Purpose
The first sentence asks for two things, a treatment review and education, and says why: his diabetes has become poorly controlled. The specialist nurse knows the request before reading any history.
OET Nursing Writing
OET Nursing Referral Letter Sample: Referral to a Specialist Nurse
This OET nursing referral letter sample gives you a complete practice task: practice nurse case notes from a diabetes review, the writing instructions, a model referral to a diabetes specialist nurse and a criterion-by-criterion explanation of why it works. Write your own letter first, then compare.
45 min5 minutes reading plus 40 minutes writing
180–200Words in the body of the letter
6Writing criteria the examiner uses
What is a nursing referral letter in OET Writing?
OET Writing gives you 5 minutes to read the case notes and 40 minutes to write one letter, with a body of about 180–200 words. In a nursing referral, you ask another health professional, often a specialist nurse or clinic, to take on part of the patient's care, so the request and the reason for it must be clear from the first paragraph. This page gives you a full practice task, a model answer and an explanation of every selection decision.
Reading time: 5 minutes
You read the case notes and the task before the writing time starts. Use it to decide who the reader is and what they must do next.
Writing time: 40 minutes
You write one letter. A useful split is 5 minutes planning, 30 minutes writing and 5 minutes checking purpose, dates and doses.
How to use this sample
Read the case notes, write your own letter under time and only then compare it with the model answer. Copying the model teaches far less than finding your own selection mistakes.
What the examiner checks
Six criteria: Purpose, Content, Conciseness & Clarity, Genre & Style, Organisation & Layout, and Language.
Case notes: diabetes review for Mr Raymond Doyle
These case notes describe a fictional patient and were written for practice. Read them for five minutes and decide what the specialist nurse needs before you look at the task.
Patient details
- Name: Mr Raymond Doyle
- DOB: 11/02/1958 (68 y.o.)
- Address: 14 Orchard Lane, Westbridge
- Seen at Westbridge Health Centre for annual diabetes review: 21/10/2026
Social background
- Widowed April 2026; lives alone; cooking for himself since
- Daughter visits weekly; happy to attend appointments with him
- Retired postman; enjoys gardening
- Ex-smoker (stopped 2010); occasional beer
Medical history and medicines
- T2DM (2016): metformin 1 g PO BD
- Hypertension (2018): ramipril 5 mg OD
- Cataract surgery R eye (2022)
- NKDA
Nursing notes 21/10
- HbA1c 75 mmol/mol (58 mmol/mol six months ago)
- Reports increased thirst; diet irregular since wife's death (more takeaways and sweet snacks)
- BP 136/82 mmHg; weight 92 kg (88 kg six months ago)
- Foot check: reduced sensation both feet (monofilament); dry skin; small callus R heel; no ulcers
- Often wears slippers outdoors as shoes feel tight
- Pt keen to 'get back on track'
Plan
- Refer to diabetes specialist nurse: treatment review and education (diet, foot care)
- Referred to community podiatry service
- Advised daily foot checks and well-fitting footwear
- GP informed of HbA1c result
Writing task
You are the practice nurse at Westbridge Health Centre. Using the information in the case notes, write a letter of referral to Ms Angela Brooks, Diabetes Specialist Nurse, Diabetes Centre, Westbridge General Hospital, Hill Road, Westbridge.
- Expand the relevant notes into complete sentences.
- Do not use note form.
- Use letter format.
- The body of the letter should be approximately 180–200 words.
Practice material written by OET with Dr Hesham. It is not an official OET test task.
Model answer: nursing referral to a diabetes specialist nurse
Compare this model with your own letter. There is more than one way to score highly, but strong answers make the same selection decisions.
Ms Angela Brooks
Diabetes Specialist Nurse
Diabetes Centre
Westbridge General Hospital
Hill Road
Westbridge
21 October 2026
Dear Ms Brooks,
Re: Mr Raymond Doyle, DOB 11/02/1958
I am writing to refer Mr Doyle, aged 68, for a review of his type 2 diabetes, which has recently become poorly controlled, and for education on diet and foot care.
Mr Doyle was diagnosed in 2016 and takes metformin 1 g twice daily. At his annual review today, his HbA1c had risen from 58 to 75 mmol/mol over six months, and he reported increased thirst. Since his wife died in April, he has been cooking for himself and his diet has become irregular. He has also gained 4 kg.
On examination, monofilament testing showed reduced sensation in both feet. He has dry skin and a small callus on his right heel, but no ulcers. He often wears slippers outdoors because his shoes feel tight.
