Free tier: 1 letter with no account, 5 more when you sign up

Your OET letter, marked line by line.

Not just a grade. A mark on every sentence that cost you on the six OET Writing criteria, the case notes you missed, and the sentence that would have earned the marks.

Start a practice letter — free

No card. No sign-up. Marked in about a minute.

Real output
OET Nursing — Referral letter · Mrs Joan Hartley (78)

Using the information in the case notes, write a letter of referral to Ms Sarah Collins, Community Nurse, Newtown Community Health Centre, 25 Bank Street, Newtown, who will be visiting Mrs Hartley at home.

C+ 300/500
↑ B (390) once fixed
Accepted for Writing by some regulators (e.g. UK NMC)
Estimated grade
Purpose2/3

The requests are clear but only appear in the final paragraph; the opening 'tell you about' does not state the purpose.

Content4/7

Most key care needs are present, but the daughter's limited stay and hip precautions are missing while occupation and hobbies are included.

Conciseness & Clarity4/7

Around 200 words, but some are spent on irrelevant background and listing drug names instead of on what the nurse must do.

Genre & Style4/7

Generally formal, but slips into note form ('Pt', '40mg', 'Hb') and contractions ('don't').

Organisation & Layout5/7

Correct letter layout with a clear Re: line; paragraph 3 mixes wound, blood results and mobility.

Language4/7

Frequent article and verb-form errors ('is discharge', 'clips needs') and a comma splice, though meaning is always clear.

Case notes

Notes: You are a registered nurse on the orthopaedic ward of Eastfield General Hospital.
Mrs Hartley is being discharged home today after a right total hip replacement.

Patient details
  Name:            Joan Hartley
  DOB:             14/03/1947 (78 yrs)
  Address:         12 Willow Crescent, Newtown
  Next of kin:     Daughter, Karen (lives 40 min away, visits weekends)
  Admission date:  02/06/2025
  Discharge date:  09/06/2025
  Diagnosis:       Osteoarthritis R hip — elective R total hip replacement (03/06/2025)

Social background
  - Widowed (husband d. 2019), lives alone, 2-storey house, bathroom upstairs
  - Retired primary school teacher
  - Independent with ADLs pre-op; drives
  - Enjoys gardening; member of local book club
  - Non-smoker; 1 glass wine/week

Medical history
  - Hypertension (2010) — amlodipine 5 mg daily
  - Hypothyroidism (2015) — levothyroxine 75 mcg daily
  - Mild osteoporosis
  - Appendicectomy (1972)
  - NKDA

Nursing management and progress
  03/06  Surgery uneventful. Spinal anaesthetic. Post-op pain 6/10 → oxycodone PRN
  04/06  Mobilised with physio, walking frame, 10 m. Nausea → resolved with ondansetron
  05/06  Wound: 14 cm lateral incision, dry, clips intact. Pain 4/10, paracetamol regular
  06/06  Hb 98 g/L (pre-op 128) — no transfusion; iron supplement commenced
  07/06  Stairs assessed by physio — managing 12 steps with rail + stick, slow
         Pt anxious about being alone at night; afraid of falling
  08/06  Small amount serous ooze lower end of wound — dressing changed, no signs of infection
  09/06  Pain 2–3/10. Mobilising independently with walking frame (indoors)

Discharge plan
  - Enoxaparin 40 mg subcut daily × 28 days (pt taught self-injection — still hesitant, needs supervision)
  - Paracetamol 1 g QID; oxycodone 5 mg PRN (max 2/day)
  - Ferrous sulphate 1 tab daily × 3 months
  - Wound check + dressing change every 2–3 days; clips removal day 12–14 (14–16/06)
  - Hip precautions 6 weeks: no bending > 90°, no crossing legs, raised toilet seat (supplied)
  - Daughter staying first 3 nights only
  - Outpatient physio 2×/week; orthopaedic review 6 weeks
  - Falls risk — consider personal alarm

