1 Private Speaking Assessment Session
Package 24 · £18
- 1 live 1:1 Speaking session
- Multiple cards covered
- Detailed performance feedback
For one focused live session, often shortly before the exam. Join / Login for 1 session
OET Speaking practice
OET Speaking practice online: 1:1 sessions and live role-plays
Speaking improves when you perform complete role-plays under time and get feedback against the OET criteria. This page explains how the Speaking sub-test works, what each online practice option includes, and how to prepare so every session is worth your time.
How the OET Speaking sub-test works
OET Speaking takes approximately 20 minutes and is specific to your profession. You complete two role-plays in which the interlocutor plays your patient or their carer, and only those two role-plays are scored.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| ID check and warm-up | A short conversation before the role-plays. OET says assessors do not rate your ID checks, the warm-up or anything you say during preparation time. |
| Preparation | Three minutes with the role card before each role-play. You can make notes on the card and refer to it during the role-play, but you must return it at the end. |
| Role-play | Two profession-specific role-plays. Each usually comes to a natural end at around five minutes; if it does not, the interlocutor will signal clearly that it is time to conclude. |
| Marking | The sub-test is recorded and the audio is assessed by OET assessors against the Linguistic and Clinical Communication criteria. |
| Test on Paper | Face to face with an interlocutor in a private room at the venue, on the same day as the other sub-tests. |
| Test on Computer | At home through a secure platform or, in some countries, at a venue, on a different day up to 5 days before or after Listening, Reading and Writing. |
Why the three minutes matter
Preparation is not scored, but it decides how the role-play sounds. Candidates who use the time to plan an opening, the order of the tasks and the point where the patient is likely to need more explanation sound organised. Candidates who use it to write full sentences end up reading them.
What online practice has to copy
A useful practice session keeps the real structure: a card you have not seen, three minutes to prepare, about five minutes of conversation with someone who reacts like a patient, and feedback that names the criteria. Anything less is a drill, which is useful too, but different.
What OET assessors listen for
Speaking is marked against two groups of criteria. Practice that only corrects grammar covers a small part of the score.
| Group | Criteria | How it is marked |
|---|---|---|
| Linguistic | Intelligibility; Fluency; Appropriateness of language; Resources of grammar and expression | 4 criteria, each marked out of 6 |
| Clinical Communication | Relationship building; Understanding and incorporating the patient's perspective; Providing structure; Information gathering; Information giving | 5 categories, each with 3 to 5 sub-indicators, marked out of 3 |
The OET Speaking tips explain what each criterion looks like in a role-play, and the empathy and signposting guide shows how two of the clinical communication skills change a weak answer into a structured one.
Ways to practise OET Speaking online
There are three kinds of Speaking practice on this site: live one-to-one sessions, live role-plays with a virtual patient on the website, and recorded courses that teach the method. This table shows exactly what each package includes.
| Package | What it includes | For | Access | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Private Speaking Assessment Session (Package 24) | 1 live 1:1 Speaking session, multiple cards covered, detailed performance feedback | Doctors, nurses and pharmacy candidates | Scheduled within your preparation window | £18 |
| 2 Private Speaking Assessment Sessions (Package 25) | 2 live 1:1 Speaking sessions, different cards in each session, detailed performance feedback for each session | Doctors, nurses and pharmacy candidates | Scheduled within your preparation window | £34 |
| Speaking Starter (Package 42) | 3 live, interactive role-play cards with a virtual patient; transcript and feedback based on OET Speaking criteria | All disciplines | 30 days | £12 |
| Speaking Standard (Package 43) | 8 live, interactive role-play cards with a virtual patient; transcript and feedback after each | All disciplines | 90 days | £24 |
| Speaking Pro (Package 44) | 15 live, interactive role-play cards with a virtual patient; transcript and feedback after each | All disciplines | 6 months | £42 |
| Recorded Speaking Crash Course (Package 23) | Recorded Speaking course: 8+ hours per profession | Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy | 6 months | £30 |
| Double Special Package - Writing + Speaking (Package 26) | Full recorded Writing course and full recorded Speaking course | Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy | 6 months | £58 |
Before you buy, check what you already have: several courses include one private Speaking session, for example the Classic Full Course + SAMI - Medicine and the Mega Special Package.
