When sitting for an important exam like OET, it is incredibly important to read the instructions on all parts of the exam papers, and to read them very carefully. In the stress and excitement of doing the actual exam, it is easy to get carried away and begin writing (or reading) immediately. However, it is essential to take a moment and methodically read the instructions.
This is true not just on exam day, but in the practice sessions you take prior to sitting the real exam. Why? This is because every OET sample paper that you do is teaching you something about the real exam. In other words, it is preparing you to sit for the actual OET. These are valuable lessons that should not be overlooked.
If you use the OET sample tests, you will see that the instructions there are exactly the same as on the real OET exam papers. This is important because practicing with these will familiarize you with the instructions that appear on the actual exam papers.
OET is a very specialized exam and it has a set of procedures that, although not difficult to follow, are important to adhere to very carefully. For one thing, on the reading and listening exams you need to fill in the exam papers very precisely. Remember that these are marked by machines and not people, and so if you make a mistake that would be caught by a person, a machine would not be able to recognize it. For this reason, it is absolutely vital that you follow the instructions as accurately as possible.
On the exam day, you don’t want to waste too much time reading slowly through the instructions, and so it is therefore important that you become very familiar with them in your practice sessions. This will allow you to get acquainted with the OET test methods, but also to reduce the amount of time you spend reading instructions on the exam day itself. Thus, you should make sure to read these instructions often in the months leading up to your actual exam.
It is recommended that you do at least several OET sample tests prior to sitting the real exam, and that you do these under the most realistic test conditions. This will help you to get fully prepared for the real experience. Remember to stick to the actual time limits and fill in the test papers in the same way you would need to do it for the real exam. If you skip any of these steps, you are reducing the effectiveness of the practice test.