Writing task

Today's date: 09/06/2025 Using the information in the case notes, write a letter of referral to Ms Sarah Collins, Community Nurse, Newtown Community Health Centre, 25 Bank Street, Newtown, who will be visiting Mrs Hartley at home. In your answer: • Expand the relevant notes into complete sentences • Do not use note form • Use letter format The body of the letter should be approximately 180–200 words.
✓ 186 words in the body — close to the 180–200 word guide⏱ 38:40 of 40:00 writing time used✎ 20 line-level corrections + 5 paragraph notes
Filter
Address & date

Ms Sarah Collins Community Nurse Newtown Community Health Centre 25 Bank Street Newtown

Address & date

09/06/2025

Subject line

Re: Mrs Joan Hartley, DOB 14/03/1947

Salutation

Dear Ms Collins,

Opening & purpose

I am writing to tell you about Mrs Hartley1, 78 years old widow2 who had a right total hip replacement on 03/06/2025 because of osteoarthritis. She is discharge home today3.

Background

Mrs Hartley is a retired primary school teacher4 and she enjoys gardening and book club5. She has hypertension and hypothyroidism and she takes amlodipine and levothyroxine.6 She lives alone in two-storey house7 with the bathroom upstair8.

Current condition

Her surgery was uneventful.9 On 08/06 there was small amount of serous ooze10 from the lower end of the wound, the dressing was changed and there was no sign of infection11. Her Hb dropped to 98 g/L so she was started on iron.12 Pt13 is mobilising with walking frame14 and can manage stairs with rail and stick but she is anxious of falling15 at night.

Care needs

She has been prescribed enoxaparin 40mg16 daily for 28 days, however she is still hesitant17 to inject herself. Her clips needs to be removed18 on day 12-1419.

Requests & close

Could you please visit her to check the wound, supervise her injections and assess her falls risk. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate20 to contact me.

