I spent the last couple of months preparing for my Occupational English Test (OET), which is required for overseas nursing registration. Scoring at least a B is a prerequisite before applying for registration and the first of many hurdles on my journey to becoming an internationally certified nurse. The test has four parts -speaking, reading, listening, and writing- and I focused my study around those skills.
I had no doubt about my speaking ability. Still, some parts even my boyfriend (a native English speaker) had difficulty with, which made me more anxious. To avoid being surprised by the exam format, I researched a learning platform that helped me practise the different question types so I could focus on nursing English rather than getting thrown off by the layout.
Test day: 23 August 2025, Colombo, Sri Lanka
I travelled to the capital on Friday and intended to stay over the weekend. I had researched some activities that I was considering doing as a treat after the exam no matter how good or bad I would score. But my fears the next day came true: I somehow ignored the format of the listening part and messed up the first bit by not reading the questions properly. I ended up answering randomly, picking up only a few words I heard. The writing test went sideways too – I lost track of time and realised with five minutes left that I had written 240 words instead of the 180–200 required. I felt terrible and was certain I’d have to resit the exam.
But no – I passed all parts of the OET and can not submit my registration documents to TruMerit!