From our research
What this interview looks like
The OET Speaking sub-test is a recorded one-to-one session with an interlocutor lasting about twenty minutes, taken on the same day as the other sub-tests at a venue or at home. It is profession-specific: a nurse receives nursing role cards, a doctor medical ones, and the same applies to pharmacists, physiotherapists, dentists and the other professions OET covers. The session opens with a short warm-up about your professional background that is not assessed. Then come two role-plays of about five minutes each; before each you get a role card with the setting, the patient and your tasks, and three minutes to read it and ask the interlocutor anything that is unclear. The interlocutor plays the patient, carer or relative from a matching card you do not see, and you lead the conversation as the healthcare professional. The recording is assessed afterwards by two trained assessors, independently of the interlocutor, against four linguistic criteria, intelligibility, fluency, appropriateness of language and resources of grammar and expression, and five clinical communication criteria, relationship building, understanding and incorporating the patient's perspective, providing structure, information gathering and information giving. Results are reported on a 0 to 500 scale with grades A to E for each sub-test; regulators such as the UK NMC and GMC, Australian AHPRA and Irish boards typically ask for grade B, 350 or above, in Speaking. ExamPilot compresses the session to fourteen minutes with the same structure, a two-minute warm-up, two role-plays with the preparation time described verbally, and a neutral close, and then scores both role-plays against the nine OET criteria.
How it is weighted
Speaking is reported separately on a 0 to 500 scale and dental regulators generally require grade B in each sub-test. Dentistry role-plays test relationship building and information giving under anxiety: candidates who dive into treatment detail without acknowledging fear, who present only one option, or who give post-operative advice as an unbroken list lose marks on the clinical communication criteria. The linguistic criteria reward plain words for dental terms such as root canal, crown and local anaesthetic and a calm, unhurried pace.
Who this is for
For BDS and MDS graduates registered with a State Dental Council who are applying to the UK GDC's Overseas Registration Examination route, the Australian Dental Council, the Dental Council of Ireland, or Gulf health authorities that accept OET. Candidates usually have clinical experience in private practice or dental colleges in India. The role cards assume the candidate can explain options, gain consent and manage anxious patients and parents in a dental chair setting.
The panel focuses on
- Acknowledging dental fear and agreeing a stop signal before explaining any procedure
- Presenting treatment options with pros, cons and cost awareness, and letting the patient choose
- Gaining consent that covers what will happen, the anaesthetic, discomfort and after-care in plain words
- Oral hygiene advice that does not blame and agrees one or two realistic changes
- Talking to parents about a child's teeth, calmly and without judgement about sweets or bottles
- Giving post-extraction advice in chunks and checking the patient knows when to call
Step 1
Pick your subject
The expert on the panel probes these areas at the level of this post. Optional here; you can choose during setup.
Step 2
Choose how you want to be interviewed
1:1 interview
One interviewer runs every round and adapts the focus as you go. Lower pressure; ideal for a first attempt.
Ms. Anjali Menon
Language expert
Panel interview · 2 members
Most realisticEach member leads their own round and hands over to the next. They hear each other, so a weak answer will be revisited.
Ms. Anjali Menon
Language expert
Dr. Vikram Shetty
Language expert
What to expect
4 rounds · 14 minutes
A faithful run of the OET Speaking sub-test. One interlocutor conducts a recorded, one-to-one session of about twenty minutes in the real test: a short unassessed warm-up about the candidate's professional background, then two role-plays of about five minutes each, with three minutes to read the role card before each one. The interlocutor plays the patient, carer or relative; the candidate plays the healthcare professional in their own profession. The role cards are profession-specific, so a nurse is handed a nursing scenario and a pharmacist a pharmacy scenario. Audio is scored afterwards by two separate assessors against four linguistic criteria, intelligibility, fluency, appropriateness of language, and resources of grammar and expression, and five clinical communication criteria, relationship building, understanding and incorporating the patient's perspective, providing structure, information gathering and information giving. The interlocutor never teaches, corrects or gives feedback, stays in role, and only steps out of role to manage time. ExamPilot compresses the session to fourteen minutes: a two-minute warm-up, two role-plays of five minutes including a verbal summary of the preparation time, and a short close.
- Round 1
Warm-up: professional background
· 2:00Settle the candidate with a short, unassessed conversation about their profession, workplace and interests, exactly as the OET interlocutor does, so they are speaking comfortably in English before the first role card.
Ms. Anjali Menon2–3 questionsup to 1 follow-up each - Round 2
Role-play 1: profession-specific scenario
· 5:00Run the first role-play from the candidate's own profession bank: read the candidate role card aloud, describe the preparation time, then play the patient, carer or relative faithfully from the interlocutor brief, so the candidate's clinical communication and language can be scored in a realistic consultation.
Ms. Anjali Menon1–1 questionsup to 2 follow-ups each - Round 3
Role-play 2: contrasting scenario
· 5:00Run a second role-play that contrasts with the first in setting and emotional register, taken from the shared situational bank, so the candidate is tested on a different communication challenge such as an angry relative, an anxious parent or a patient who refuses the plan.
