Sample OET Discharge Letter: Band 350 Walkthrough

This is a complete sample OET discharge letter written to band 350 (Grade B). The letter is followed by a criterion-by-criterion annotation showing where each mark is won, where small improvements would push it towards band 400, and what to avoid in the patterns that drag letters below band 320.

The case is a 67-year-old male discharged from a respiratory ward to community care after a 6-day admission for community-acquired pneumonia. The recipient is the patient’s GP. The letter is written for the 2026 OET rubric, which weighs Purpose and Content more heavily than the 2024 version.

The sample letter

Dr R Patel

Beechwood Medical Centre

[Address]

[Date]

Dear Dr Patel,

Re: Mr John Davies, DOB 14/06/1958

Mr Davies is being discharged today following a 6-day admission for community-acquired pneumonia. I am writing to update you on his treatment and to request that you arrange a routine review within the next two weeks.

Mr Davies was admitted on 15 May 2026 with a 3-day history of productive cough, fever, and pleuritic chest pain. Chest X-ray confirmed right lower lobe consolidation. Inflammatory markers were raised on admission (CRP 184, WCC 14.2).

He responded well to a 5-day course of IV amoxicillin and clarithromycin, with marked improvement in symptoms by day 3. His oxygen requirement was weaned to room air on day 4 and his observations have remained stable for the past 48 hours.

On discharge, he is to complete a further 5 days of oral amoxicillin 500 mg three times daily and oral clarithromycin 500 mg twice daily. Please consider a repeat chest X-ray at 6 weeks to confirm resolution.

Mr Davies has been advised to rest, increase fluid intake, and contact you or attend the emergency department if his symptoms recur or worsen.

Yours sincerely,

Charge Nurse, Respiratory Ward

Criterion-by-criterion breakdown

Total band: 350 (Grade B). The letter sits comfortably in Grade B and would pass the writing requirement for NMC, NMBI, AHPRA, and HCPC registration. The two areas of available improvement are Conciseness and Content, both of which are one-line fixes.

Why this Purpose opening scores 7

The Purpose criterion under the 2026 rubric requires the letter to identify the right clinical request and calibrate it to the recipient. This opening does both:

“I am writing to update you on his treatment and to request that you arrange a routine review within the next two weeks.”

Two clauses. The first names the type of letter (update on treatment). The second names the specific action requested (arrange a routine review) and the timeframe (within two weeks). The GP can act on this letter without reading further if they need to triage their inbox quickly.

A common Purpose error in 2026 is opening with “I am writing to inform you that Mr Davies is being discharged today” — this announces what the letter is, not what the letter is asking. The 2026 rubric does not reward announcement; it rewards explicit clinical request. The full criterion walkthrough is on the OET writing criteria hub.

What would push this to band 400

Three edits, totalling roughly 15 seconds in the exam:

Edit 1 — Cut redundant phrasing in paragraph 3. Replace “marked improvement in symptoms by day 3” with “improved by day 3”. Three words instead of seven, same meaning.

Edit 2 — Combine the discharge medication paragraph with the follow-up advice paragraph. Both speak to what happens after discharge; separating them adds a paragraph break without adding clarity. Combined, they read as one continuous discharge plan.

Edit 3 — Add the medication review timeframe. A single sentence: “Please review medication at the 5-day completion point if symptoms persist.” This closes a Content gap that costs the letter one mark on the 7-point Content scale.

With these edits the letter would score 400 (upper Grade B) on the same word count. Note that none of the edits require more clinical knowledge — they are structural and Conciseness changes.

What drags discharge letters below band 320

The most common pattern is treating the discharge letter like a referral letter. Referral letters are written to a specialist and explain why a referral is needed; discharge letters are written to a community-care recipient and explain what happens after discharge. Candidates who default to referral phrasing often over-explain the diagnosis and under-explain the discharge plan. Examiners mark this as a Genre and Style failure (1 to 2 marks) and a Content failure (1 mark for omitting the discharge plan detail).

The second pattern is omitting the follow-up arrangement. A discharge letter without a follow-up plan reads as incomplete to the recipient and costs Content marks. Even when the case notes do not specify follow-up, the candidate should propose a clinically reasonable arrangement.

The third pattern is courtesy padding. Phrases like “I trust this letter finds you well” or “thank you for your continued care” cost Conciseness marks. The discharge letter is a clinical handover, not correspondence.

Use this with a graded letter

Reading sample letters helps you understand structure and tone, but it does not teach you what your own letters are doing. To test where you actually sit, write one timed discharge letter using a case from our letter templates page and submit it through our Writing Checker for an initial band estimate.

For a more accurate diagnostic, our letter correction service marks against the full 6 criteria with line-level annotation. The Development Pack is the most common choice for candidates working through 4 to 5 discharge letters in the run-up to their exam. Pricing for all packs is on the pricing page.

The fastest way to convert a C+ to a Grade B on discharge letters is one graded letter per week for 4 weeks with criterion-specific feedback after each. The OET writing retake plan uses exactly this cadence for candidates returning after a near-miss result.