I am writing to you regarding the above-named patient, Mr Adeyemi, who was admitted to our ward on 12 March 2026 and has been under our care since that time. He is a 68-year-old gentleman who lives alone.
Online English TutorPhilippines
OET Writing is 320 again. Before another letter, find which decision is going wrong.
For a Filipino nurse who is one sub test short, the temptation is to keep producing letters. I would slow that down. First show me how you chose the reader, purpose, case notes and level of detail.
The useful answer first
A 320 tells you the result. It does not tell you whether the main problem is purpose, content choice, concision, organisation, language control or something else. The letter and the current Writing criteria are where the useful evidence starts.
Fix one real problem with me
Do not accept advice until you can see what changes in the response.
This is a QuickTalk Tutor practice example, not official test material and not a promised score. The criterion claim is checked against the official sources listed later in this article.
Four lines in, the reader still does not know why you wrote. It opens with chronology, but chronology is not purpose. “The above-named patient” adds no useful information. OET assesses Purpose separately on a 0–3 scale and asks whether the reason for writing is immediately clear.
I am writing to refer Mr Adeyemi, a 68-year-old man with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes, for ongoing dietary support and supervision of insulin self-administration.
The meaning remains the learner’s. The job of the correction is to make that meaning clearer and more effective. One sentence alone cannot guarantee an OET grade.
Your opening needs the patient, the relevant condition and what you want this reader to do. Put admission dates and background later. Then decide which fact belongs in sentence two.
This is what the Diagnostic is for.
If you can see the mistake but cannot identify what keeps causing it in your own work, the Diagnostic checks your exact route, skill, current criteria and target.
I am more interested in the case notes you chose than the number at the top of the score report.
A learner can know the letter format and still make poor information decisions. That is why I would ask a very specific question: “When you included this case note, what did you believe the reader needed it for?” The answer tells me much more than another generic reminder to “include only relevant notes”.
OET Writing and OET Speaking do not use one shared criterion set. On this page I am talking about Writing. The job is to inspect the current Writing criteria and the actual letter, then test the same decision on a new case.
I do not want you to memorise a prettier letter. I want you to make a better decision when the case changes.
What I am looking forNot a generic mistake list. I want the evidence that repeats when the task, question or pressure changes.
Work on the decision before the letter
Try a case note test that forces you to explain why each detail deserves a place.
OET Writing is not simply a grammar test. The official Writing criteria include Purpose, Content, Conciseness and Clarity, Genre and Style, Organisation and Layout, and Language. Use this fictional Nursing case to practise the first decision: what does this reader actually need?
Fictional QTT practice case
Referral to a community nurse
Writing task: Write a referral letter to the community nurse who will continue wound care after discharge.
- Ms Maria Reyes, 61
- Admitted three days ago with infected lower leg ulcer
- Type 2 diabetes, currently controlled
- Wound cleaned daily, dressing changed this morning
- Needs wound review every 48 hours for one week
- Needs monitoring for redness, swelling, fever or increased pain
- Lives with adult daughter who can help with transport
- Appendectomy at age 19
- Prefers tea to coffee
Your job before writing: Point to every note you would include and finish the sentence, “The community nurse needs this because...” If you cannot finish that sentence, question the note.
See the difference
A fact can be true and still be unhelpful.
Included because it is there
“She had an appendectomy at age 19 and prefers tea to coffee.”
Both facts are in the notes. Neither obviously helps the community nurse manage the current wound.
Included because the reader needs it
“Please review the ulcer every 48 hours for the next week and monitor for increasing redness, swelling, fever or pain.”
The purpose and required action are clear.
Opening line to testI am writing to refer Ms Maria Reyes for continued community wound care following discharge today.
Now ask: is the purpose immediately clear, and does the next paragraph give the reader the information needed to act?
Check against the official criterion names
Open each one and inspect your own letter.
Purpose
Can the reader identify why you are writing quickly and accurately? Do not hide the request in paragraph three.
Content
Did you include the information needed for the task and reader, without leaving out a clinically useful detail?
Conciseness and Clarity
Did irrelevant case notes make the letter longer or make the important action harder to find?
Genre and Style
Does the tone and level of detail suit a professional referral to this reader?
Organisation and Layout
Is the information grouped so the reader can follow the situation, current needs and next action?
Language
Are grammar and vocabulary accurate enough to communicate the clinical message clearly?
Transfer test
Use a completely different set of case notes tomorrow. Before you write a sentence, justify every selected note with “The reader needs this because...”. If the selection improves when the patient and purpose change, you are building a decision skill rather than memorising one letter.
Before you decide what the problem is
Three assumptions worth testing before you decide what to do next.
Tap each card. This is where QTT should feel different from a page that gives everybody the same tip.
Do this now
Take one old letter and interrogate your decisions.
Tick only what you can support from your own work. The aim is not to collect problems. It is to see whether a pattern is actually repeating.
TRY IT
One question for every case note
Point to each note you included and finish this sentence: “The reader needs this because…” If you cannot finish the sentence clearly, do not automatically put the detail into the letter. Then test the decision on a new case.
The QuickTalk Tutor method
Useful feedback should survive the next question.
At QTT I would keep the original case and letter, trace decisions to the current Writing criteria, then give you a different case. If the change only works on the corrected letter, it has not transferred yet.
01
Keep the original
I need the unchanged answer or recording so we have something real to compare.
02
Name one priority
I separate the strongest supported blocker from smaller issues instead of teaching everything at once.
03
Strengthen your words
The improved response should still sound like you. I explain why the change helps.
04
Change the task
A new prompt tests whether the improvement transfers when the answer is no longer familiar.
What should you do next?
Choose the next step from what your letter evidence shows.
The next step depends on what is already known. If the blocker is clear, teach it. If the cause is unclear, investigate it. If the route is unclear, verify the route first.
You keep getting the same result but cannot see why
Use the Diagnostic to separate the primary blocker from smaller issues.
See the Diagnostic →You are deciding remark versus retake
Check the current official OET process first, then decide what teaching evidence you still need.
Read the OET service page →Sources and accuracy boundary
QuickTalk Tutor provides teaching and coaching. It does not issue official exam scores, admissions decisions, immigration decisions or professional registration decisions. Where a receiving organisation sets a requirement, check that organisation directly.