Ms. Anjali Menon1–1 questionsup to 2 follow-ups each - Round 4
End of the sub-test
· 2:00End the sub-test the way the OET interlocutor does: a neutral thank you, confirmation that the recording will be assessed separately, and no feedback or indication of grade.
Ms. Anjali Menon0–1 questions
Sample questions
OET Speaking Dentistry interview questions
Questions panels commonly ask in the OET Speaking Dentistry interview, with what a strong answer covers. Practise them aloud with the AI panel.
- Warm-up
Before we start, tell me a little about your dental practice. What procedures do you do most often?
What a strong answer covers
A short, unassessed warm-up: two or three natural sentences about your clinic or dental college, the patients you see and the procedures you do most. Use it to relax and find a steady pace. Avoid a memorised paragraph or worrying about grammar before the role-plays begin.
- Dental anxiety
Role-play: you are a dentist. A patient is very anxious about having a filling and says she had a painful experience as a child. Reassure her.
What a strong answer covers
Acknowledge the fear, ask about her past experience, explain the procedure in simple terms, agree a stop signal and explain anaesthetic. Check how she feels. Avoid dismissing her fear.
- Treatment options
Role-play: you are a dentist. Mr Okafor, 52, cracked a lower molar on a bone. Explain the choice between a large filling, a crown and an extraction.
What a strong answer covers
Check what he already knows, then explain each option in plain words with how long it lasts, number of visits, comfort and relative cost, and what happens if he does nothing. Pause for questions and let him decide. Avoid pushing the most expensive option or overwhelming him with technical detail.
- Consent
Role-play: you are a dentist. Ms Patel, 24, needs her impacted lower wisdom tooth removed. Explain the procedure and gain her consent.
What a strong answer covers
Explain why it needs removing, what happens step by step, the local anaesthetic, expected swelling and discomfort, the small risk of numbness from nerve injury, after-care and alternatives including leaving it, then check understanding and confirm she agrees. Avoid jargon like impaction without explaining it, or minimising risks.
- Oral hygiene
Role-play: you are a dentist. Jake, 16, has bleeding gums and admits he brushes quickly once a day. Give oral hygiene advice without lecturing.
What a strong answer covers
Ask about his routine without judgement, explain in plain words that plaque causes the bleeding and it is reversible, then agree one or two realistic changes such as brushing twice for two minutes and cleaning between teeth. Demonstrate technique and praise effort. Avoid blaming him or giving a long list of rules.
- Parent counselling
Role-play: you are a paediatric dentist. Mrs Ahmed is upset to learn her three-year-old has several cavities. Discuss the causes and prevention.
What a strong answer covers
Acknowledge her feelings first, explain how sugary drinks, night-time bottles and frequent snacks cause decay without blaming her, then give practical steps such as fluoride toothpaste in the right amount, supervised brushing and water at night. Agree a follow-up. Avoid a judgemental tone or medical terms like caries without explanation.
- After-care
Role-play: you are a dentist. Mr Singh, 60, has just had an upper molar removed. Give him clear after-care advice before he leaves.
What a strong answer covers
Chunk the advice: bite on gauze, avoid rinsing, hot drinks, smoking and alcohol for the first day, pain relief options, soft food, then gentle salt-water rinses. Give clear warning signs like heavy bleeding or worsening pain after a few days and how to contact the clinic. Check understanding. Avoid rushing through it.
- Cost concerns
Role-play: you are a dentist. Mrs Green is unhappy that her treatment plan for two crowns and a root canal costs much more than she expected. Respond.
What a strong answer covers
Acknowledge the concern without being defensive, explain what each item is for and what happens if it is delayed, then offer options such as phasing treatment, prioritising the urgent tooth or a less costly alternative with its trade-offs. Let her decide. Avoid pressuring her or making her feel guilty.
- Role-play
Role-play: you are a dentist. Priya, 28, wants teeth whitening before her wedding, but you find two untreated cavities. Discuss this with her.
What a strong answer covers
Acknowledge her goal and timeline, explain why decay must be treated before whitening and how fillings may not change colour, then outline a plan with dates that still fits the wedding. Keep her motivated. Avoid refusing flatly or doing what she asks without explaining the risks.
Reading is not rehearsing. Answer these out loud to an AI OET Speaking Dentistry panel that follows up like the real one.
Practise these questionsMeet the panel
Your AI interviewers
Distinct personas, voices and questioning styles, briefed on this post.
Ms. Anjali Menon
ChairLanguage expert
OET Speaking interlocutor and nurse educator; former staff nurse (Kochi), OET preparation provider trainer
Warm, patient, utterly convincing in role, neutral out of it.
Female voice · 1 languages
Dr. Vikram Shetty
Language expert
OET Speaking interlocutor and medical English trainer; MBBS, formerly a junior doctor in Mangaluru and Melbourne
Measured, realistic, quietly demanding; plays difficult patients and relatives convincingly.
Male voice · 1 languages
Languages
Answer in the language you think in
The panel asks in your chosen language. Switch mid-answer if you like.
- English
How scoring works
A report you can act on
Every round is scored on the rubric
Each interviewer scores only the criteria their round covers. Weights add up to your overall score out of 100.
