OET FOR DIETITIANS
OET for dietitians: what the Dietetics test involves
OET Dietetics builds Writing and Speaking around nutrition care: assessment summaries, care plans, and the conversations that decide whether a plan is actually followed.
As a minor OET profession, dietetics has little targeted prep material, and the letter task differs meaningfully from the nursing letters most courses teach.
THE TEST AT A GLANCE
Each subtest is reported from 0 to 500; most regulators ask for grade B, which is 350, in each subtest.
THE WRITING SUBTEST
The Writing subtest is a 45 minute letter from case notes, often to a GP or another clinician summarising a nutrition assessment and care plan, or referring a patient on. Good letters organise around the nutrition problem, the plan, and what the reader is being asked to do, without copying the notes wholesale.
THE SPEAKING SUBTEST
Speaking is two role plays with you as the dietitian. Typical cards involve motivating dietary change in a patient with diabetes, explaining texture modified diets to a carer, or unpicking why a plan has not been followed without blaming the patient. Marking covers empathy, structure, and checking understanding as well as language.
WHO ACCEPTS IT
OET Dietetics is accepted by bodies including the Dietitians Board of New Zealand, and it is used in Australian skilled migration and credentialing contexts. Acceptance varies more than in the flagship professions, so confirm the current requirements with the specific regulator or credentialing body you are applying to before booking.
LAST REVIEWED 6 JULY 2026
HOW WARDPASS HELPS
- Instant letter marking. Submit a practice letter and get criterion by criterion feedback in seconds against the six published OET Writing criteria, with your own words quoted as evidence.
- Conversational speaking practice. Role plays run as a live two way conversation with a simulated patient, marked against the published Speaking criteria.
- A readiness answer. Every attempt updates an estimate per subtest trending toward the 350 line by your exam date.
Independent preparation service. Not affiliated with, or endorsed by, OET or Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment. Practice feedback is based on published OET criteria and is not an official evaluation. Regulator requirements change: confirm current rules with the regulator directly.