Part B: purpose, main point and what staff must do

What Part B looks like

Part B has six short texts from a healthcare workplace: a policy extract, an email to staff, a memo, part of a guideline, a notice about equipment. Each one is roughly 100 to 150 words and has one question with three options. The language is fairly formal and the texts are dense: almost every sentence carries information.

Parts B and C share 45 minutes. Part C has two long texts with eight items each, so it needs most of that time. A sensible target is about 10 minutes for the six Part B texts, which leaves about 35 minutes for Part C. Practise with a timer until that pace feels normal.

Read the stem first

The stem is the question line above the options. It tells you what kind of reading to do. There are four common types.

Once you know the type, read the whole text once. It is short enough to read fully, and a purpose or main-point answer depends on the whole text, not on one line.

A worked example

Email to Ward 9 nursing staff. Subject: Evening handover. From Monday 3 March, evening handover will take place at the bedside instead of in the staff room. The aim is to include patients in the discussion and to reduce errors when information is passed on. Nurses should introduce themselves and invite the patient to add anything they think is missing. Sensitive information, such as a new diagnosis the patient has not yet discussed with the doctor, should not be shared at the bedside; record it on the handover sheet and pass it on privately. The handover sheet itself is not changing. Please read the attached one-page guide before your next evening shift. Questions can go to the nurse unit manager, Grace Okafor.

Question: The main purpose of this email is to

• A tell staff that the handover sheet will stay the same.
• B explain a change to where evening handover happens and how to do it.
• C tell staff that all patient information must now be shared at the bedside.

B is correct. The email announces a change (from Monday, at the bedside) and then explains how to do it. A is true, but it is one small detail, not the reason the email was sent. C ignores a condition: sensitive information should not be shared at the bedside.

The three traps

Here is a second text, this time with a condition.

Clinical photographs: interim guidance. Clinical photographs form part of the patient record and must be stored securely. Staff may use the approved hospital app on a personal phone only if the patient has given verbal consent and this consent is documented in the notes. The app stores images in the hospital system, not on the phone. Photographs must not be taken with the phone's own camera or shared through messaging apps, even with colleagues in the same team. This guidance applies to all clinical areas until the new wound imaging devices arrive, expected in June.

Question: What does the guidance say about personal phones?

• A Staff may use them to send images to members of their own team.
• B They may be used with the approved app once consent has been recorded.
• C The hospital has changed its rules on photography and patient privacy.

B is correct: it keeps both parts of the condition (the approved app, and documented consent). A contradicts the text, which says images must not be shared even with the same team. C is too broad: the text is about personal phones and photographs for a limited period, not privacy rules in general.

A routine for each text

1. Read the stem and name the question type.
2. Read the text once at normal speed. Notice the date, the audience and any condition words.
3. Predict the answer in your own words.
4. Read the options. For each one, find the sentence that supports it or rules it out.
5. Check your choice against the three traps, then move on. Do not read the text a third time.