Sign-off

Yours sincerely,

Sign-off

Registered Nurse Orthopaedic Ward, Eastfield General Hospital

Assessor notes

click any underline →
1 Purpose not explicit Purpose
I am writing to tell you about Mrs Hartley→I am writing to refer Mrs Hartley for wound care, supervision of her anticoagulant injections and a falls-risk assessment at home
The reader should know in the first sentence what you need them to do. 'Tell you about' names the patient but not the purpose, which caps Purpose at 1–2 out of 3.
Also acceptedI am writing to refer Mrs Hartley to your service for ongoing home care
2 Compound adjective Language
78 years old widow→a 78-year-old widow
An age placed before a noun is hyphenated and singular ('78-year-old'), and a singular countable noun needs an article.
Also accepteda widow aged 78
3 Passive voice Language
She is discharge home today→She is being discharged home today
The patient does not discharge herself — she is discharged, so the verb must be passive (be + past participle). Errors in core verb forms are counted under Language.
Also acceptedShe will be discharged home today
4 Irrelevant detail Content
Mrs Hartley is a retired primary school teacher→(leave out)
Her former job does not change how a community nurse will care for her. Including it costs Content (wrong selection) and Conciseness (words that could carry useful information).
5 Irrelevant detail Content
she enjoys gardening and book club→(leave out)
Hobbies are in the notes as distractors. Ask of every note: does this reader need it to care for the patient? Here the answer is no.
6 Over-listing Conciseness
She has hypertension and hypothyroidism and she takes amlodipine and levothyroxine.→Her history includes hypertension and hypothyroidism, both well controlled on medication.
Stable background conditions can be summarised in one clause. Listing every drug name adds words without telling the nurse anything she must act on.
Also acceptedShe also has stable hypertension and hypothyroidism.
7 Missing article Language
in two-storey house→in a two-storey house
'House' is a singular countable noun and needs 'a'. Missing articles are the most frequent Language error in OET letters and each one is noticed.
8 Spelling Language
upstair→upstairs
As an adverb of place the word is always 'upstairs'. Spelling mistakes in a professional letter reduce the reader's confidence in it.
9 Unnecessary detail Conciseness
Her surgery was uneventful.→(leave out)
An uneventful operation needs no comment in a community referral; the nurse needs the patient's current state, not the theatre history.
10 Missing article Language
small amount of serous ooze→a small amount of serous ooze
'Amount' is countable here and needs 'a'.
Also acceptedslight serous ooze
11 Comma splice Language
the dressing was changed and there was no sign of infection→which was redressed; there were no signs of infection
Two complete sentences joined by a comma make one run-on sentence. Use a relative clause, a semicolon or a full stop.
Also acceptedThe dressing was changed. There were no signs of infection.
12 Incomplete information Content
Her Hb dropped to 98 g/L so she was started on iron.→Her haemoglobin fell to 98 g/L, so she has been started on ferrous sulphate daily for three months.
The nurse needs to know what treatment continues at home and for how long. Name the medication and duration, and write 'haemoglobin' in full for clarity.
13 Abbreviation Genre & Style
Pt→She
Case-note abbreviations such as 'pt' are note form. OET asks for complete sentences in a formal register, so expand them.
Also acceptedMrs Hartley
14 Missing article Language
with walking frame→with a walking frame
Singular countable nouns need an article.
15 Preposition Language
anxious of falling→anxious about falling
'Anxious' takes 'about' (or 'that'), never 'of'. Wrong dependent prepositions are a common Language slip.
Also acceptedafraid of falling, worried about falling
16 Incomplete dosage Content
40mg→40 mg subcutaneously
Give the route as well as the dose — the nurse will be supervising these injections. Leave a space between the number and the unit.
17 Linking punctuation Language
however she is still hesitant→; however, she is still hesitant
'However' joining two clauses needs a semicolon or full stop before it and a comma after it.
Also accepted. However, she remains hesitant
18 Subject-verb agreement Language
Her clips needs to be removed→Her clips need to be removed
'Clips' is plural, so the verb is 'need'. Agreement errors are counted under Language every time.
19 Unclear timing Content
on day 12-14→between 14 and 16 June
'Day 12–14' makes the reader count from the operation date. Give the actual dates, so the nurse can schedule a visit around them.
20 Contraction Genre & Style
please don't hesitate→please do not hesitate
Contractions are informal. Write the full forms in a professional letter.

Every letter comes back like this — marks on your own sentences, not generic advice.

Get mine free →

Interactive — click an underlined phrase, or filter by criterion.

Three things, done properly.

Built for one test: OET Writing for nurses. Everything else was left out on purpose.

Timed like the real test

Original Nursing case notes for referral, discharge and transfer letters. Five minutes' reading time with the answer box locked, then a 40-minute countdown, a live body word count and auto-submit at zero.

Marked on the six OET criteria

Purpose, Content, Conciseness & Clarity, Genre & Style, Organisation & Layout and Language — each marked separately, plus a check of which case notes you included, missed, or should have left out.

A classroom your teacher can see into

OET teachers create a class, invite students by email, and get every letter and estimated grade in one dashboard. Students join with a code.

Marking is the expensive part.

Case notes to practise with are easy to find. What costs money is somebody reading the letter you wrote. Here is roughly what thirty marked letters cost.

Private OET tutor~$25 per letter, usually a day or more to come back
$750
OET preparation course~$400 a course, and only a handful of letters get marked
$400
A general-purpose chatbotFree, but no OET criteria, no case-notes check, no test timing, and it agrees with you
$0
medEmu30 marked letters in a month on the unlimited plan, about a minute each
$19.99

Tutor and course prices are typical figures and vary by country. The first letter is free either way — you don't need an account to find out whether the marking is any good.

Small on purpose.

medEmu is a small, independent tool with one emu for a mascot. There are no investor logos below this line, and no testimonials, because we would have to make them up.

