OET Writing criteria explained: what moves a nursing letter from C+ to B
Short answer
Most OET Nursing letters stuck at C+ have the same problems: the purpose is not clear from the opening, irrelevant case notes crowd out the important ones, and note form or informal phrasing slips in. Fixing those lifts Purpose, Content, Conciseness & Clarity and Genre & Style together. Each criterion is marked separately, so find the lowest one first.
The six criteria in plain English
This is a plain-English summary, not a replacement for OET's published assessment criteria.
| Criterion | Marks | What the assessor is asking |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | 0–3 | Is it immediately clear why you are writing and what the reader should do? Is the purpose expanded later in the letter? |
| Content | 0–7 | Have you included the case notes this reader needs, and reported them accurately? |
| Conciseness & Clarity | 0–7 | Have you left out what the reader doesn't need, and is the key information easy to find? |
| Genre & Style | 0–7 | Is the register formal and professional, suited to this reader, without note form? |
| Organisation & Layout | 0–7 | Is it laid out as a letter, with information grouped logically into paragraphs? |
| Language | 0–7 | Grammar, vocabulary, spelling and punctuation — accurate enough not to distract the reader. |
The most common C+ caps
- The purpose arrives late. If the reader learns what you want only in the last paragraph, Purpose suffers.
- Notes copied in date order. Chronology is how the notes are written, not how the reader needs them.
- Irrelevant detail. Hobbies, old resolved conditions and every routine observation cost Conciseness & Clarity.
- Note form. "Pt mobilising with frame, SOB on exertion" is notes; the letter needs full sentences.
- Small but frequent language slips. Missing articles, wrong tense for the history, and subject–verb agreement errors add up under Language.
Find your lowest criterion
A medEmu report marks each criterion separately, with the sentences behind each mark and a list of the case notes you missed. Check a letter free.