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OET Speaking · role-play practice

Practise with a patient who holds something back.

OET Speaking is two role-plays where you play your own profession and the interlocutor plays your patient. Here the patient talks back, worries about the thing they have not mentioned, and only tells you when you ask the right way. Then you see how you did against OET's clinical communication criteria.

Your first role-play is free: five minutes, marked on all nine criteria. You need an account, not a card.

400+ OET mocks purchased

Role-play card · Nursing

Going home after a hip replacement

Mrs Patterson, 81, had a total hip replacement four days ago and is due to be discharged home tomorrow. She lives alone in a two-storey house. Her daughter lives an hour away. She is walking with a frame and her wound is healing well.

  • Find out how she feels about going home and what worries her.
  • Explain how to look after the wound and the signs of infection — increasing redness, swelling, heat, discharge or a fever.
  • Explain the importance of taking pain relief regularly so she can keep moving, as prescribed.

A card from the practice set. The patient has three things they will not volunteer.

How the real Speaking test runs

From OET's published format. The practice runs the same way.

2
role-plays
each about five minutes, after a short warm-up that is not assessed
3
minutes to prepare
reading the card, which stays with you during the role-play
12
professions
you play your own; the interlocutor plays the patient or carer
B
the grade most regulators ask for
350–440 on OET's 0–500 scale, including for UK nursing registration

120 cards across 6 professions

Standard patient conversations — discharge, a new diagnosis, a request you have to decline. More professions are on the way.