What it does

  • Marks your sentences, with the rule behind each correction
  • Marks the six criteria separately and shows which case notes you missed
  • Writes a Grade A model letter from the same case notes
  • Keeps every past report so you can watch the grade go up

What it doesn't do

  • Promise a Grade B — nothing can, and only OET awards official grades
  • Sell or train on your letters
  • Lock you in: credit packs never expire, subscriptions cancel anytime
  • Cover Listening, Reading or Speaking. Nursing Writing only, done well

medEmu at a glance

medEmu is an AI checker for the OET Writing test for nurses. It reads your referral, discharge or transfer letter against the case notes, estimates your OET Writing grade (A to E) and score out of 500, marks each of the six official OET Writing criteria (Purpose, Content, Conciseness & Clarity, Genre & Style, Organisation & Layout, Language), and marks the problems directly on your own sentences with the corrected version and the reason. You can take a timed practice test with 5 minutes' reading time, paste your own letter, or upload a photo of a handwritten answer, and get your first letter graded free without creating an account.

FeaturemedEmu
OET Writing for NursingYes — referral, discharge and transfer letters
Other OET professions (Medicine, Pharmacy, etc.)No — Nursing only
Handwritten letter uploadYes — upload a photo; it is transcribed exactly as written, mistakes included, then graded
Upload your own case notesYes — paste them or upload a photo
Timed practice testsYes — original Nursing case notes with 5 minutes' reading time, a 40-minute countdown and a live word count
Estimated OET Writing gradeYes — A, B, C+, C, D or E, with an estimated score out of 500
Purpose score (0–3)Yes
Content score (0–7)Yes
Conciseness & Clarity score (0–7)Yes
Genre & Style score (0–7)Yes
Organisation & Layout score (0–7)Yes
Language score (0–7)Yes
Case-notes coverage checkYes — which relevant notes you included, missed, or included unnecessarily
Sentence-level correctionsYes — every issue is marked on your own sentence, with the fix and the reason
Projected grade after correctionsYes
Grade A model letter for the same case notesYes
Free trial1 letter with no account, 5 more when you sign up
Account required for the first gradeNo
Typical grading timeUnder 60 seconds
Teacher classroom dashboardYes — teachers see every student's letters and grades
OET Listening, Reading, SpeakingNo — Writing only
Trains AI on or sells your lettersNo
PricingMore Credits: $10 for 5 letters; Subscription: $19.99/month; Subscription Pro: $34.99/3 months

Frequently asked questions

Is medEmu free?

Your first letter is graded free without an account, and you get 5 more free letters when you sign up. After that you can buy a pack of credits (credits never expire) or subscribe for unlimited grading.

Can medEmu check a handwritten OET letter?

Yes. Upload a photo of your handwritten letter. medEmu transcribes it exactly as written — it does not silently fix your spelling or grammar — and then grades the transcription like a typed letter.

Which OET letters does medEmu grade?

OET Writing for Nursing: referral, discharge and transfer letters, and other letter tasks such as updates. Practise on the built-in case notes, or paste or photograph your own case notes and letter.

Does medEmu support other OET professions?

Not yet. medEmu currently covers OET Writing for Nursing only.

What does the medEmu report show?

An estimated grade and score out of 500, a separate mark for each of the six OET Writing criteria, which case notes you included, missed or should have left out, every problem marked on your own sentences with the corrected version and the rule behind it, the grade you would reach with those fixes, and a Grade A model letter for the same case notes.

Is an AI grade the same as an official OET result?

No. It is an estimate for practice. Only OET assessors award official results, OET does not publish how criterion marks convert to the 0–500 score, and AI graders, ours included, can differ from an assessor and from one run to the next.

Which OET Writing grade do nurses need?

It depends on the regulator. Grade B (350) is the most common requirement, and some regulators, such as the UK's NMC, accept C+ (300) in Writing. Always check the current requirement with the regulator you are applying to.

Does medEmu use my letters to train AI?

No. Letters are not sold and are not used to train AI models.

More in the medEmu forum: how OET Writing is graded, what each criterion is looking for, and how to write referral, discharge and transfer letters.

Write one. See the marks.

Forty-five minutes, no account, and you'll know within a minute whether this is better than what you're using now.

Start a practice letter — free