| Reading Duration | 60 minutes |
| Test Parts | 3 Sections |
42 marks are split across 3 Sections in the Reading Sub-Test. Part A accounts for 20 marks, Part B accounts for 6 marks and Part C accounts for 16 marks. While Part A is about expeditious reading tasks for 15 minutes, Parts B and C put together are careful reading tasks for 45 minutes.
- The listening subtest is 45 minutes long.
- The listening sub-test is the first test on the test day and lasts for about 45 minutes.
- The listening subtest consists of three parts with 42 questions.
- The listening subtest is the same for all professions.
- The topic of generic medical interest is accessible to candidates across all professions.
- Each part consists of a variety of recorded audio tracks testing different listening skills. There will be passes through the test to allow candidates to read questions or write their answers.
- The candidate will hear each recording once and is expected to write their answers while listening.
Skills assessment
- Understanding the main ideas
- Understanding of specific factual information
- Recognising the opinions, attitudes, and purpose of a speaker
- Following the development of an argument. Marking Each correct answer receives one mark. Scores out of 40 are converted to the IELTS 9 band scale. Scores are reported in whole and half bands.
Part A – expeditious reading task
Part A assesses your ability to locate specific information from four short texts quickly and effectively. The four short texts are related to a single healthcare topic.
| Duration: | 15 minutes (for two consultations) |
| Tasks | Structured note completion |
| Marks | 24 |
Part B and C: carefully reading the task
Part B assesses your ability to identify the detail, gist or central point of six texts sourced from the Healthcare workspace (100–150 words each). The text might consist of extracts from policy documents, hospital guidelines, manuals or similar. Part C assesses your ability to identify detailed meaning and opinion in two texts on topics of interest to healthcare professionals
| Duration: | 10 minutes (for all six questions) |
| Tasks | 3 option multiple-choice questions |
| Marks | 6 |