Nursing
Going home after a hip replacement →An eighty-year-old patient is being discharged tomorrow and lives alone. She says she is fine. She is not.A parent learning to manage a child's asthma →A father's six-year-old son has just been diagnosed with asthma. The boy needs a spacer from tonight, and his father is worried about the steroid inhaler.A daughter angry that her father fell on the ward →An eighty-four-year-old fell getting out of bed last night. His daughter has just seen the bruise on his forehead and wants answers.A patient refusing compression bandages →A seventy-six-year-old with a leg ulcer keeps cutting off his bandages. Today he says he does not want them put back on.Raised blood sugar and a reluctant lifestyle change →A night-shift care worker has a blood test in the prediabetes range. She has heard 'lose weight' before and is tired of it.Preparing for a colonoscopy →A sixty-three-year-old is booked for a colonoscopy in ten days. He is embarrassed, worried, and has not thought about getting home.Head injury advice for a parent →A three-year-old bumped his head falling off a sofa and is ready to go home. His mother is shaken, guilty and going home alone with three children.A new resident who will not get out of bed →An eighty-eight-year-old widow moved into aged care three weeks ago. She has stopped getting up and her skin is starting to show it.Foot care for a patient who struggles to read →A man with diabetes has lost some feeling in his feet. He has been given three leaflets, and he cannot read them.A patient who stopped going to cardiac rehab →Six weeks after a heart attack, an engineer has gone back to full-time work and stopped coming to rehab classes after the second session.An angry husband and an operation delayed again →His wife has had nothing to eat since midnight, and her operation has just been put back for the second day running.A mother who wants to go home with a leg infection →The doctor wants to admit her for antibiotics through a drip. She has two children to collect at three o'clock and is already putting her shoes on.A truck driver not using his sleep apnoea machine →Two months ago he was given a machine to wear at night. The download shows he has used it for an hour on four nights.Gout and a man who loves his food →His second gout attack kept him off work for a week. He wants a pill to fix it, not a lecture about beer and pies.A nervous patient's first cervical screening test →She has put off her first screening test for two years. Today she has come in, and she is close to walking out.Taking a baby home after bronchiolitis →Her four-month-old is going home after three nights on the ward. She is exhausted, and she is frightened of the first night alone.Bladder leaks and an older woman who has stopped going out →She has been drinking less and less to stop the leaks. Now she has had two urine infections and has given up her choir.Going home with a catheter, in simple English →A seventy-six-year-old is going home with a urine tube for two weeks. His daughter usually explains things for him, and today she is at work.A patient who will not look at her new stoma →Five days after emergency surgery she has a stoma bag on her tummy. She turns away every time it is changed.A wife worn out caring for her husband at home →You are visiting to check her husband's skin. She opens the door, says everything is fine, and has not slept properly in months.
Medicine
A patient who wants antibiotics →Three days of sore throat, a big presentation on Friday, and a firm belief that antibiotics will fix it. It is almost certainly viral.Explaining high blood pressure →A fifty-two-year-old taxi driver has high blood pressure on three readings. He feels perfectly well and does not want tablets.An angry son and his mother's sudden confusion →His mother came in with a urine infection and did not recognise him this morning. Nobody phoned him, and he thinks it is dementia.A mini-stroke and a patient who wants to go home →His arm went weak and his speech slurred for twenty minutes. Now he feels fine, and he wants to leave before anyone can stop him.A patient who stopped her antidepressant suddenly →She felt better, so she stopped her tablets a week ago. Now she is dizzy, irritable and wondering whether she was addicted.Liver results and a patient who likes a drink →A restaurant owner's blood tests and scan show his liver is under strain. He thinks a bottle of wine a night is normal for a chef.Explaining the glucose tolerance test in pregnancy →A woman twenty-five weeks pregnant is booked for a glucose test. She is worried about the result, the needles and her toddler.A father after his daughter's first febrile seizure →His eighteen-month-old had a fit with a fever last night. She is well this morning, and he has not slept since.Thin bones explained to a patient with limited English →A sixty-eight-year-old broke her wrist slipping in the kitchen. Her scan shows thin bones, and she says 'yes, yes' to everything.A new diagnosis of coeliac disease →Years of stomach trouble finally have a name. She works in a bakery, and she was planning to just cut down on bread.An angry daughter and her father's sleeping tablets →Her father's sleeping tablets were reduced after a fall. Now he is up all night, and she wants them back.A man who doesn't want his memory checked →His wife booked the appointment. He says there is nothing wrong with his memory, and he would like to go home now.A student with type 1 diabetes missing his insulin →Since starting university his blood sugar control has got much worse. He says he's 'just busy'.A young man, cannabis and his anxiety →He came in asking for something for his nerves. He smokes