Private 1:1 sessions with an expert tutor
A private session is live practice with a person: you work through different OET cards one to one and receive detailed performance feedback. It works as a top-up alongside any course or as a standalone Speaking assessment.
2 Private Speaking Assessment Sessions
Package 25 · £34
- 2 live 1:1 Speaking sessions
- Different cards in each session
- Detailed performance feedback for each session
Use the first to find the problem and the second to check the fix. Join / Login for 2 sessions
Who the sessions are for
Private sessions are listed for doctors, nurses and pharmacy candidates, and are scheduled within your preparation window. Physiotherapists and other professions should check their own course page, such as OET for physiotherapists or OET for allied health, or use the live virtual-patient packages, which are for all disciplines.
When a person makes the difference
A tutor hears what a script cannot show: whether your empathy sounds real, whether the patient could follow your explanation, and whether you led the conversation or followed it. Book a session when you know the role-play structure and want an honest view of how you sound, not on your first day of Speaking study.
Live virtual-patient role-plays on the website
The Speaking Starter, Standard and Pro packages are website practice. You speak live with a responsive virtual patient in natural, native-like English, in a two-way conversation that reacts to your questions in real time rather than a one-way recording.
Speaking Starter
Package 42 · £12 · 30 days
- 3 live, interactive OET Speaking role-play cards
- Detailed transcript and feedback based on OET Speaking criteria
A first experience of live, exam-style role-plays. Join / Login for Speaking Starter
Speaking Standard
Package 43 · £24 · 90 days
- 8 live, interactive OET Speaking role-play cards
- Detailed transcript and feedback based on OET Speaking criteria
Repeated role-plays to build fluency and confidence. Join / Login for Speaking Standard
Speaking Pro
Package 44 · £42 · 6 months
- 15 live, interactive OET Speaking role-play cards
- Detailed transcript and feedback based on OET Speaking criteria
Intensive, exam-style Speaking practice over a longer plan. Join / Login for Speaking Pro
What every card lets you practise
Immersive clinical scenarios designed to recreate OET-style role-plays, in which you practise empathy, signposting, reassurance and clear explanations. After each role-play you can read the full transcript, which is often the quickest way to notice long turns, missed cues and repeated phrases.
Website practice and a tutor work together
The virtual patient gives you volume: many cards, many openings and many chances to signpost. A private session gives you a tutor's view. Writing and Speaking practice also come together in the Quick Check, Exam Prep Pro and OET Mastery packages, which include live virtual-patient role-plays.
Recorded courses: learn the method first
If you have not yet studied how an OET role-play is built, start with the method. Live practice is far more useful once you know what you are trying to do.
Recorded Speaking Crash Course
Package 23 · £30 · 8+ hours per profession · Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy · 6 months from purchase
- Complete explanation of the Speaking sub-test and role-play structure
- All major card types covered in detail, with a recall-based focus on repeated card types
- Opening, information gathering, addressing concerns and safe closing
- Handling anxious, angry, confused, reluctant or non-compliant patients
- Empathy, reassurance, signposting and checking understanding
Double Special Package - Writing + Speaking
Package 26 · £58 · Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy · 6 months from purchase
- Full recorded Writing course with the latest criteria
- Full recorded Speaking course from A to Z
- Model letters, Writing rules, Speaking cards and useful phrases
For candidates who are confident in Listening and Reading and want to focus on the two productive sub-tests. This package is recorded and does not include a live session. Join / Login for the Double Special
How to prepare before a Speaking session
A session is short, so arrive ready to perform, not ready to learn the basics. These six steps make the feedback land on the right problem.
1. Know what is scored
Read the nine criteria above and the OET Speaking tips, so you can understand feedback that names Providing structure or Information gathering.
2. Rehearse the three-minute plan
On every practice card, mark the tasks, choose your opening line, note one signpost for each change of topic and predict where the patient will push back. Notes, not sentences.
3. Practise your own profession
Work through cards for your profession: nursing, medicine, pharmacy or physiotherapy role-plays, each with model answers.
