OET · Speaking · S1
OET Speaking Role-Play 1: Opening a Patient Conversation
OET Speaking Role-Play 1 is the first of two scored conversations. You play yourself as a health professional and have 3 minutes to prepare with a role card, then 5 minutes to talk with an interlocutor playing a patient, relative or carer. You are assessed on language and on clinical communication skills.
- Preparation
- 3 minutes with the role card
- Role-play
- 5 minutes
- Before it
- An unassessed warm-up of about 2–3 minutes
- Other person
- Patient, relative or carer (animal owner in Veterinary Science)
- Criteria
- 4 linguistic (0–6) + 5 clinical communication (0–3)
How it works
- 1After a short warm-up about your professional background, you receive the first role card, which gives the setting, background and the tasks to cover.
- 2You prepare for 3 minutes and can make notes; the card stays with you during the conversation.
- 3The interlocutor starts or you open the conversation, and you work through the tasks over 5 minutes, responding to their questions and concerns.
- 4The role-play ends at 5 minutes, and Role-Play 2 follows with a new card.
Sample task
Original sample · not from an official test
Role card (original, pharmacy): Setting — community pharmacy. A customer has been prescribed a short course of antibiotics and asks whether she can stop once she feels better. Tasks: find out her concerns; explain in plain language why finishing the course matters; advise what to do about side effects; check she understands.
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Outline: Outline: greet and confirm who you are speaking with; ask what is worrying her; explain the reason for completing the course without jargon; give clear side-effect advice and when to seek help; ask her to summarise the plan.
A strong response keeps the patient talking, uses everyday words, and checks understanding. These behaviours map to the clinical communication criteria as well as to language.
Tips that work
- Use the 3 minutes to plan an opening line and one question for each task on the card; don't script whole answers.
- Start by finding out what the person already knows or is worried about before giving information.
- Explain technical terms in plain words; appropriate lay language is part of the scoring.
- Check understanding before the end, for example by asking the person to repeat the key advice.
Common mistakes
- Delivering a monologue that covers every task point without letting the other person speak.
- Ignoring a concern the patient raises in order to stick to the card's order.
Questions candidates ask
Is the warm-up part of my OET Speaking score?
No. The warm-up of about 2–3 minutes about your professional background is not assessed.
Do I have to follow the role card's tasks in order?
Cover all the tasks, but respond naturally to the other person. A conversation that adapts to their concerns fits the clinical communication criteria better than a fixed script.
Who is the AI partner in EnglishHub's practice?
An EnglishHub practice interlocutor that plays the patient role and then gives AI feedback. It is not an OET examiner or interlocutor.
Other OET Speaking tasks
OET overviewOET Speaking: all partsOET full mock testsOET articles on the blog