OET Writing guide

OET Writing word count: how long should your letter be?

The OET Writing task asks for a letter body of roughly 180–200 words. That range is not an arbitrary rule: it is about the length a busy health professional can absorb quickly. Getting close to it is really a test of selection and summarising, which is why length affects several criteria at once.

The short answer

• Target: a letter body of approximately 180–200 words.
• What "body" means: the paragraphs from "I am writing…" to your final request. The recipient block, date, salutation, Re: line and sign-off are not the part the guidance is really about.
• Is it a hard limit? It is guidance rather than a cut-off where marks disappear at word 201. But a letter far outside the range usually signals a problem: too long often means copied or irrelevant notes; too short often means missing information the reader needs.

Task instructions and test rules can change. Always check the current guidance on the official OET website before your exam. This is an independent guide.

Why length affects your score

No criterion is called "word count", but length shows up across the marking:

In our experience of reviewing practice letters, over-length is far more common than under-length. Most candidates do not run out of things to say; they run out of courage to leave things out. For a full breakdown of each criterion, see OET Writing criteria explained.

What counts and what does not

When you check your length in practice, count the body only. Some practical conventions for counting:

• Hyphenated terms such as "81-year-old" are usually counted as one word.
• A dose such as "5mg" or "40 mg" should not change your count meaningfully; do not reformat doses to game the number.
• Dates such as "16 March" count, but they are rarely the source of an over-length letter.

Do not obsess over counting exactly. Aim to recognise what 180–200 words looks like in your own handwriting or on screen. Handwritten, it is often around 18–22 lines, depending on your writing size; type a few practice letters and note your usual line count.

Worked example: cutting 280 words to 200

This invented example is a nurse writing to a community nurse about Mrs Olsen, 81, discharged after hip surgery. Here is a typical first draft body of about 280 words.

I am writing this letter to you regarding Mrs Ingrid Olsen, who is an 81-year-old widow who was admitted to our orthopaedic ward on 2 March 2026 after she had a fall at her home and sustained a fractured left neck of femur. She is being discharged today and I would like to request that you visit her at home.

On 3 March 2026 she underwent a hemiarthroplasty of the left hip. There were no complications. On 4 March she started mobilising with the physiotherapist. On 7 March she walked 30 metres with a walking frame. On 8 March she was able to climb three stairs with supervision. Her wound is clean and dry and the staples are due to be removed on 16 March.

With regard to her medical history, she has had hypertension since 1998, she had her appendix removed in 1962, and she has mild osteoarthritis in both hands. She was a primary school teacher for 35 years and enjoys gardening and doing crosswords. Her medications are amlodipine 5mg once daily, and she has now been started on enoxaparin 40mg subcutaneously once daily for 28 days and paracetamol 1g four times a day as required for pain.

She lives alone in a two-storey house. Her son lives in another city and calls her every day. She is worried about falling again.

I would be very grateful if you could please visit her at home to remove her staples on 16 March, check that she is administering her enoxaparin injections correctly, monitor her pain and assess her home for falls risks. If you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

What we cut and why

1. Wordy opening (about 20 words saved). "I am writing this letter to you regarding… who is… who was" becomes "I am writing to request home visits for Mrs Olsen, an 81-year-old woman who…". The purpose now arrives in the first line.
2. Day-by-day progress (about 25 words saved). Four separate dated sentences become one summary of where she has reached. The community nurse needs her current mobility, not her daily log.
3. Irrelevant history (about 20 words saved). An appendicectomy in 1962, her former career and her hobbies do not change what the reader will do. Out.
4. Hedged, stacked politeness (about 10 words saved). "I would be very grateful if you could please visit her at home to…" becomes "I would be grateful if you could…". One polite marker is enough.
5. Relevant detail kept and connected. Osteoarthritis in both hands stays, because it may affect self-injection. It is now linked to the enoxaparin, which tells the reader why it matters. Her son's distance becomes a clear point about limited support.

The revised body (about 200 words)

I am writing to request home visits for Mrs Olsen, an 81-year-old woman who is being discharged today following a hemiarthroplasty for a fractured left neck of femur.

Mrs Olsen was admitted on 2 March after a fall at home and underwent surgery the following day without complications. With physiotherapy, she progressed to walking 30 metres with a frame and can now manage three stairs with supervision. Her wound is clean and dry, and the staples are due for removal on 16 March.

She has been started on enoxaparin 40mg subcutaneously daily for 28 days, and paracetamol 1g four times daily as required for pain. She continues to take amlodipine 5mg daily for hypertension. She has mild osteoarthritis in both hands, which may make self-injection difficult.

Of concern, Mrs Olsen lives alone in a two-storey house and is anxious about falling again. Her son lives in another city but telephones daily, so she has limited practical support at home.

I would be grateful if you could remove her staples on 16 March, ensure she is administering her enoxaparin correctly, monitor her pain, and assess her home for falls risks. Please contact me if you require further information.

Notice that the shorter version is not just trimmed; it is more useful. Each paragraph now has one job, and the reader can see the risks at a glance. Paragraphing like this is covered in our OET letter format guide.

Five fast cutting techniques

A time plan for 5 minutes reading and 40 minutes writing

The OET Writing sub-test gives you 5 minutes of reading time followed by 40 minutes to write. Check the current rules on what you may do during reading time; plan to use it purely for thinking.

If you consistently finish writing after minute 32, practise planning faster rather than skipping the edit. The last few minutes are where many over-length letters get rescued. Our grade B practice routine shows how to build this timing into weekly practice.