quicker Admits

End-to-End Application Support

Continue

Drop one myth: the letter isn't a quiz on nursing knowledge. Case notes are the short patient record you receive and your job is to select what the reader needs.

• The task and the marking: what you write, in how long, and the six criteria.
• Two fictional letters: a discharge letter (it hands care on when a patient leaves hospital) and a referral letter (it asks another service to add care). These OET writing sample letters for nurses are for study, not official material.

Don't plan on 45 minutes of writing: the first 5 minutes are reading time, and the remaining 40 are for the letter.

Read the table as your test-day timeline.

What this process means for you: each task is designed to fit 180-200 words, so a much longer letter usually carries detail the reader doesn't need. That's the task behind all OET writing sample letters for nurses.

• Layout: no fixed format, but lay it out clearly with the task's title and address.
• Capitals: all capitals are fine if you're consistent.

Sources: OET Writing sub-test page, OET test overview

Grammar isn't the whole score: OET marks your letter on six criteria, and Language is only one of them.

The assessment criteria are the six areas two OET assessors score, and the scores are combined and converted to the 500 scale. Criterion names and scores are OET's; other wording is my practice advice.

What this means for you: Grade B (a letter grade on OET's A-to-E scale) needs 2 out of 3 for Purpose and 5 out of 7 for each other criterion, so the OET writing sample letters for nurses below cover all six.

A regulator is the official body that registers nurses in a country and decides which English proof it accepts. Each sets its own Writing score:

• UK: for nursing in the UK, the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council) asks for C+ (300).
• Australia: Ahpra (the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency), which handles registration for nursing in Australia, names 350 for tests on or after 23 April 2026.
• Ireland and New Zealand: NMBI (the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland) and the Nursing Council of New Zealand publish their own.

My insight: If you only have a week, work on Content and Conciseness & Clarity first: one clean choice of case notes lifts both, while Purpose is worth only 3 points.

Sources: OET results and scoring, NMC OET page

The OET Writing task is set for your profession, so as a nurse you write a letter, such as a discharge or referral.

• Yours: Writing and Speaking are profession-specific; Listening and Reading are shared.
• The format: 45 minutes, case notes, and six criteria.
• The next carer: pick what that nurse or team needs to continue care.

Doctors have a Writing task of their own, so practice with OET writing sample letters for nurses. Letters like these are part of NHS healthcare roles, so picture a busy ward reader, whether your goal is jobs in the UK or jobs in Australia.

The classic mistake is copying the case notes in order; OET asks you to select and organize relevant information for the intended reader instead.

Use your 5 reading minutes like this:

1. Read the task first: find the reader and the purpose.
2. Mark what the reader needs: anything that changes their next step in care.
3. Cross out the rest: unrelated history, personal details, and ward routines.
4. Group what's left: two or three themes, such as needs and support.
5. Close with the request: restate what you want done.

Treat this table as a rough filter; the task always decides.

What this means for you: if the reader wouldn't act differently without a detail, drop it, as both OET writing sample letters for nurses below do.

My insight: If you can't say in one phrase why the reader needs a detail, cut it; you're marked on what you leave out as much as on what you put in.

This 188-word discharge letter hands a patient's care from a ward nurse to a community nursing team as he leaves hospital.

This is a fictional example written for practice only and is not an official OET sample or clinical guidance. Like all OET writing sample letters for nurses here, it shows a method, not a script.

Case notes (fictional)

• Mr R. Sample, 74, a week on the ward, chest infection.
• Treatment complete; home tomorrow.
• Breathless on stairs; now uses a walking frame.
• Lives alone; daughter visits weekly.
• Needs help with shopping and meals.
• One new medicine; list attached.
• Agrees to nursing visits.
• Retired postman; enjoys gardening.
• Ward meal preferences, visiting hours.

Model letter

Community Nursing Team, Sample Community Clinic

Dear Community Nurse,

I am writing to ask you to visit Mr R. Sample, aged 74, at home soon after his discharge tomorrow. He has spent about a week on our ward with a chest infection.

His hospital treatment is complete, and he is recovering well. However, he still becomes breathless when he climbs stairs, and since his admission he has needed a walking frame to move around safely.

Mr Sample lives alone. His daughter visits once a week, but he will need help with shopping and preparing meals while he regains his strength. He has also started one new medicine, and the full list is attached for your records.

During your first visit, I would be grateful if you could check his breathing, his mobility around the house, including the stairs, and whether his current home support is enough. He has agreed to these visits.

Please contact the ward if his condition gets worse or if he is not coping at home. If you need any further information, please do not hesitate to call me.

Thank you for your help with his care.

