The following data shows the confirmed results received from candidates who sat OET in January, February and March 2020 following a period of training given by SLC.
Number of candidates
71 candidates in total, of which 11 are doctors and 60 are nurses.
Please note we are still waiting for confirmed results from 6 more candidates.
Training received
Training programmes varied considerably. 15 candidates received one-to-one coaching, from 5 hours to 70 hours. 56 candidates received group tuition, from 40 hours to 160 hours. All tuition was given online in Zoom classrooms.
Candidates started at different levels of English, the lowest being a low B2 on the CEFR scale, approximately equivalent to a C in OET or 5.5 in IELTS. In the group classes, there was a maximum number of 10 students per class.
Number of candidates who achieved the results required by the GMC or NMC
Of the 11 doctors, 8 achieved the 4 B grades in OET Medicine required by the GMC to register in the UK.
Of the 60 nurses, 42 achieved the 3 B grades in Reading, Listening and Speaking and the C+ grade in Writing required by the NMC to register in the UK.
In total, therefore, 50 out of 71 achieved the grades required. 50 ‘passes’ represents 70% of candidates.
Analysis – those who didn’t achieve the results required
21 candidates didn’t achieve the scores required. We look at how many papers they failed and what their scores were.
-
Number of papers failed by each candidate
|
Number of papers failed
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Number of candidates
|
13 |
3 |
5 |
These results show how close the majority of those not achieving the requirements were, with 11 only failing one paper.
-
Paper by paper score analysis
|
Grade |
Listening |
Reading |
Writing |
Speaking |
|
B |
7 |
12 |
14 (B or C+) |
15 |
|
C+ |
12 |
7 |
6 |
|
|
C |
2 |
2 |
7 |
0 |
This shows that of the those who failed, most scored the grade just below, i.e. a C+ in Listening, Reading and Speaking and a C in Writing. In three papers, more of these candidates passed than not, significantly so in Speaking and Writing.
Conclusion
These results are very pleasing. 70% is an excellent pass rate and the analysis of the results of those not achieving the GMC or NMC requirements give us considerable optimism for resits. The difference between a C+ and a B is small in practice – perhaps just a couple of questions in Listening or Reading, for example.
Short individualised programmes targeting the specific weaknesses of candidates have proven successful before, so we will look to train these candidates in time for when test centres re-open.
