In Parts B and C, speakers paraphrase, change their minds and mention every option. This guide shows you how to predict from the question and options, separate a speaker’s opinion from the facts they report, and choose the option the recording actually supports.
The Listening sub-test lasts about 40 minutes and has 42 questions in three parts, and each recording is heard once. Part A carries 24 marks, Part B 6 and Part C 12. In Parts B and C you choose one of three options.
Each recording lasts about 45 seconds and has one or two speakers, one of whom is always a healthcare professional. OET gives examples such as part of a handover, a training session, a staff briefing, a discussion between colleagues, or a conversation between a patient and a health professional. You have 15 seconds to read the question before each extract and about five seconds afterwards to choose.
Each is a presentation or an interview of around four to five minutes, involving at least one healthcare professional and similar to professional development content. Each recording has six questions that follow the order of the audio, and you have 90 seconds to read them before it starts.
On paper you shade the circle next to your answer; answers written elsewhere are not marked. On computer and OET@Home you click an option and can right-click to eliminate one.
On paper there are two minutes at the end to check all three parts; on computer there is a short pause after each question. A wrong answer costs no marks, so never leave a blank.
OET lists what each part tests. The type of stem tells you what evidence to listen for. The example stems are our own.
Fifteen seconds is enough for one question, and 90 seconds enough to map a Part C talk, if you use the same four steps.
In Part B, the context statement tells you who is speaking and where, so you can expect a handover, a briefing or a patient conversation. In Part C, read all six questions first: together they show the structure of the talk.
Underline the word that limits the answer: a time (“today”, not yesterday), a person (“the doctor’s view”, not the patient’s) or a type (a reason, a concern, a next step).
Options often share a topic and differ in one element: who acts, when, or how strongly. Name that difference in one or two words. It is what you are listening for.
OET says the audio uses synonyms and parallel expressions, not the wording of the question. If an option says “reduce”, be ready for “cut back” or “bring down”. In Part C, the interviewer’s next question tells you to move on.
Speakers often report a fact or someone else’s view first, then give their own. Learn to hear the switch.
“The guidelines say…”, “Studies have shown…”, “A lot of colleagues assume…”, “People sometimes describe it as…”. True in the recording, but not necessarily the speaker’s opinion.
“For me…”, “What worries me is…”, “I’m not convinced…”, “If I’m honest…”, “The real issue is…”. These usually carry the answer to an opinion question.
OET points to linking words such as “but” and “however”, which can change which option is correct. “Actually”, “that said” and “what we found was” often introduce the speaker’s real position.
“Useful in some cases” is not “essential”. “I can see why people say that” is acknowledgement, not agreement. Match the strength of the option to the strength of the speaker.
OET notes that you will hear elements of every option and must choose the one that answers the question. Name the pattern behind each wrong choice.
A word from the option is in the audio, used in a different way. Hearing it proves nothing.
“We were going to…, but…”. OET advises you to keep listening after you think you have the answer.
The speaker reports a view, then disagrees with it. The option matches the reported view.
Tomorrow’s plan offered for a question about today, or a colleague’s task as the speaker’s.
One part of the option matches the audio and another does not. OET says every element of an option must match.
Good clinical practice that nobody in the recording states. Answer from the audio, not from experience.
Practice example only. Both excerpts, the speakers and the questions were invented by OET with Dr Hesham for teaching; they are not from an OET recording. A real Part C recording is much longer. Predict, then read.
Pharmacist: Morning. It’s about Mrs Adams in bed twelve. Her potassium came back a bit high this morning, so the team have held her ramipril for now. I’ve put a note on the chart.
Nurse: Right. Should I still give her the spironolactone? It’s due at ten.
Pharmacist: No, that’s on hold too. The doctor wanted to stop it altogether, actually, but we’ve agreed to wait for tomorrow’s bloods before deciding. What I do need from you is a call if anyone writes her up for a potassium supplement, because the night team might have done.
A) stop the spironolactone permanently
B) arrange a repeat blood test for tomorrow
C) tell her if a potassium supplement has been prescribed
Focus: an action, and it is the nurse’s. A fails, first idea later changed: the doctor wanted to stop it, “but” they agreed to wait. B fails, right detail, wrong person: tomorrow’s bloods are the team’s plan; nobody asks the nurse to arrange them. C survives: “a call if anyone writes her up for a potassium supplement” is paraphrased as “tell her if a supplement has been prescribed”.
Interviewer: Your service moved some wound reviews to video calls last year. How has that gone?
Nurse: Better than I expected, if I’m honest. When we started, I assumed the technology would be the main barrier for patients, and a few colleagues still think that. But what we actually found was that most people managed the calls fine once a family member had set things up. The bigger issue was image quality, so for any wound that’s getting worse we still go and see it in person.
Interviewer: So video isn’t replacing home visits?
Nurse: Not at all. People sometimes describe it as a cost-saving exercise, and I can see why, because fewer visits means less travel. But for me the real gain is speed. If a patient is worried on a Monday, we see the wound on Monday, not at the next visit on Thursday.
A) It remains the main obstacle to video reviews.
B) Most coped well once someone helped them start.
C) Her colleagues now agree that it works well.
A fails, first idea and someone else’s view: “I assumed” was her starting belief, and only “a few colleagues still think that”. B survives: after “But what we actually found”: most managed “once a family member had set things up”. C fails, contradiction: some colleagues still see technology as the barrier.
A) reduce the time staff spend travelling.
B) allow patients’ concerns to be assessed sooner.
C) mean fewer home visits are needed.
A fails, acknowledgement is not agreement: “I can see why” reports the cost-saving view before “But for me”. B survives: “the real gain is speed”, shown by seeing the wound the same day. C fails, contradiction: she says “Not at all” to video replacing home visits.
Every wrong option was mentioned in the audio. What decided each answer was a contrast word, “but”, “actually” or “for me”, followed by the speaker’s final position. Predict the difference between the options, then keep listening until the speaker settles.
Built on OET’s preparation advice: natural speed, workplace language, stamina and one-sentence summaries.
Allow yourself exactly 15 seconds to read each question. Answer, then read the transcript and label each wrong option with its distractor pattern.
Use the full 90 seconds to map the six questions. Afterwards, write one sentence per section and check it against the transcript.
Listen to healthcare talks and podcasts, increasing the length each week. Note phrases for agreement, concern, doubt, cause and effect.
Sit Parts A, B and C in one go, then sort lost marks by part and pattern. Train Part A note-taking alongside B and C.
Every test-format fact in this guide was checked against these official OET pages on 2 November 2026. OET can update its guidance, so check them again before your test date.
Short answers to the questions candidates ask most about these two parts.
Part B has six short workplace extracts with one three-option question each. Part C has two longer recordings, each with six three-option questions. Together they are worth 18 of the 42 Listening marks.
OET says you have 15 seconds to read the question before each Part B extract and 90 seconds to read the questions before each Part C recording.
No. Each part is heard once, so use the reading time to predict and keep listening until the speaker settles on a final position.
Part B uses short workplace interactions of about 45 seconds, such as a handover or a staff briefing. Part C uses presentations or interviews of around four to five minutes and focuses more on the speakers’ opinions and attitudes.
Yes. OET says you will not lose marks for an incorrect answer, so choose the most likely option and move straight on to the next question.
Practise each part with its real reading window, then review every wrong answer by distractor pattern.
