OET vs IELTS for nurses: which should you sit?

Every internationally qualified nurse applying to NCNZ has to clear an English-language requirement, and there are two approved routes: the Occupational English Test (OET) and IELTS Academic. Both are rigorous, but they suit different candidates.

NCNZ's minimum scores

Both tests let you combine scores across sittings — as long as every required minimum is reached within 12 months of your first attempt, and all sittings fall within three years of starting your NCNZ application.

Where OET tends to help

OET's material is entirely healthcare-based — consultations, referral letters, clinical case notes. If you find general-topic IELTS material (economics, environment, culture) harder to engage with than clinical scenarios, OET's format often plays to your strengths, and its writing task specifically practises the kind of referral-letter writing nurses actually do.

Where IELTS tends to help

IELTS Academic is more widely available, with more test centres and dates, and its format is broadly familiar to anyone who's prepared for a general English exam before. If flexibility of test dates and locations matters more to you than subject-matter familiarity, IELTS can be the more practical choice.

Our take

There's no universally "easier" option — the right test depends on your existing strengths. A short diagnostic against both formats, which we run as part of enrolment, usually settles the question in one session rather than weeks of guessing.