4. Prepare for emotion
Many cards include a worried, frustrated or reluctant patient. Read handling an angry or anxious patient and the empathy and signposting guide before your session.
5. Set up the room
For any live online practice, use a quiet room, a reliable connection and a microphone you have tested. Poor audio hides the very things you want feedback on: pronunciation, pace and intonation.
6. Bring one goal
Decide what you most want judged, for example "I lose structure when the patient asks something unexpected". Specific goals produce specific feedback.
Practice example: planning a card and using the feedback
This is an invented practice card written by OET with Dr Hesham to demonstrate the method. It is not an official OET card and does not describe a real patient.
Practice example: the card (pharmacy)
Setting: a community pharmacy. The patient has been prescribed a new preventer inhaler for asthma. She has heard it contains a steroid and says she will only use it when she feels breathless. Tasks: find out what worries her; explain the difference between her preventer and her reliever; explain how to use the preventer and why to rinse her mouth afterwards; encourage regular use; check understanding.
A three-minute plan in notes
Open: name, role, "talk through your new inhaler". Ask: "What have you heard about it?" Reflect the steroid worry in her words. Signpost: "First, how it works; then, how to use it." Chunk: preventer daily, even when well; reliever when breathless. Check. Then technique and rinsing. Check again. Close: agree the plan and when to come back.
Feedback you might receive, and what to practise next
- Understanding and incorporating the patient's perspective: you explained steroids before asking what she had heard. Next card: ask first, then explain.
- Providing structure: you moved from her worry to inhaler technique without warning. Next card: one signpost for every change of topic.
- Information giving: four instructions arrived in one turn. Next card: one point, then a check of understanding.
- Fluency: long pauses while you read the card. Next card: plan key words in the three minutes, not full sentences.
Key takeaway
Each piece of feedback names a criterion and leads to one change on the next card. Collecting sessions without changing anything between them is the most common way to waste Speaking practice.
Common mistakes in online Speaking practice
These patterns are common in practice role-plays, and each one is easy to fix once you can name it.
Reading from the card
Looking down at full sentences breaks eye contact on a video call and slows your fluency. Plan key words only.
One empathy line for everything
The same phrase after every patient turn sounds recited. Reflect the patient's own words instead.
Talking more than the patient
Long explanations with no questions leave no room for the patient's perspective. Ask, listen, then explain.
Practising without timing
Untimed role-plays drift past five minutes. Keep the three minutes of preparation and the five-minute role-play every time.
Official sources
The test facts on this page were checked against these official OET pages on 2 November 2026. Package details come from our pricing page.
OET Speaking practice FAQ
Short answers to the questions candidates ask before booking Speaking practice.
How long is the OET Speaking sub-test?
Approximately 20 minutes. After an ID check and a short warm-up, you complete two profession-specific role-plays. You have three minutes to prepare each one, and each role-play usually ends at around five minutes.
What happens in a private OET Speaking session?
It is a live one-to-one session in which you practise different OET cards and receive detailed performance feedback. You can use it as a top-up alongside any course or as a standalone Speaking assessment.
Is the live virtual patient the same as a private session?
No. The Speaking Starter, Standard and Pro packages are website practice with a virtual patient that responds in real time, followed by a transcript and feedback based on OET Speaking criteria. A private session is a live one-to-one session with a tutor.
Who scores the real OET Speaking test?
The interlocutor plays your patient or their carer. The sub-test is recorded, and OET assessors score your two role-plays against the Linguistic and Clinical Communication criteria. The ID check, warm-up and preparation time are not rated.
Which Speaking option should I choose first?
If you have not studied the role-play structure yet, start with the recorded Speaking course. If you know the structure but need more practice, use the live virtual-patient packages. If you want a tutor's view of your performance before the exam, book a private session.
Can physiotherapists and other professions use these packages?
The live virtual-patient Speaking packages are for all disciplines. The private sessions and the Recorded Speaking Crash Course are listed for doctors, nurses and pharmacy candidates, so other professions should check their own course page first.
OET Speaking next step
Start practising complete role-plays
Choose live role-plays with a virtual patient for volume, a private session for a tutor's view, or both. Create a free account first to see every Speaking package in the learner app.