Purpose
The first paragraph states the referral, the operation and date, and the three rehabilitation aims. The community physiotherapist knows immediately why the patient is being referred.
OET Physiotherapy Writing
OET Writing Sample for Physiotherapists: Discharge Letter
This OET writing sample for physiotherapists gives you a complete practice task: inpatient rehabilitation notes after a knee replacement, the writing instructions, a model letter to a community physiotherapist 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 the OET Writing task for physiotherapists?
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. For physiotherapists, the letter is usually a referral or discharge letter to another physiotherapist, a GP or a specialist who will continue the patient's rehabilitation. 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: discharge of Mrs Linda Hughes
These case notes describe a fictional patient and were written for practice. Read them for five minutes and decide what the community physiotherapist needs before you look at the task.
Patient details
- Name: Mrs Linda Hughes
- DOB: 11/09/1958 (68 y.o.)
- Address: 15 Orchard Way, Eastfield
- Admitted: 01/10/2026 for elective R total knee replacement (osteoarthritis)
- Discharge: 06/10/2026; Orthopaedic Ward 3, Eastfield Hospital
Social background
- Lives with husband in two-storey house; bedroom upstairs; rail on one side of stairs
- Husband supportive, drives
- Retired librarian; enjoys swimming
- Goals: walk to local shops (approx. 500 m) and return to swimming
Medical history
- Osteoarthritis both knees (L knee mild symptoms)
- Hypertension: amlodipine 5 mg OD
- BMI 31
- NKDA
Physiotherapy notes
- 02/10 (day 1): mobilised with walking frame; R knee flexion 45°, lacks 15° extension; pain 6/10 on movement
- 03/10: progressed to 2 elbow crutches; flexion 65°
- 05/10: stairs practised with 1 rail + 1 crutch, safe and independent; flexion 85°, lacks 5° extension; pain 3/10 with analgesia
- 06/10: independent indoors and outdoors (short distances) with 2 crutches
- Home exercise programme taught: straight leg raises, heel slides, knee bends; completing 3 times daily; ice 15 mins after exercise for swelling
- Pt anxious about falling when going to the toilet at night
- OT: raised toilet seat and bed lever supplied
Discharge plan
- Continue 2 elbow crutches
- Community physiotherapy: progress range of movement (target flexion 110°+), strengthening and gait; reduce walking aid when appropriate
- Orthopaedic outpatient review 12/11/2026
- Wound care and staple removal arranged with practice nurse
Writing task
You are the physiotherapist on Orthopaedic Ward 3, Eastfield Hospital. Mrs Hughes is being discharged home today. Using the information in the case notes, write a letter to Mr James Ward, Community Physiotherapist, Eastfield Health Centre, 10 Park Road, Eastfield, who will continue her rehabilitation.
- 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: physiotherapy discharge letter
Compare this model with your own letter. There is more than one way to score highly, but strong answers make the same selection decisions.
Mr James Ward
Community Physiotherapist
Eastfield Health Centre
10 Park Road
Eastfield
6 October 2026
Dear Mr Ward,
Re: Mrs Linda Hughes, DOB 11/09/1958
I am writing to refer Mrs Hughes, aged 68, for continued physiotherapy following her right total knee replacement on 1 October. She is being discharged home today and requires ongoing rehabilitation to regain movement, strength and walking ability.
Mrs Hughes has made good progress. Her knee flexion has improved from 45 to 85 degrees, although she still lacks 5 degrees of full extension, and her pain has reduced to 3/10 with analgesia. She walks independently over short distances with two elbow crutches and can manage stairs using one rail and one crutch.
She has been taught a home exercise programme, including straight leg raises, heel slides and knee bends, which she completes three times a day, followed by ice to control swelling.
Could you please progress her range of movement and strengthening and reduce her walking aid when appropriate? Her goals are to walk to her local shops, about 500 metres away, and to return to swimming. She is anxious about falling at night, so advice on safe mobility would be appreciated. Her orthopaedic review is on 12 November.
Please contact me if you require further information.
Yours sincerely,
Physiotherapist
Orthopaedic Ward 3, Eastfield Hospital
Practice material written by OET with Dr Hesham. It is not an official OET test task. The body of this model answer is 187 words.
Why this letter works
The model is mapped to the six criteria examiners use. Selection is the skill behind most of them, so the lists below show which case notes were kept and which were left out.
Content
The letter gives the reader a clear baseline: current range of movement, pain, walking aid, stairs and the home exercise programme. The goals and the night-time anxiety help plan treatment. Day-by-day measurements are reduced to the starting and current figures.
Conciseness & Clarity
Five days of ward notes become one progress paragraph. Information that belongs to other professionals, such as wound care, is left out because the physiotherapist does not act on it.
Genre & Style
The tone is professional and collegial, physiotherapist to physiotherapist. The request is a polite question, and clinical measurements are written in full sentences rather than notes.
Organisation & Layout
Purpose, then progress, then the exercise programme, then the requested treatment with goals and follow-up. Each paragraph has one job, and the letter follows standard layout.
Language
Comparatives show progress clearly (“has improved from 45 to 85 degrees”), and the present tense describes her current function. Units and numbers match the case notes exactly.
Included because the reader needs it
- Right total knee replacement on 1 October and discharge today
- Knee flexion 45 to 85 degrees and the 5-degree extension lag
- Pain 3/10 with analgesia
- Two elbow crutches and safe on stairs with one rail and one crutch
- Home exercise programme and ice for swelling
- Goals: shops about 500 metres away and swimming
- Anxiety about falling at night
- Orthopaedic review on 12 November
Left out because it does not change the next step
- Retired librarian
- Mild symptoms in the left knee
- Hypertension and amlodipine
- BMI
- Each day's separate measurements
- Wound care and staple removal (arranged with the practice nurse)
- Raised toilet seat and bed lever (a short mention is acceptable if you have words left)
Common mistakes in OET physiotherapy letters
These errors cost marks in physiotherapy discharge letters again and again, and each one is easy to fix once you can see it.
- Copying every day's range-of-movement figures instead of giving the starting and current values.
- Forgetting the patient's functional goals, which the next physiotherapist needs to plan treatment.
- Including wound care, blood pressure or other details the reader will not act on.
- Describing the exercise programme without saying how often it is done.
- Writing the request as a vague statement instead of a clear question to the reader.
- Leaving out the follow-up appointment date.
- Using note-form shorthand such as “2 x crutches” or “ROM” in the letter.
For the method behind these decisions, read the OET Writing tips or see the OET courses, including the physiotherapy course. Try the other practice letters too: the nursing discharge letter, the nursing transfer letter, the medicine referral letter, the pharmacy letter to a GP and the physiotherapy discharge letter.
Write your own version and get it marked
Write your own physiotherapy 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 physiotherapy writing sample FAQ
More exam questions are answered on the full OET FAQ page.
How long should an OET physiotherapy 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.
Who do physiotherapists write to in OET Writing?
Usually another physiotherapist, a GP, a specialist or a rehabilitation team who will continue the patient's care. Some tasks ask you to write to a patient or carer, which changes the tone and the amount of technical language.
Should I include every measurement in a physiotherapy letter?
No. Give the starting and current figures that show progress, plus anything the reader needs to plan treatment. Copying every day's measurements makes the letter long without helping the reader.
Can I get my OET physiotherapy 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 physiotherapy letter 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.