Yours sincerely,

Ward Nurse

Why this works (practice advice tied to the criterion names, not a grade):

• Purpose: the first sentence says what the team should do and when.
• Content: it keeps what affects care at home: stairs, the frame, living alone, and the medicine.
• Conciseness & Clarity: hobbies, work history, and ward routines stay in the notes.
• Organization & Layout: address on top, one theme per paragraph, request near the end.

My insight: Write the sentence that asks for action first, then cut any sentence that doesn't help the reader carry it out.

This 188-word referral letter asks a falls assessment clinic to add care for a care-home resident.

Fictional example written for practice, not an official OET sample or clinical guidance. Set it beside the first of these OET writing sample letters for nurses: same purpose, first shape, different reader.

Case notes (fictional)

• Ms L. Sample, 81, care-home resident for two years.
• Two falls in four weeks, both in her room in the mornings; no injury.
• Looked dizzy on standing; uses a walking frame.
• Eyesight check overdue; alert, not confused.
• No previous falls assessment.
• Family worried.
• Likes rice pudding; daughter is a teacher.
• Old healed wrist injury; crafts on Tuesdays.

Model letter

Falls Assessment Clinic, Sample Health Services

Dear Clinic Nurse,

I would like to refer Ms L. Sample, an 81-year-old resident of our care home, for a falls assessment and advice on how to move safely. She has fallen twice in the past four weeks.

Both falls happened in her own room in the morning, and neither caused an injury. On each occasion, staff noticed that she appeared dizzy when she stood up from sitting. She has not had a falls assessment before.

Ms Sample has lived with us for two years. She walks with a walking frame and remains alert, with no signs of confusion. Her eyesight check is overdue, so you may wish to include this in your assessment.

Her family has raised concerns about the risk of further falls, and our staff would welcome your advice on how to help her move safely during her daily routine.

I would therefore be grateful if you could assess Ms Sample at your earliest convenience. Please let me know if you need any further details about her care or her current mobility.

Thank you for your help with her care.

Yours sincerely,

Care Home Nurse

Why this works (practice advice tied to the criterion names, not a grade):

• Purpose: the referral and its reason open the letter.
• Genre & Style: factual and polite; the family's worry becomes one neutral line.
• Language: short sentences, past tense for the falls, and present tense for now.
• Conciseness & Clarity: food, a relative's job, the timetable, and the old injury stay out.

My insight: Sound like a calm colleague, not a case file: give the facts, leave out feelings, and end with one clear request.

Each of OET's six Writing criteria has a matching habit to avoid, and you can spot every one in your OET writing sample letters for nurses before test day. This is practice advice:

• No purpose up front (Purpose): the reader reaches paragraph three before learning why you wrote.
• Notes copied in order (Content, organization & Layout): a timeline isn't a letter.
• Everything included (Conciseness & Clarity): extra detail buries what matters.
• Chatty tone or opinions (Genre & Style): write as one professional to another.
• Careless slips (Language): spelling, punctuation, and grammar all count.
• Length far off the range: not penalized by itself, but often a sign of missing or extra material.

OET publishes free sample tests for OET on Paper and for OET on Computer or OET@Home (the version you take remotely), so start there, not with copied PDFs.

• Use official tasks: take the free OET sample tests for your mode.
• Time it 5 + 40: five minutes reading, then 40 writing.
• Self-mark first: score your letter against the six criteria.
• Study method, not wording: fictional OET writing sample letters for nurses show a method; memorized sentences won't fit a new task.

A low Writing score has two official routes: a remark, which means asking OET to mark a sub-test again within 72 hours of your results, or a retake.

• Your score is low: check your regulator's number first. The NMC accepts C+ (300) in Writing and lets you combine two sittings within 12 months. A retake means paying the OET fee again, INR 39,300 (AUD 587).
• Time runs out: write the purpose and request first, then fill the middle; length alone isn't penalized.
• Case notes look unclear: never invent a fact; build your opening around the task's stated purpose.

The fee is converted at 1 AUD = INR 66.93 as of October 2026 and will shift with the exchange rate, so check the latest rate before you pay.

Timed practice with OET writing sample letters for nurses costs nothing.

Who to contact: OET for a remark, your regulator for its score, and your counselor for the next step.

My insight: When time is short, a short letter with a clear purpose and request beats a long one with a missing middle.

This is general information, not registration or medical advice; check your regulator's page and oet.com before you decide.

Sources: OET test on paper page, NMC accepted tests

1. Pick details based on what the next carer needs: cut the rest and aim for 180-200 words.
2. Check every letter against the six criteria: Grade B needs 2 of 3 for Purpose and 5 of 7 elsewhere.
3. Practice under 5 + 40 minutes: start with OET's free sample tests; a retake costs INR 39,300 (AUD 587).

Talk to a Leap Scholar counselor to plan your OET Writing practice around your regulator's deadline.