cannabis every night to sleep and doesn't see it as part of the problem.Explaining a lumbar puncture after a sudden headache →Her brain scan was clear, and now the team wants to put a needle in her back. She wants to know why — and whether it could paralyse her.A mother worried about her son's bedwetting →Her seven-year-old still wets the bed most nights. She has stopped all drinks after school, and his first sleepover is in three weeks.What 'heart failure' means to an older woman →She has just been told she has heart failure. She heard the word 'failure', and she thinks it means the end.Hepatitis B explained to a patient with limited English →A blood test shows he carries hepatitis B. He cooks in a restaurant and thinks he has put his family in danger.A new diagnosis of epilepsy and giving up driving →After a second seizure she has been told she has epilepsy. She sells houses for a living, and her car is her office.Menopause symptoms and a fear of HRT →Hot flushes, no sleep, and losing words in meetings. She wants help, but she has read that hormone treatment is dangerous.
Pharmacy
Starting a blood thinner →A retired builder has just been started on an anticoagulant for an irregular heartbeat. He buys ibuprofen for his knee every week.A carer juggling a parent's medicines →A daughter collects nine medicines a month for her father. He has started missing doses, and she is running out of ways to cope.A father afraid of steroid cream →A toddler's eczema keeps flaring. The steroid cream the GP prescribed is still sealed in the bag, because her dad has read it thins the skin.Thinking about stopping smoking →Her doctor told her to quit after a bad chest infection. She has bought cigarettes on the way in, and she is not sure she wants to stop.Going home after a heart attack →Four new medicines, two old ones stopped, and a drawer full of tablets at home that he plans to 'use up first'.An angry son and a medicine out of stock →His mother's Parkinson's medicine is out of stock for the second time this month. He has left work to sort it, and he is furious.Wanting to stop an antidepressant →Three weeks into her first antidepressant she feels sick, sleeps badly and sees no benefit. She has decided to stop tomorrow.A new diabetes tablet in plain English →His son usually translates, but today he has come alone. He thinks he only needs his new tablet on days his sugar feels high.Blood-thinning injections after surgery →She has to inject herself every day for weeks after her knee replacement. She fainted at a needle once, and she plans to 'just walk a lot' instead.Painkillers bought too often →He buys codeine painkillers for his headaches every few days, from different branches. The headaches are getting worse, not better.A first adrenaline pen for a six-year-old →Her son has just been diagnosed with a peanut allergy. She has two adrenaline pens in a bag and a plan to give him antihistamine and wait.A new bone-strengthening tablet before going home →After a broken wrist she is going home with a weekly tablet that has to be taken in a very particular way. She takes all her tablets with a cup of tea in bed.A five-hour wait and a stopped sleeping tablet →Her husband has dementia, they have waited all day for his discharge medicines, and now she hears his sleeping tablet has been stopped.Blood pressure tablets left in the drawer →Two weeks into a new blood pressure tablet he stopped taking it. He says it was because he feels fine. That is not the whole story.Gout, beer and a tablet for every day →His third gout attack this year has earned him a long-term tablet. He thinks it is a painkiller for bad days, and the pub is his whole social life.Eye drops for a man who can't read the label →He has new drops for glaucoma and says he forgot his glasses. He has been saying that for sixty years.Indigestion remedies and a GP he won't see →He wants a bigger pack of indigestion tablets. He has been buying them for two months, and food has started to stick.Going home with painkillers she won't take →Two days after a hysterectomy she is refusing her strong painkiller. She is barely moving and breathing shallowly, and she has a reason she hasn't told anyone.Malaria prevention for a trip home →He is taking his children to meet their grandparents. He grew up there and is sure he doesn't need anti-malaria tablets.Stopping an asthma inhaler in pregnancy →Ten weeks pregnant, she stopped her preventer inhaler to protect the baby. Now she needs her reliever most nights.
Physiotherapy
Back pain and the fear of moving →Two weeks of low back pain, a warehouse job, and a belief that he needs a scan and bed rest. He needs the opposite.A runner who won't slow down →A painful Achilles tendon, a charity marathon in six weeks, and a plan to run through it on painkillers.Won't get out of bed after surgery →Two days after bowel surgery, an older man refuses to sit out or do his breathing exercises. He is sure he will burst his stitches.An angry daughter on the stroke unit →Her mother sits in a chair all day between short therapy sessions. She wants her walking by next week, and she wants to know why nobody is trying.A mother, a boy and a painful knee →Her 12-year-old has a sore lump below his kneecap and a football trial in three weeks. She wants him to stop all sport — or get a scan.A home visit after a fall →She fell at home last week and says it was a one-off. The walking frame is behind the door, the rug is still down, and the alarm pendant is in a drawer.Knee arthritis and the case for exercise →He has come for a new knee, not exercises. His X-ray said 'bone on bone', and he thinks walking is wearing the joint out.Missing pulmonary rehab classes →She has missed