What is the IELTS Examination?

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is an examination, trusted as the international standard qualification to prove someone’s language proficiency while going abroad.

What is the OET Examination?

Occupational English Test (OET) is a test for the healthcare professionals to prove their language proficiency. This examination assesses the language skills those healthcare professionals who wishes to live in an English speaking environment. 

The Need for IELTS and OET Exams

Both IELTS and OET examinations check and analyse the language proficiency of people interested to go and live in English speaking countries. As these people going abroad are non-native speakers of English language, the destination countries require the proof of a language proficiency test. Often its either IELTS or the OET exam scores that are preferred. Both the IELTS exam and OET exam have four segments, that is;

• Reading
• Writing
• Listening
• Speaking

Know the Difference between IELTS and OET Exams

Both these examinations are there to test the language proficiency of people, however, they differ in some aspects:

• Context:

Both IELTS and OET are taken by healthcare professionals wanting to go to English speaking countries. However, IELTS is more general in nature, while OET is more specific to a profession. In OET exam, the candidate’s ability within the context of their medical profession is tested. IELTS exam analyses the English comprehension and general communication skills of the candidate, and it can be taken by students, people of any profession and anyone wanting to migrate to a country with English speaking environment.

• Cost and Availability:

When it comes to the cost of these two examinations, IELTS exam is less expensive when compared to the OET exam.  OET exam is three times expensive than IELTS. However, OET exam’s availability is less when compared to that of IELTS, which has more test dates as well. 

• Acceptance:

IELTS is recognized as the ‘gold standard’ and is accepted in many countries such as UK, USA, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and so on. OET, however, is accepted only by a smaller number of institutions and organizations.  OET is accepted only in certain countries like Australia, New Zealand, Malta, Dubai, Singapore, Philippines, Namibia, Spain, Ukraine, USA, UK, and Ireland. Interestingly, for IELTS, there are over 1,100 test centres in over 140 countries while for OET, there are over 115 test centres in 40 countries.

• Types:

IELTS offers 2 types of exams for interested candidates; they are, IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training. Academic is more geared up for higher education, while General Training is considered by organizations, for immigration and vocational purposes.

OET offers 12 varieties of exams, according to the medical profession of the candidate. It is different for the different healthcare professions such as nurses, doctors, dentists, pharmacists, optometrists, podiatrists, occupational therapists, vets, speech pathologists, dieticians, physiotherapists, and radiographers. Here, the reading and listening sections are the same for all while the speaking and writing sections vary, as they are tailored in accordance to the different professionals’ background. 

• Score:

IELTS exam is marked out of 9, with each paper having a separate score, while OET exam is marked with grades from A to E and respective numerical scores as well. The score equivalencies between the two tests are as follows:

Both IELTS and OET were developed in the late 1980s and even with their notable differences, IELTS and OET serve the same purpose. Interestingly, both these exams are part owned by Cambridge Assessment English. The IELTS ownership is shared with IDP and the British Council, while OET ownership is shared with Boxhill Assessment.