How OET Writing is actually scored: the six criteria explained

Your letter is scored against six criteria. Purpose is scored on a short scale of 0 to 3; the other five criteria are each scored 0 to 7. At least two assessors mark every script independently, and the criterion scores are converted to your overall numeric score on the 0 to 500 scale.

Grade B, which most regulators commonly ask for, corresponds to 350. Grade C+ covers 300 to 340. The practical consequence: a letter that is strong on four criteria and weak on two can still miss B, because every criterion contributes.

Purpose asks one question: does the reader know, early and clearly, why you are writing and what you want them to do? A referral letter whose request only becomes clear in the final paragraph scores low here even if everything else is excellent.

To gain a band: state the purpose in your opening sentence, then make sure the letter develops it. If you are asking a community nurse to continue wound care, say so at the start, and make the specific requests explicit near the end.

Content measures selection and accuracy. The case notes always contain more information than the reader needs; your job is to choose the facts this specific reader must have to act safely, and to report them without distortion.

The two classic failures are opposite: leaving out something the reader needs (an allergy, a medication change, an outstanding test) and including everything indiscriminately. To gain a band, read the task instruction first, decide what the reader's role requires, and check each case-note fact against that role before you write.

This criterion punishes copying the case notes wholesale, repetition, and padding. A letter can contain every needed fact and still score low here because the reader has to dig for it.

To gain a band: keep the body around the length the task asks for, roughly 180 to 200 words for a standard letter, group related facts into single sentences, and cut anything the reader does not need. If a sentence repeats something you have already said, delete it.

Assessors check register, tone, and how technical the language is for the named reader. A letter to a consultant can carry clinical terminology; a letter to a patient or a social worker cannot. Casual phrasing, judgemental comments about the patient, and slang all belong here.

To gain a band: stay formal, factual, and neutral throughout, and match your vocabulary to what the reader can be expected to understand. Never editorialise about the patient's choices.

This criterion covers letter format and logical structure: address block, date, salutation, a subject line, paragraphs that each do one job, and information sequenced so the reader can act on it.

To gain a band: give each paragraph a single function, usually current situation, relevant background, and requests. Put what the reader must do near the end where action points are expected.

Grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation are scored by their effect on the reader. Small errors that never obscure meaning cost less than errors that make the reader re-read. Range and precision raise the score; ambiguity lowers it.

To gain a band: prefer the sentence you can control over the impressive one you cannot, and proofread specifically for the errors you know you make. Most candidates have three or four recurring error types, not thirty.