Formal tone in OET Writing: how to get Genre & Style right in a nursing letter

By medEmu team · Published 22 Oct 2026 · Updated 22 Oct 2026

Short answer

Genre & Style (marked 0–7) asks whether your letter uses a register that suits the reader and the purpose: formal, polite and professional, in full sentences, without note form, slang, contractions or emotional language. Adjust the technical level to the reader, using clinical terms with a doctor or nurse and plain explanations with a carer or a patient's family, while keeping the letter formal either way.

What Genre & Style measures

OET Writing has six criteria: Purpose (0–3) and Content, Conciseness & Clarity, Genre & Style, Organisation & Layout and Language (0–7 each). Genre & Style is about register: does the letter sound like a professional writing to another professional, at the right level for that particular reader?

In practice that means three things:

Formal register: polite, objective, complete sentences.
The right technical level for the reader: clinical terms for a clinician, plain explanations for a non-clinician.
No note form: no shorthand or fragments carried over from the case notes.

It is separate from Language, which covers grammar and vocabulary accuracy. A grammatically perfect letter can still score poorly on Genre & Style if it reads like a text message or a chart entry. For an overview of all six criteria, see OET Writing criteria explained.

Informal phrases to replace

Informal	Formal
I'm writing to…	I am writing to…
She's doing much better.	Her condition has improved considerably.
He can't walk far.	He is unable to walk long distances.
Please check on her ASAP.	I would be grateful if you could review her as soon as possible.
Thanks a lot for your help.	Thank you for your assistance.
He was really upset.	He was distressed.
She's got a bad cough.	She has a persistent cough.
Let me know if you need anything.	Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require further information.
Kindly do the needful.	I would be grateful if you could arrange…
The poor lady has been through a lot.	(Leave out: subjective and emotional.)

Matching the technical level to the reader

The register stays formal for every reader. What changes is how much clinical language you use.

Reader	Technical level	Example
GP, specialist, hospital nurse	Clinical terms are expected	"She developed a urinary tract infection and was treated with intravenous antibiotics."
Community or aged care nurse	Clinical terms, with practical care detail	"Her catheter was removed on 3 May and she is now continent during the day."
Physiotherapist, occupational therapist	Clinical terms relevant to function	"He mobilises 20 metres with a four-wheeled walker and requires supervision on stairs."
Social worker, school nurse, a patient's relative	Plain explanations of medical terms	"She had an infection in her bladder, which was treated with antibiotics through a drip."

Writing "UTI treated with IV abx" to anyone is note form. Writing "a urinary tract infection" to a parent may be fine, but adding "(a bladder infection)" helps a reader who is not a health professional.

Worked example

The patient and details below are fictional. The task: write to the social worker at a community centre about Mrs Rosa Ferreira, 76, who is returning home after a stroke and needs support with meals and transport.

Weak (informal and over-technical for this reader):

Hi, I'm writing about Mrs Ferreira. She had a CVA last month (L MCA territory) and she's got R-sided weakness and expressive dysphasia. She's a lovely lady and really wants to go home, so it'd be great if you could sort out meals on wheels and transport for her appointments. Thanks so much!

Strong (formal, pitched for a social worker):

I am writing to request your assistance in arranging support for Mrs Rosa Ferreira, aged 76, who will be discharged home on 18 October following a stroke. As a result of the stroke, she has weakness on her right side and some difficulty finding words, although she understands spoken English well. She is keen to return home, where she lives alone.

I would be grateful if you could arrange a meal delivery service and transport to her weekly outpatient therapy appointments.

What changed:

"Hi" and "Thanks so much!" are replaced by a formal opening and request.
Contractions are written in full.
"CVA (L MCA territory)" and "expressive dysphasia" are explained in plain words a social worker can act on.
"She's a lovely lady" is removed: it is subjective and doesn't help the reader.
"Sort out" becomes "arrange".

Other style points assessors notice

Objective language. Report what the notes say ("she reports pain of 6 out of 10") rather than your feelings about it ("she is suffering terribly").
Patient name and title. Use "Mrs Ferreira" or "the patient", not her first name alone, and not "the old lady".
Consistent salutation and sign-off. "Dear Mr Tan … Yours sincerely". See how to end an OET Nursing letter.
No exclamation marks or rhetorical questions.
No text from the case notes in shorthand. See abbreviations in OET Writing.
Neutral, respectful phrasing about lifestyle. "He drinks approximately 30 units of alcohol a week" rather than "he is a heavy drinker".

A two-minute register check

When you finish writing, reread with only these questions:

Who is the reader, and would they understand every term without looking it up?
Are there any contractions, exclamation marks, or casual verbs ("sort out", "get", "check on")?
Is there anything subjective or emotional that could be stated objectively or left out?
Does any sentence look like it was lifted from the notes?

Practise and check

Choose a case from the practice case notes where the reader isn't a doctor, and write the letter under timed conditions. Then check your letter: medEmu marks Genre & Style separately from the other five criteria and shows informal or note-form phrases on your own sentences with a formal alternative. Your first letter is graded free without an account. Grades are estimates for practice, not official OET results, and medEmu is not affiliated with OET. To see how criterion marks relate to grades on medEmu's estimate, try the OET Writing score calculator.

Sources

This guide is medEmu's writing advice; it is not official OET guidance. The six criteria and their mark ranges are as OET describes them; for OET's official assessment criteria, see oet.com.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use contractions like 'I'm' or 'don't' in an OET letter?

Avoid them. Write 'I am', 'does not', 'she has'. Contractions are a feature of informal writing.

Should I write differently to a doctor and to a social worker?

Yes. Keep the same formal register, but use clinical terms with a doctor or nurse and explain them in plain words for a reader without a clinical background, such as a social worker or a patient's relative.

Is 'Dear Sir' formal enough?

Use the reader's title and surname when the task gives them ('Dear Dr Lee', 'Dear Ms Patel'). 'Dear Sir/Madam' is for a reader whose name you don't know; 'Dear Sir' alone assumes the reader is a man.

Does polite mean long?

No. One polite request formula ('I would be grateful if you could...') is enough. Stacking courtesies wastes words and can make the letter sound unnatural.