I would be grateful if you could review his treatment and provide education on diet and foot care. I have referred him to the community podiatry service and advised him to check his feet daily and wear well-fitting shoes.
Mr Doyle is motivated to improve his control. He lives alone, but his daughter visits weekly and is happy to attend appointments with him. Please contact me if you require further information.
Yours sincerely,
Practice Nurse
Westbridge Health Centre
Practice material written by OET with Dr Hesham. It is not an official OET test task. The body of this model answer is 196 words.
Why this letter works
The model is mapped to the six criteria examiners use. According to OET, a Grade B letter typically scores 2 out of 3 for Purpose and 5 out of 7 for each of the other criteria. Selection is the skill behind most of them, so the lists below show which case notes were kept and which were left out.
Content
Every included note supports the referral: the rising HbA1c, thirst, weight gain, the diet change after his bereavement, the foot findings and what has already been done. Stable history such as the cataract surgery is left out.
Conciseness & Clarity
The review is summarised in five short paragraphs. Several foot findings become two clear sentences, and the diet notes become one cause-and-effect point.
Genre & Style
The tone is professional, nurse to specialist colleague. The request is polite and specific, using “I would be grateful if you could”, and the bereavement is mentioned briefly and respectfully.
Organisation & Layout
Purpose first, then diabetes control, then the foot findings, then the request and actions already taken, then social support. Standard letter layout with the recipient, date and Re: line.
Language
Accurate tenses (past simple for today's findings, present perfect for the diet change since April), precise results and doses copied from the notes, and no note-form abbreviations such as BD, OD or R.
Included because the reader needs it
- Reason for referral: poor diabetes control and education needs
- Metformin dose and year of diagnosis
- HbA1c rise, thirst and weight gain
- Irregular diet since his wife's death
- Reduced sensation, dry skin and heel callus, with no ulcers
- Slippers worn outdoors because shoes feel tight
- Podiatry referral and advice already given
- Motivation, living alone and daughter's support
Left out because it does not change the next step
- Retired postman and gardening
- Cataract surgery in 2022
- Ex-smoker since 2010 and occasional beer
- Hypertension, ramipril and blood pressure (stable, not the reason for referral)
- Exact details of takeaways and snacks
- GP informed of the result (internal, not for the specialist nurse)
Common mistakes in OET nursing referral letters
These errors cost marks in nursing referrals again and again, and each one is easy to fix once you can see it.
- Opening with the patient's history instead of the reason for referral.
- Asking vaguely for the patient to be “seen” without saying what you want the specialist to do.
- Copying every reading from the notes, including stable blood pressure and old surgery.
- Leaving out what you have already done, such as the podiatry referral and foot-care advice.
- Describing the bereavement at length instead of linking it briefly to the diet change.
- Using note-form abbreviations such as BD, T2DM or y.o. in the letter.
- Forgetting the social support that will help the specialist plan appointments.
For the method behind these decisions, read the OET Writing tips or see the OET course for nurses. Try the other practice letters too: the nursing discharge letter, the nursing referral letter, the nursing transfer letter, the medicine referral letter, the medicine discharge letter, the pharmacy letter to a GP, the physiotherapy discharge letter and the occupational therapy referral letter. All of them are listed on the free OET sample tests page.
Write your own version and get it marked
Write your own nursing referral letter for this task in 40 minutes, then send it for OET writing correction. Each corrected letter comes back with an estimated score, detailed correction and voice-note feedback on WhatsApp. If you are not sure your English is ready for OET yet, start with the free placement test.
OET nursing referral letter FAQ
More exam questions are answered on the full OET FAQ page.
How long should an OET nursing referral letter be?
The body of the letter should be about 180–200 words. Writing a little more or less is not penalised on its own, but long letters usually include irrelevant case notes, which costs marks for content and conciseness.
What should the first paragraph of a nursing referral say?
Who the patient is, what you are asking the reader to do and why. The examiner looks for the purpose straight away, so name the request, such as a treatment review and education, in the opening paragraph.
Should I mention personal or social details in a referral letter?
Only when they affect the care the reader will give. Here the bereavement explains the diet change and the daughter's support helps with appointments, but his former job and hobbies do not change the next step.
Can I get my OET nursing referral letter marked?
Yes. Write your own version of this task under timed conditions, then send it for OET writing correction. You receive an estimated score, detailed correction and voice-note feedback on WhatsApp.
Next step
Find out what your nursing referral would score
Write this task under time, send it for correction and get an estimated score with voice-note feedback on exactly what to change.