How to use this test
- Read the notes for extract 1 (about 30 seconds), then press play once.
- Type a word or short phrase in each gap: the words you hear, spelt correctly.
- Do extract 2 the same way, then press Check my answers to see your mark and why each answer is right.
Answers and explanations
These questions are Part A of our Listening Test 1. Once you've seen the answers here, treat that full test as practice; for a fresh estimate of where you stand, take Test 2.
Show all 24 answers with the line from the recording
- 1four months also accepted: 4 months
“Just after Easter. So it's been about four months now.”
Grace dates the start to just after Easter, about four months ago. A straightforward duration item: listen for the number, not the reference point (Easter).
- 2temples
“Round my temples, on both sides.”
She locates the pain round her temples on both sides. 'Tight band' describes what it feels like and is already in the note.
- 3twenty days also accepted: 20 days
“and it was twenty days out of the last month”
Her first guess is 'once or twice a week', but after checking her calendar she gives twenty days in the last month. The note asks for the figure for the past month.
- 4queasy
“But on the bad days I feel queasy, and I go right off my food.”
She denies vomiting ('never actually been sick') but feels queasy. The answer is her own word; 'sick' is wrong because it means vomiting here and the note already rules that out. Spelling: q-u-e-a-s-y.
- 5light sensitivity
“So there's some light sensitivity with the worse ones.”
Grace describes pulling the blinds down and finding the screen unbearable; the doctor names this light sensitivity. Visual aura (flashing lights, zigzags) is denied, so it is not the answer.
- 6migraines also accepted: migraine
“I had migraines in my twenties, quite badly.”
Her past headaches were migraines in her twenties. She contrasts them with the current headaches (different character), which is why the note records them as background. Spelling: m-i-g-r-a-i-n-e-s.
- 7paracetamol
“Paracetamol, mostly. Two tablets first thing, because the headache's usually there when I wake up.”
Paracetamol is the tablet she takes on waking most days. Spelling: p-a-r-a-c-e-t-a-m-o-l.
- 8ibuprofen
“And on the bad days I'll take ibuprofen on top, a few hours later.”
She adds ibuprofen on bad days. Codeine is the distractor: those are her husband's tablets and she has not taken them. Spelling: i-b-u-p-r-o-f-e-n.
- 9four or five cups also accepted: 4 or 5 cups
“Four or five cups at work, I'd say.”
She drinks four or five cups of coffee at work. The note already gives 'a day at work', so only the amount is needed.
- 10business manager
“I started there years ago as a teacher's aide, but these days I'm the business manager.”
She began as a teacher's aide (her past job) but is now the business manager. Listen for 'these days' to tell present from past.
- 11physiotherapist also accepted: physio
“My right shoulder's been stiff, so I've been seeing a physiotherapist since June, and she's given me some exercises.”
She sees a physiotherapist. The chiropractor is her sister's suggestion, which she has not taken up. 'Physio' is also said and is accepted. Spelling: p-h-y-s-i-o-t-h-e-r-a-p-i-s-t.
- 12medication overuse also accepted: medication-overuse
“We call that medication overuse headache.”
The doctor links painkillers on fifteen or more days a month to medication overuse headache. Migraine is mentioned only as a possible underlying tendency, which the note already records.
- 13osteoarthritis
“Osteoarthritis.”
He names the diagnosis as osteoarthritis; 'wear and tear' is only the lay description. Spelling: o-s-t-e-o-a-r-t-h-r-i-t-i-s.
- 14chlorhexidine
“Mine's that antiseptic wash they used before my knee arthroscopy. Chlorhexidine.”
He first says penicillin, then realises that penicillin is his wife's allergy. His own allergy is chlorhexidine. Spelling: c-h-l-o-r-h-e-x-i-d-i-n-e.
- 15eczema
“Just the eczema on my shins.”
Eczema on both shins. 'Rash' is wrong here: the rash was his allergic reaction (q14). Spelling: e-c-z-e-m-a.
