Many a times you can’t decide by yourself which English exam to go with.People think differently and say in support of both the exams.
Already exam takers can share their views on -Which exam is better and why?
3 Likes
I never took OET thus my opinion regarding whether OET is an easy exam doesn’t hold any value.
About IELTS though, I would only draw your attention to the writing and speaking modules. Reading and listening are fairly easy with the level of our education I believe.
If you decide to take IELTS for various reasons (unavailability of OET dates/centers, cost, etc.) - I would really advise spending a lot of time understanding the IELTS type writing pattern. Revise your grammar a bit, mainly the simple, complex, and compound sentences, and try to use a mixture of linking words in your writing.
Speaking is all about being confident and a lot of practice.
YouTube is the minefield of finding a lot of useful videos for your preparation for IELTS. We have also written an article - How to prepare for the IELTS - there are a lot of free resources linked in that article.
Regarding OET and its necessary materials - Occupation English Test (OET) for Internation doctors.
At the end of the day, value and utility wise - both tests are of equal value in the UK journey (as of now). You can sail though with either IELTS Academic OR OET Medicine.
6 Likes
This year, on July 2021, I took the IELTS Academic test for the first time, because I am looking for elective placement opportunities in the UK. It was quite the experience, I can tell you!
Due to deadlines, I had only about 6-7 weeks to prepare, and I rushed to get to understand the exam, what details would make me score higher and all that stuff.
I think IELTS exam should be your choice, depending on your level of English. If you are advanced, proficient, fluent (or something similar), the IELTS will be fairly easy for you, specially the Reading and Listening sections (as Dr. Ibrahim just said). In those, carefully read the texts and listen to the audio recordings, in order not to lose easy points.
The Speaking is all about being confident, calm and able to demonstrate your vocabulary. Now, in my opinion, the Reading is definitely the hardest part to get a high score, maybe because they are a bit more strict when correcting it, so you should dedicate quite some time to it.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you anything about the OET, but if you want to know more about my experience with the IELTS exam, I am here to help!
2 Likes
Thank you so much 
.I am planning to write the Ielts in march next year.Will surely like to know more- How exactly to go about in each section and if you could share any material.I will message you for the same.
@Gabriel_Ari
2 Likes
I took the OET Medicine exam in June of 2021. I’m a native English speaker so I don’t know if I’m the best source of advice re: its difficulty. I basically followed everything this Reddit thread (https://www.reddit.com/r/IMGreddit/comments/msp3wr/how_i_studied_for_oet_and_some_things_about_test/) and passed with a comfortable margin in all four sections (beyond GMC and UKFPO minimum requirements).
I found it to be low stress (if doing the computerized version at a Prometric testing center). The speaking portion was conducted two days after the Reading, Writing, Listening session via Zoom. My interlocutor was easy going and the cases were straightforward.
5 Likes
Hello Ibrahim, thanks for sharing. I’m hoping to write the IELTS in a couple of months and I would love it if you can share links to the textbooks and other materials that you used to prepare and ace the exam.
Thank you.
2 Likes
Please check my reply in this topic where I have given a link to an article which has all the materials I used:
Hi Gabriel, thank you a lot for those informations. Im not an english native speaker. When I did my interview before attending IELTS preparetion courses, they told me that my level was “the upper intermediate”. When I started practicing activities on GEL IELTS, I noticed that Im so slow, I couldn’t handle my timing especially in reading and writing sections!
I’ll take the IELTS this next march and I’d like you to give me some advices about it!
thanks again 
Hi there, Jouba!
Getting to handle your time it’s definitely one of the most difficult parts of the IELTS. But I have some tips regarding the reading and writing sections:
- Reading: it is all about identifying first what the question is asking you and then, find the answers within the text. That means you don’t necessarily have the read the whole text. If you approach this section like this, you will consume much less time than before. Try it on on your next mock test.
- Writing: as I’ve said, it is the most difficult section in the whole exam, in my opinion. One tip I would give you is this: when you start writing test, take the first 5 minutes to plan what you are going to write, instead of just putting down the first words that come to mind. That can make a huge difference in the end, although I have to admit that I finished my writing section with just a minute to go. Another tip: if you need over 7.0 score on the writing section, you should write way more words than the minimum required (that’s something I got from an english teacher that I know that trains students for the IELTS and it was totally true).
One last thing: I did 2 official mock tests, on this website, the IELTS Progress Check: https://www.ieltsprogresscheck.com/
Here, they offer you the exact format of IELTS (either General or Academic), with corrections from official examiners as well. It is paid, and it may not be cheap, but it definitely helped me to understand exactly what level I stood on the IELTS and, therefore, that I needed to improve in order to score how much I needed to score.
Hope that might have helped you somehow. I am also not an english native speaker and I did my preparation for the IELTS on my own, in about 5-6 weeks time, due to a specific deadline I had to follow. So, what I mean is: it is totally possible! You just got to believe in yourself and put in the hard work!
5 Likes
Hi there, Gabriel! 
Thank you for your response. 
Indeed, it was very helpful and well explained, I will follow your advices while preparing my exam. It was so kind of you. 
I wish you all the best and success. 
1 Like