Precision in OET Writing: Why Vague Letters Fail and Exact Ones Pass

Precision is the quality most often missing from letters that fall just short of a passing grade. The letter may have correct structure, appropriate tone, and no obvious grammar errors — but it fails Content or Conciseness because the clinical facts are vague, the request is unclear, or hedging phrases blur what should be a straightforward statement. This guide explains what precision means in OET writing, how examiners spot its absence, and how to build it into every sentence.

For the full marking framework, read the OET writing criteria alongside this guide.

What precision means under the 2026 OET criteria

Precision is not a single criterion — it is a property that affects three at once.

The 2026 OET rubric places increased weight on clinical relevance — the marker is asking whether the letter gives the recipient exactly what they need to act. Vague facts force the recipient to ask follow-up questions, which is the opposite of what a professional letter should do.

The four most common precision failures

1. Approximating doses and values

Case notes contain exact figures. The letter should reproduce them exactly. “About 10 mg” when the notes say “10 mg” introduces uncertainty that was not in the source. “Recently” when the notes say “3 weeks ago” removes the clinical meaning of the timeline.

Imprecise: The patient was started on some blood thinners a few weeks ago.
Precise: Ms Chen was commenced on warfarin 5 mg daily four weeks ago.

2. Vague purpose sentences

The purpose sentence is the most important sentence in the letter. It must name the required action and the clinical reason. A vague opener fails Purpose — the first criterion — and often Conciseness too, because the reader cannot act without re-reading the body.

Imprecise: I am writing to inform you about the above-mentioned patient.
Precise: I am writing to request urgent review of Mr Yusuf Al-Rashidi, a 67-year-old male, who has developed worsening dyspnoea and bilateral ankle oedema since his discharge last week.

3. Copying case-note shorthand

Case notes use abbreviations, symbols, and incomplete phrases because they are internal records. Letters go to external colleagues who need full clinical prose. “Hx T2DM × 8 yrs” becomes “an eight-year history of type 2 diabetes mellitus”. Every expansion adds precision; every unexpanded shorthand is a Content or Language risk.

See the companion guide on handling abbreviations in OET letters for a full list of what to expand.

4. Hedging diagnoses that are confirmed

If the case notes state a confirmed diagnosis, write it as confirmed. Hedging a confirmed diagnosis (“the patient may have hypertension”) is inaccurate, not cautious. Reserve hedging language for genuinely uncertain findings: “imaging was suggestive of an early stress fracture, pending radiologist review” is appropriately hedged because the notes record uncertainty.

Precision at the sentence level

Every sentence in a professional OET letter should carry exactly one piece of clinical information. Read each sentence and ask: what single fact does this convey? If the answer is “a general impression”, rewrite it.

Test: Cover the sentence and ask whether the recipient would know something different after reading it. If the answer is no, the sentence is imprecise.

This discipline also serves Conciseness — a sentence that says one exact thing rarely needs more than 20–25 words. A sentence that says something vague often runs to 35 words while conveying less.

How to practise precision

1. Write a letter from a case note, then read each sentence aloud and check the fact against the note.
2. Highlight every time value, dose, and diagnosis. Confirm each matches the source.
3. Circle every hedging word (possibly, perhaps, may, around, approximately). Ask whether the uncertainty was in the case notes or introduced by you.
4. Submit to the Writing Checker for automated feedback, or have it graded against all six criteria through our correction service.

For the Development Pack, you receive written feedback on both accuracy and precision for each letter you submit, with the examiner’s note on which criterion the imprecision affected.