In this video we're going to show you how to score highly
in conciseness and clarity in the OET writing so keep watching, let's check it out!
Hi I'm Jo from SLC, here to help you pass your OET exam. In this video we're going
to take a look at conciseness and clarity, we will look at what the descriptors of this
criterion actually mean and tips for how to improve in this area, so let's take a look.
You will be assessed on six criteria, purpose is scored out of three and all the rest have
a maximum of seven. You can find a downloadable copy of this writing criteria on the OET website.
It's a good idea to use the descriptors for band 7 to find out exactly what you have to do
to score highly in this area, so for conciseness and clarity you need to make sure that your letter
is not too long and not too short, that you have not included information that the reader does not
need to know and you also need to summarise the relevant information in a clear way without using
long sentences and unnecessary words and the ideas expressed in your letter should be easy to follow.
So what does this mean for you and what you write in your OET letter? First, in the descriptors is
length. The task states that your letter should be 180 to 200 words but this limit is a guide only,
if you have written much more than 200 words, this is probably an indicator that you have
included irrelevant details or that you haven't summarised the key information effectively
and if your letter is very short, it probably means you've left out some important information.
Know your handwriting before the exam, you don't have time to count the number of words
you have written in the exam so make sure you know what approximately 200 words looks like
in your handwriting. There is no set number of paragraphs but a rough guide would be to write
three to five paragraphs depending on the content and ensure that they are not too long.
Keep the focus of the letter in mind when writing, think about it in this way,
if the focus of the letter is post-discharge care and there's a lot of information regarding this,
then it probably means that other information, such as hospital treatment, should be summarised
more concisely with less focus. You need to make sure that irrelevant information is not included,
this is important as it can distract the reader from important information
and what they need to do. Here we have here an excerpt from some case notes
about a patient who has undergone a hip replacement following a fall.
Look at the extract from a letter relating to these case notes
“Mr Smith underwent an appendectomy in 1985 and a total left hip replacement in 2014.
He also has hypertension and takes ramipril 10mg daily.” What do you think? Relevant?
No. This is irrelevant and should NOT be included in the letter.This information is not needed for
continued care and this is what you need to ask yourself when deciding what to include:
Does the reader need to know this in order to fulfil the purpose of the letter?
and if the answer is no, don't include it. Summarising effectively is an important part of
conciseness and clarity. You need to summarise the case notes and the relevant information you have
selected without going into too much detail but still clearly communicating the key information.
Take a look at this extract from some case notes. The patient has visited the GP three
times with worsening symptoms and these need to be summarised effectively for the reader.
From the two examples here, which do you think is more effectively summarised and why?
The first example provides a clear summary of the timeline of the symptoms, what they are and what
the current situation is. The reader would have the key information without needing to read the
specific details about each visit. The second paragraph shows a lack of summarising, details
are given of every visit and it overloads the reader repeating the same symptoms over and over.
The overall effect is distracting to the reader and also reduces the clarity of the letter.
The reader only needs a brief summary of the deterioration and a focus on the current
condition, this is particularly important when the urgency is higher. Think about it this way,
if you were working in a hospital or a care home and you were doing a verbal handover to your
colleague at the end of a shift, you wouldn't include every single little detail of what
happened to the patient that day, you'd summarise the key information. Well, the OET writing
is similar, think of it as a sort of written handover. Let's take a look at another example.
Take a look at these two examples, which one do you think has been summarised more effectively?
Well, the first paragraph doesn't summarise the information from hospital treatment,
details are given to the reader of every physiotherapy session and details of mobility that
is no longer current and these details distract from the patient's current situation which is what
you don't want to do. The second paragraph conveys the key information to the reader clearly without
any unnecessary details, the final descriptor in this criterion is clarity which simply means that
the information you include must be expressed clearly and easy to follow by the reader. Take
a look at this extract from some case notes, now read these two paragraphs requesting and
informing the reader, which paragraph do you think is clearer and easier to follow and why?
The first example lacks clarity and is also vague in places. It says the assistance with ADLS might
be needed, possibly raising questions or doubts for the reader, well is it needed or is it not?
It also states that the patient will be wearing anti-embolic stockings
rather than informing the reader that it's necessary.
Information is also included that the patient will receive physiotherapy sessions at the home
twice a week, which is correct but lacks clarity as the reader would have questions
about how this is going to be organised. The second paragraph is written clearly
and in a way that is easy to follow, while including the relevant and essential information.
She will need to wear anti-embolic stockings. Assistance with daily activities will be needed.
The physiotherapist will contact you regarding the sessions
After reading this paragraph the reader would have a clear idea of what's going to happen. Now let's
look at another extract from some case notes. Look at the two summaries on the right hand side,
which one do you think is clearer and easier to follow, what do you think?
That's right! The first example is better,
it clearly expresses the timeline, the worsening symptoms and also today's situation,
whereas the second example does not really provide a clear timeline for the symptoms and it's also
a little vague by not giving the reading of the temperature. Top tips for conciseness and clarity.
Check the length of your letter when practicing, it will act as a guide to prevent you from
including irrelevant information and summarising ineffectively, it's really important to practice
summarising and paraphrasing so that you can do this confidently in the exam, also when you
are writing and when you are checking your work, ask yourself if you have only provided relevant
information to the reader. Always remember, why are you writing, what do they need to know.
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Stay tuned for more videos like this, we've got loads of great
tips and strategies coming up in this series, and see you next week, bye!