Part A of the reading section of the OET exam can seem impossible to finish and many students dread this part of the test. Time seems to be everybody’s worst enemy as you only have 15 minutes to complete the section but fear not! I have compiled a number of tips that have significantly helped my students improve their score for Reading Part A:

1. When you are given the paper do not waste time by trying to read each of the texts. You only have 15 minutes, do not waste time.
2. Instead read and underline the headings of each text, but more specifically the key words. For example below are four titles of texts on vasectomy and I have underlined the key words:“Vasectomy: a patient’s story”

   “A retrospective cohort study of vasectomy and the risk of prostate cancer”

   “Vasectomy: procedure, cost and effectiveness”

   “Fact sheet for patients undergoing a vasectomy”

   Now that these key words are underlined, it will be easy for you to identify which text you need to skim through to find the answer for each blank space.

3. Now the key is to try and MATCH each paragraph (with missing words) to one of the four texts. Go to the first paragraph and skim read only as much as you need to be able to identify which text you need to look at to find the answers. Generally each paragraph can be matched to a specific text and most of the answers to the blanks can be found in this text.
4. However, sometimes one or two of the words you need for a particular paragraph will be in a different text to the one you have used to find most of the answers. Watch out for this and try and identify this as soon as possible so you do not waste time reading the same paragraph.

This concludes Part 1 of How to Succeed in Reading Part A. More tips can be found in Part 2 of How to Succeed in Reading Part A.

Hope you find this helpful and good luck!

Nadishi Athulathmudali, OET Tutor.