- 16haemorrhoids also accepted: hemorrhoids
“I had my haemorrhoids done, must be about 2015.”
The only other operation was for haemorrhoids, about 2015. Spelling: h-a-e-m-o-r-r-h-o-i-d-s (US: hemorrhoids).
- 17apixaban
“I used to be on warfarin, with all the blood tests, but they changed me over to apixaban a couple of years ago.”
Warfarin is his previous anticoagulant; he now takes apixaban 5 mg twice daily. Spelling: a-p-i-x-a-b-a-n.
- 18surgical team also accepted: the surgical team
“The surgical team will decide exactly when you take your last dose, and they'll ring you with the plan.”
Dennis suggests his GP, but the nurse says 'not your GP for this one': the surgical team decides when apixaban is stopped.
- 19fourteen months also accepted: 14 months
“I've had one of those CPAP machines for fourteen months now.”
He has used the CPAP machine for fourteen months. The trip to Scotland only dates it.
- 20twelve years also accepted: 12 years
“I packed it in twelve years ago, when our granddaughter was born.”
'Packed it in' means he stopped smoking, twelve years ago. The note already says 'ago', so only the period is needed.
- 21townhouse also accepted: town house
“But we downsized to a townhouse, and the bedroom and the bathroom are both upstairs.”
They used to live in a bungalow (the distractor: 'used to'); they now live in a townhouse with the bedroom and bathroom upstairs.
- 22broken wrist
“She slipped at the bowls club last month and she's got a broken wrist, so she's in plaster.”
Pauline has a broken wrist and is in plaster. 'Plaster' is the treatment, not the condition the note asks for.
- 23walking stick also accepted: walking-stick
“A walking stick, when I'm out.”
He uses a walking stick outdoors. The frame or crutches the nurse mentions are for after surgery.
- 24occupational therapist also accepted: the occupational therapist
“I'm going to refer you to the occupational therapist before the operation.”
The pre-op referral is to the occupational therapist for bathroom equipment. The physio is mentioned earlier for stair practice before discharge, so 'physio' is wrong.
Transcripts
Transcript: extract 1 (Consultation: recurrent headaches)
Narrator: Extract one. You'll hear a GP called Dr Aidan Shaw talking to a patient called Grace Whitfield. For questions one to twelve, complete the notes with a word or short phrase. Now listen.
Gp: Come on in, Mrs Whitfield. Have a seat. It's Grace, isn't it? What can I do for you today?
Patient: Hello, Doctor. It's these headaches. I've put up with them for a while, but they're really getting me down now.
Gp: Okay. Let's start with when they began.
Patient: Just after Easter. So it's been about four months now.
Gp: And where do you feel the pain?
Patient: Round my temples, on both sides. It's like a tight band being pulled across my head.
Gp: How often are you getting them?
Patient: I'd have said once or twice a week. But I went back through my calendar last night and marked them all, and it was twenty days out of the last month. That gave me a bit of a shock.
Gp: That's a lot of headache days. Do they ever make you vomit?
Patient: No, I've never actually been sick with them. But on the bad days I feel queasy, and I go right off my food.
Gp: And does light bother you when you've got one?
Patient: The bad ones, yes. I end up pulling the blinds down in the office, and the computer screen is just unbearable.
Gp: So there's some light sensitivity with the worse ones. Do you get any warning beforehand, like flashing lights or zigzag lines in your vision?
Patient: No, never anything like that.
Gp: Have you had headaches in the past?
Patient: I had migraines in my twenties, quite badly. But they were different. Throbbing, on one side only, and they'd knock me out for a whole day. These are more of a constant nagging ache.
Gp: That's helpful. Now, because you're over fifty, there are a couple of things I always check. Any pain in your jaw when you chew? Or tenderness on your scalp when you brush your hair?
Patient: No. Nothing like that. Why do you ask?
Gp: There's an inflammatory condition affecting the blood vessels in the head that we like to rule out at your age. It's very unlikely from what you're describing, but I'll organise a blood test to be on the safe side. And are your periods still coming?