three of her lung rehabilitation classes. She says she is too breathless to exercise — which is exactly why she was sent.Shoulder exercises with limited English →Three weeks after breaking her upper arm she has kept it completely still in the sling. She cannot read the exercise sheet she was given.Explaining a pelvic floor assessment →Leaking since her baby was born, she has stopped running and avoids going out. She is not sure she wants to be examined.Skipping airway clearance at nineteen →She is back in hospital with a chest infection, and her airway clearance diary has been blank since she moved into a flat with friends.A baby's head tilt and flat spot →Her four-month-old always turns to one side and has a flat patch on his head. She wants a helmet, and she never puts him on his tummy.A concussion and a match on Saturday →He was knocked out of a rugby match six days ago and wants to play this weekend. He says he is fine. He is still getting headaches.Pelvic pain at twenty-nine weeks →Pelvic pain in pregnancy has her lying on the sofa all day and thinking about stopping work. Rest is making it worse.An angry son who wants a care home →His father came home from hospital five days ago, weak after pneumonia. The son says he was sent home too early and wants him in a care home today.Tennis elbow and a second injection →A hairdresser with three months of elbow pain wants another steroid injection. The first one helped for three weeks.Afraid to exercise after a heart attack →Five weeks after a heart attack he walks to the corner shop and back. His wife won't let him carry the shopping, and he hasn't booked an exercise class.Explaining a treatment for dizziness →She gets violent spinning when she turns over in bed. The treatment involves bringing the spinning on deliberately, and she is not keen.An ankle sprain and limited English →A construction worker with limited English wants a plaster cast so he can be back on site tomorrow. He needs neither.MS, fatigue and the fear of exercise →She has multiple sclerosis and has stopped exercising. The last time she tried, her vision blurred and her legs went numb, and she thought it was a relapse.
Dentistry
Bleeding gums and a fear of dentures →A forty-five-year-old smoker has gum disease. He has stopped brushing where his gums bleed because he thinks he is making it worse.A four-year-old with tooth decay →A mother is shocked her daughter needs fillings. The bedtime bottle of juice is the part she hasn't mentioned.Before a wisdom tooth is removed →A young woman is booked to have a lower wisdom tooth out in two days. She vapes, she is a bridesmaid in four days, and a friend's lip is still numb.Sore mouth and dentures in aged care →An eighty-six-year-old man in a care home has a sore mouth under his top denture. He has not told anyone he cannot get it out.An angry daughter caring for her father →Her father has dementia and now needs teeth out. She is furious that nobody warned her. She is also exhausted, and the sweet tea is the part nobody asked about.A child's broken front tooth →An eight-year-old came off his scooter and broke his new front tooth. His father wants to know if he can play hockey on Saturday. The tooth has been knocked before.Clear aligners not being worn →Her teeth are not moving as planned and she thinks the aligners are faulty. She is wearing them for about ten hours a day, and she lost one a month ago.Sensitive teeth and energy drinks →A young electrician has sensitive, worn teeth. The energy drinks are how he gets through early starts with a new baby, and he brushes straight after every can.A patient who just wants the tooth out →A builder with toothache wants his back tooth removed, today, and refuses to hear about root canal treatment. His reasons are not the ones he gives.Aftercare for a patient with limited English →A grandmother has just had a tooth out. She says yes to everything, cannot read the leaflet, and plans to rinse with very hot salt water tonight.A father who does not want fluoride for his son →A six-year-old has the first signs of decay. His father has read that fluoride is poison and will not sign. The toothpaste at home, and the boy's mother, are the parts he has not mentioned.Explaining a dental implant →A sixty-three-year-old wants an implant where she lost a back tooth. She has seen an advert for teeth in a day, and she has not counted her weekly bone tablet as a medicine.Dry mouth and new decay at home →An eighty-one-year-old woman has new decay along her gums. Her medicines dry her mouth, the sweets are how she copes, and she has stopped going to her lunch club.Jaw pain and a splint left in the drawer →Her jaw still aches three months after she was given a night splint. She says she wears it most nights. She clenches all day at work, and she thinks the clicking means surgery.Paan chewing and a specialist referral →A woman who chews paan many times a day has stiffening inside her cheeks. She needs to see a specialist and to cut down. She says it is only a leaf, and she has a reason to fear hospitals.An angry husband after a painful extraction →His wife had a tooth out four days ago and has been in agony. He wants to know what you did wrong. She has been smoking in the garden, and he could not get through to anyone at the weekend.A dental abscess and a patient with limited English →A man with a swollen face has waited two weeks to come in. He has been taking his cousin's antibiotics, it was hard to swallow last night, and he thinks treatment will cost money he does not have.A toothache and treatment during pregnancy →A woman fourteen weeks pregnant has a broken filling and wants to wait until after the baby. She brushes straight after being sick, and last year's loss is the reason she is so frightened.An extraction for a man on a blood thinner →A seventy-one-year-old needs a broken tooth out next week. A friend at church told him to stop his blood thinner first, he buys aspirin himself, and he lives alone now.Cosmetic crowns abroad →A young man has booked twenty crowns overseas to get a perfect smile. His teeth are healthy. He has already paid a deposit, he has been painting on a whitener from the internet, and this is about more than teeth.
