Internationally trained practitioner psychologists need Grade B across all four OET sub-tests to register with the HCPC in the UK or the Psychology Board of Australia. The Writing sub-test asks you to turn an assessment and formulation into 250 words a non-specialist reader can act on.
Quick answer
Internationally trained practitioner psychologists need Grade B (350) in each of the four OET sub-tests for HCPC (UK, registered as Practitioner Psychologist) and the Psychology Board of Australia (AHPRA). The Writing sub-test is a single letter, usually an assessment or referral. Most marks are lost on Genre & Style: test names and diagnostic terms left in for a reader who cannot interpret them.
Always confirm the current requirement on the regulator's own site before you book. Requirements and validity windows change.
Sent to a GP, psychiatrist, or multidisciplinary team, setting out your assessment findings, a formulation, and recommendations for intervention or onward referral.
Marking watch-out: Genre & Style. Name a test once, then say what the result means. The reader needs the interpretation, not the instrument.
Handing over to another psychologist or service for ongoing therapy. The addressee usually needs the formulation in brief and a clear intervention plan.
Marking watch-out: Organisation & Layout. Lead with the outcome, then structure the plan so the reader can continue care after one read.
Stop naming psychometric instruments and diagnostic classifications without context for a non-specialist reader. Say what the result means in plain terms. Mapped criterion: Genre & Style.
Stop narrating the full formulation. Choose the findings and risks that change what the addressee does next. Mapped criterion: Conciseness & Clarity.
Stop opening with assessment chronology. State the finding and what you are asking the reader to do in the first sentence. Mapped criterion: Purpose.
The UK HCPC (where the title is registered as Practitioner Psychologist), the Psychology Board of Australia through AHPRA, and the New Zealand Psychologists Board all accept OET. Grade B (350) is required in each of the four sub-tests. Sub-tests taken across two sittings within the validity window are accepted.
Usually an assessment or referral letter, sent to a GP, psychiatrist, or multidisciplinary team. Case notes commonly include the presenting problem, a risk assessment, assessment or psychometric outcomes, a formulation, and an intervention plan.
Two patterns recur. First, test names and diagnostic terms used without context for a non-specialist reader, which costs Genre & Style. Second, narrating the whole formulation instead of selecting the findings and risks the reader needs, which costs Conciseness & Clarity.
Yes. Psychological assessment, formulation, and risk documentation follow conventions that generic medical case notes do not cover. Correction from someone who knows the psychology letter genre catches the errors that actually cost the grade.
Our OET writing correction service marks your letter against the six criteria, with feedback from a corrector who knows assessment, formulation, and MDT conventions. 24-hour turnaround.
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