Patient: No, they stopped about eighteen months ago. I get the odd hot flush, but I've decided against HRT for now.
Gp: Fine. Now tell me what you've been taking for the headaches.
Patient: Paracetamol, mostly. Two tablets first thing, because the headache's usually there when I wake up.
Gp: Most days?
Patient: Pretty much. And on the bad days I'll take ibuprofen on top, a few hours later. My husband keeps offering me his codeine tablets, the ones he has for his back, but I've stayed well away from those.
Gp: Good. And how much coffee do you drink?
Patient: Ooh. More than I should. Four or five cups at work, I'd say. I tried decaf in the afternoons, but it's just not the same.
Gp: What sort of work do you do?
Patient: I'm at the local primary school. I started there years ago as a teacher's aide, but these days I'm the business manager. So it's budgets and spreadsheets, and I'm at a screen most of the day.
Gp: Any trouble with your neck or shoulders?
Patient: Funny you should ask. My right shoulder's been stiff, so I've been seeing a physiotherapist since June, and she's given me some exercises. My sister keeps telling me to try her chiropractor, but I'm happy with the physio.
Gp: Okay, Grace. What concerns me most is how often you're taking painkillers. When people take simple pain relief on fifteen or more days a month, for months on end, the tablets themselves can start to keep the headaches going. We call that medication overuse headache. And given your history, there may be an underlying migraine tendency as well.
Patient: So the tablets are actually making it worse? That's a bit ironic.
Gp: It's very common, and it usually improves once the tablets are stopped, although I won't pretend the first week or two will be easy. I'd like you to stop the regular paracetamol and ibuprofen, cut the coffee back gradually rather than all at once, and keep a headache diary. I'll check your blood pressure now, send you for that blood test, and see you again in two weeks.
Patient: A diary I can do. I'm good at spreadsheets.
Transcript: extract 2 (Pre-admission clinic: total hip replacement)
Narrator: Extract two. You'll hear a pre-admission nurse called Siobhan Keane talking to a patient called Dennis Harrow, who is booked for hip surgery. For questions thirteen to twenty-four, complete the notes with a word or short phrase. Now listen.
Pre-admission nurse: Hello, Mr Harrow? I'm Siobhan, one of the pre-admission nurses. Come on through. Did you find parking all right?
Patient: Eventually. Third time round the car park. And it's Dennis, please.
Pre-admission nurse: Dennis. Grand. So today's really about making sure everything's in place for your operation, so there are no surprises on the day. You're booked for a right total hip replacement on the fourteenth of next month, is that right?
Patient: That's the one. Right hip. It's been grinding away for years.
Pre-admission nurse: And what did the surgeon say was causing it?
Patient: Osteoarthritis. Wear and tear, basically. Forty years of laying carpets will do that to you.
Pre-admission nurse: Okay. Now, allergies. Are you allergic to any medications, or anything else?
Patient: Penicillin. Oh, no, sorry, I'm getting muddled. Penicillin's my wife. Mine's that antiseptic wash they used before my knee arthroscopy. Chlorhexidine. I came out in a terrible itchy rash.
Pre-admission nurse: Chlorhexidine. That's really important, so I'll make sure it's flagged and they use something different on the day. Any skin problems at all? We like the skin around the hip to be in good nick.
Patient: Just the eczema on my shins. It flares up in the winter. I put the cream on every night, the emollient. The hip area's fine, though.
Pre-admission nurse: Good. They'll have a look at that on the day as well. Now, you mentioned the knee arthroscopy. Any other operations?
Patient: Only the one. I had my haemorrhoids done, must be about 2015. That was just a day procedure.
Pre-admission nurse: And any problems with the anaesthetic either time?
Patient: None at all.
Pre-admission nurse: Now, medications. Are you on anything regularly?
Patient: A blood thinner, for my heart rhythm. Atrial fibrillation. I used to be on warfarin, with all the blood tests, but they changed me over to apixaban a couple of years ago. Much easier.