Radiography
A frightened patient before an MRI →A patient is about to have an MRI scan of his head and is close to walking out. He also used to work as a welder.A CT scan with contrast dye →A young woman is booked for a CT scan with a contrast injection. She once came out in a rash after a scan, and her period is late.A first screening mammogram →A woman is about to have her first breast screening. She is dreading the pain, she has implants she has not mentioned, and she found a lump two weeks ago.An older man before a spine MRI →An eighty-two-year-old with sciatica is hard of hearing, cannot lie flat for long, and has a small heart monitor he did not think worth mentioning.A child's X-ray and a parent who wants to hold him →A mother wants to hold her frightened four-year-old still for his wrist X-ray. She is ten weeks pregnant and has not told anyone.An angry son after a long wait for an ultrasound →His mother has been waiting nearly three hours for her scan without eating. He is shouting about the delay. She has diabetes and is starting to shake.Refusing a CT scan over radiation →A man with suspected kidney stones refuses his CT scan. He has counted every scan he has had, his partner is pregnant, and his father had leukaemia.A bowel scan without the full preparation →A farmer's wife has driven ninety minutes for a CT colonography. She stopped her bowel preparation halfway, ate her usual dinner, and nearly did not come at all.A bone density scan and bone health →A retired woman is having a bone density scan after a broken wrist. She loves her evening wine, she has fallen twice more this year, and she had a barium test four days ago.A barium swallow for a patient with limited English →A woman with food sticking in her throat has come for a barium swallow. She could not read the letter, ate breakfast, and is frightened she will choke on the drink.A nuclear medicine heart scan and this morning's drinks →A truck driver is booked for a heart scan with a stress medicine. He skipped his coffee as told — but not the decaf or the cola, and he does not count his winter inhaler.A pelvic ultrasound and an internal scan →The abdominal scan was not clear enough, so an internal scan has been suggested. A young woman needs to decide, and she has a reason she has not said aloud.Before a leg angioplasty →A retired builder is booked to have the artery in his leg widened. He drove himself here, he lives alone, he had a cigarette in the car park, and a friend lost his leg.An MRI cancelled and an upset wife →Her husband's brain scan cannot go ahead because nobody knew about his pacemaker. They drove two hours. She is furious, exhausted, and frightened of what the scan is for.A mobile X-ray in an aged care home →A ninety-one-year-old fell in the night and her wrist needs an X-ray. She is hard of hearing, this was not her first fall, and she is afraid of being sent to hospital.A baby's bladder X-ray test →A young mother has brought her baby for a test that needs a catheter. She is dreading holding him down, she forgot his antibiotic last night, and her mother-in-law blames her for the infections.A visa chest X-ray for a patient with limited English →A young woman needs a chest X-ray for her visa. Her English is basic, she wears a sacred thread she cannot remove, and she had treatment for TB as a child that she is afraid to mention.An MS patient who does not want the contrast injection →A woman with multiple sclerosis is booked for her yearly MRI with a contrast injection. She has read about the dye staying in the brain, her kidneys were 'a bit off', and she stopped her MS medicine months ago.A thyroid scan for a breastfeeding mother →A new mother is booked for a nuclear medicine thyroid scan. Nobody asked if she is breastfeeding, she takes a seaweed supplement, and her baby will not take a bottle.Breast screening after a stroke →A sixty-nine-year-old in a wheelchair has come for her last routine breast screening. She cannot lift her left arm, she is worried about the toilet, and she nearly did not come.

What the report looks at

OET marks nine criteria: four linguistic, scored 0–6, and five clinical communication, scored 0–3. The mock scores all nine for each role-play — intelligibility and fluency from your recording, the rest from what you said — says whether each task on the card was covered, and estimates where that puts you against grade B.

OET · linguistic criteria
  • Intelligibility
  • Fluency
  • Appropriateness of language
  • Resources of grammar and expression
OET · clinical communication criteria
  • Relationship building
  • Understanding and incorporating the patient's perspective
  • Providing structure
  • Information gathering
  • Information giving

This is practice, not an OET grade.The scores and the estimate follow OET's published criteria, but they are an AI assessor's reading, not OET's marking. The clinical content is standard patient education, not clinical guidance.

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One role-play, five minutes, marked on all nine criteria. The full mock is two role-plays, as the real test is.

OET Speaking pass
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