Only what you actually said counts
Feedback quotes your own answers. Rounds you skip show as “Not assessed” rather than a zero.
Communication is always measured
Fluency, clarity, confidence and structure are tracked across the whole interview, in any language.
Pass mark, then a plan
You see the pass mark for this interview, your gaps, and the courses that close them fastest.
Scored on
- Intelligibility15%
How easily a patient could understand the candidate's speech: clarity of individual sounds, word stress, sentence stress, intonation, rhythm and overall pace. An Indian accent is never penalised by itself; only strain on the listener is. Score high when every clinical term, dose instruction phrase and reassurance is clear the first time, pace is steady, and intonation signals questions, lists and emphasis. Score mid when the listener occasionally has to work, when word endings are swallowed, when key medical words such as antibiotic or physiotherapy are mis-stressed, or when speech speeds up under pressure. Score low when meaning is frequently lost, when words are run together, or when a patient would plausibly ask the professional to repeat themselves more than once in a role-play. Map OET grade C to about 50, C plus to about 60, B to about 75, A to about 90.
- Fluency15%
The smoothness and naturalness of the candidate's speech across the whole role-play: rate of speech, length of pauses, hesitation, false starts, and whether the flow of the conversation is maintained when the patient pushes back. Score high when speech is continuous and natural, pauses are for thought about content rather than for searching words, and the candidate can switch from information giving to responding to an interruption without stalling. Score mid when there are noticeable hesitations before clinical explanations, repeated fillers, or self-corrections that slow the conversation but do not break it. Score low when long silences, fragmented sentences or restarts make the patient wait and the interaction feels effortful. Do not reward speed; a measured pace suited to an anxious patient is fluent. Map OET grade C to about 50, C plus to about 60, B to about 75, A to about 90.
- Appropriateness of language15%
Whether register, tone and vocabulary suit a healthcare professional speaking with a patient, carer or relative. Score high when the candidate uses plain language instead of jargon, explains any necessary medical term immediately, adjusts tone for a distressed, elderly, angry or young listener, uses polite softeners and signposting, and avoids being either too casual or too formal. Score mid when jargon slips in unexplained, when phrases are stiff or textbook-like, or when the tone stays flat regardless of the patient's emotion. Score low when the candidate lectures, uses clinical shorthand such as NPO or BID without explanation, sounds dismissive or condescending, or uses language a lay patient could not follow. Also judge whether the candidate stays in the professional role rather than drifting into a general conversation. Map OET grade C to about 50, C plus to about 60, B to about 75, A to about 90.
- Resources of grammar and expression15%
The range and accuracy of grammar and vocabulary available to the candidate, and whether limitations get in the way of communicating with the patient. Score high when the candidate produces a wide range of structures accurately, including conditionals for consequences, modals for advice and permission, passives for procedures, and reported speech for what the doctor said, with precise everyday and professional vocabulary and effective paraphrase when a word is missing. Score mid when meaning is clear but errors recur in tense, articles, prepositions or subject-verb agreement, or when vocabulary is adequate but repetitive and the candidate avoids complex explanations. Score low when grammatical errors cause misunderstanding, when the candidate cannot rephrase an explanation the patient did not follow, or when vocabulary gaps force long detours. Map OET grade C to about 50, C plus to about 60, B to about 75, A to about 90.
- Clinical communication criteria40%
Score the five OET clinical communication criteria together, weighting them equally. Relationship building: a proper introduction with name and role, a warm and respectful greeting, attentive listening, acknowledgement of the patient's feelings and situation, and non-judgemental language even with a non-adherent or angry patient. Understanding and incorporating the patient's perspective: eliciting and exploring the patient's ideas, concerns and expectations, picking up verbal cues such as I'm worried or I don't see the point, and relating explanations back to what the patient said. Providing structure: an orderly sequence from opening to closing, signposting such as first I'd like to ask a few questions and then we'll talk about the plan, summarising, and checking the patient is ready to move on. Information gathering: open questions before closed ones, one question at a time, not interrupting, clarifying vague answers and avoiding leading questions. Information giving: finding out what the patient already knows, giving information in small chunks, checking understanding by asking the patient to say the plan back, using plain language, inviting questions, and tailoring reassurance to the specific concern rather than offering blanket comfort. Score high when all five are visibly present and the role card's tasks are completed within the patient's agenda; score mid when the tasks are completed but mechanically, with little exploration of the patient's concern or no check of understanding; score low when tasks are missed, the candidate talks over the patient, ignores a stated worry, or gives clinically unsafe or invented information such as specific dosages that are not on the role card. Map OET grade C to about 50, C plus to about 60, B to about 75, A to about 90.
Pass mark 60 / 100 · OET Speaking — two profession-specific role-plays
Keep exploring
More OET Speaking interviews
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- OET Speaking Medicine interviewDoctors seeking GMC, AHPRA, Irish or Gulf registration
- OET Speaking Pharmacy interviewPharmacists seeking registration in the UK, Australia, Ireland or the Gulf
- OET Speaking Physiotherapy interviewPhysiotherapists seeking HCPC, AHPRA, CORU or Gulf registration