Pre-admission nurse: Apixaban, five milligrams twice a day?
Patient: That's it. Morning and night.
Pre-admission nurse: That will need to be stopped for a few days before the operation, because of the risk of bleeding.
Patient: Right. Should I ring my GP about that, then?
Pre-admission nurse: No, not your GP for this one. The surgical team will decide exactly when you take your last dose, and they'll ring you with the plan. Please don't stop it on your own before you've heard from them.
Patient: Fair enough.
Pre-admission nurse: Any other conditions? Any breathing problems?
Patient: Well, I snore. Apparently. My wife sent me off for a sleep study and it turns out I've got sleep apnoea. I've had one of those CPAP machines for fourteen months now. I got it just before our trip to Scotland.
Pre-admission nurse: And do you use it every night?
Patient: Every night. Couldn't do without it now.
Pre-admission nurse: Then you'll need to bring it in with you, because you'll be using it on the ward after surgery. Do you smoke?
Patient: Not anymore. I packed it in twelve years ago, when our granddaughter was born.
Pre-admission nurse: Well done. And alcohol?
Patient: A couple of beers at the weekend. Nothing much.
Pre-admission nurse: Now, home. Who's at home with you, and what's the house like?
Patient: Just me and Pauline. We used to have a bungalow, which would have been perfect now, wouldn't it? But we downsized to a townhouse, and the bedroom and the bathroom are both upstairs.
Pre-admission nurse: Stairs are fine. The physio will practise them with you before you go home. Will Pauline be able to help you for the first couple of weeks?
Patient: That's the trouble. She slipped at the bowls club last month and she's got a broken wrist, so she's in plaster. She can't do much lifting.
Pre-admission nurse: Okay, that's worth knowing. Do you use anything to help you walk at the moment?
Patient: A walking stick, when I'm out. Around the house I just manage.
Pre-admission nurse: After surgery you'll most likely go home with a frame or crutches, and the hospital will sort that out. With the stairs at home, and Pauline in plaster for now, I'm going to refer you to the occupational therapist before the operation. They'll look at your bathroom and suggest things like a shower chair and a raised toilet seat.
Patient: That'd be a weight off my mind. Thanks, Siobhan.
What Part A tests, and the three traps
Part A checks that you can pick out specific clinical facts from a consultation and record them as a health professional would. The notes follow the order of the conversation, so if you lose a gap, let it go and listen for the next heading.
- Corrections: a patient gives one figure, then corrects it. Write the final one.
- Someone else's details: a relative's medication or a past job is mentioned near the answer. Check that the fact belongs to this patient now.
- Paraphrase in the notes: the note heading uses a different word from the recording. Write what you hear, not a synonym.
Short lessons: note completion, spelling, numbers and doses. Drill: medical spelling dictation.
Questions candidates ask
How is OET Listening Part A marked?
Each of the 24 gaps is worth one mark. You must use words you hear in the recording, not a paraphrase. Spelling counts, though OET marks Listening a little more leniently than Reading when a small slip doesn't change the meaning; common medical words must be spelt correctly.
How many marks do I need in OET Listening for a B?
OET doesn't publish a fixed conversion because it adjusts for each test's difficulty. Its guidance is that about 30 of the 42 Listening marks is usually around 350, grade B. Part A is 24 of those 42 marks.
How long is OET Listening Part A?
Part A has two consultations of about five minutes each, with time before each one to read the notes. The whole Listening test takes about 40 minutes and has 42 questions across Parts A, B and C.
Can I write numbers as digits in OET Listening?
Yes. Digits and words are both fine for numbers (4 months or four months). Write units the way you hear them and keep abbreviations only if they are standard.
Is this an official OET sample test?
No. Every question and recording here is original, written and voiced for this site. For official samples, see the free sample tests on oet.com.
OETAce is an independent practice site. OET is a registered trademark of Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment (CBLA); we are not affiliated with or endorsed by CBLA. All practice material here is original.