OET Transfer Letter Sample for Nurses: Full Example, Band-by-Band Annotation & Common Mistakes
Last updated: August 15, 2026
An OET transfer letter moves a patient’s care from one facility or care level to another — usually a hospital ward to a rehabilitation unit, care home, or a different hospital — and its job is to make sure the receiving team can pick up care safely without re-doing the last few days of clinical decisions from scratch. Below is a full Grade A-standard example, broken down line by line against the four OET writing criteria, plus a second example and the mistakes that most often cost Pakistani nurses marks on this task type specifically.
What the OET transfer letter task actually asks for
A transfer letter differs from a discharge letter in one important way: the patient’s care is continuing, not ending. The receiving team needs a clear clinical handover — current status, what’s already been tried, what still needs monitoring or follow-up — not just a summary of what happened. You get the same 45 minutes as any OET Writing task (5 minutes reading, 40 minutes writing), and the letter should still run roughly 180-200 words. The most common structural mistake specific to this task type is writing it like a discharge letter (past-tense summary, case closed) instead of a live handover (present status, ongoing plan, explicit “please continue/monitor” instructions).
Case notes (example)
Patient: Mr. Tariq Mehmood, 71 years old
Transferring from: General Medical Ward
Transferring to: Community Rehabilitation Unit
Reason for transfer: Post-stroke (left-sided weakness), medically stable, requires ongoing physiotherapy and occupational therapy not available on the acute ward
Admitted: 9 days ago following an ischaemic stroke, confirmed via CT
Treatment so far: Aspirin 300mg loading dose then 75mg daily, started day 1; swallow assessment passed on day 4 (soft diet); physiotherapy commenced day 3, currently mobilising with a frame and one assistant
Current status: Medically stable, BP 138/84, no further neurological deterioration, mild expressive dysphasia improving daily
Relevant history: Hypertension (amlodipine 5mg), ex-smoker
Social: Lives with son’s family, previously independent, motivated to regain mobility
Transfer plan: Continue aspirin 75mg daily and amlodipine 5mg daily, continue daily physiotherapy and speech and language therapy input, swallow to be reassessed weekly, follow-up stroke clinic review in 6 weeks
Sample letter — Band A standard
Dear Colleague,
Re: Mr. Tariq Mehmood, DOB [xx/xx/xxxx]
I am transferring Mr. Mehmood, a 71-year-old man, to your unit for ongoing rehabilitation following an ischaemic stroke nine days ago.
He presented with left-sided weakness and mild expressive dysphasia, confirmed on CT as an ischaemic stroke. He was commenced on aspirin, with a swallow assessment passed on day four allowing a soft diet. He has been medically stable throughout, with no further neurological deterioration, and his speech has been improving daily.
He is currently mobilising with a frame and one assistant, and continues to require daily physiotherapy and speech and language therapy input, which your unit is better placed to provide than the acute ward.
Please continue aspirin 75mg daily and amlodipine 5mg daily, and reassess his swallow weekly given his ongoing improvement. A stroke clinic follow-up has been arranged for six weeks from now; please ensure this is not missed during his rehabilitation stay.
He lives with his son’s family and was previously fully independent — he is motivated and engaged with his rehabilitation, which should support a good functional recovery.
Please contact the ward if any further information about his acute admission would be helpful.
Yours sincerely,
[Nurse name], Registered Nurse
(199 words — within the target range)
Examiner-style annotation: why this letter scores well
Overall Task Fulfilment (does it cover everything the reader needs, and nothing they don’t?)
The letter is written as a handover, not a summary — every sentence either states current status or gives an instruction for ongoing care (“please continue,” “please ensure this is not missed”). This is the single biggest differentiator between a strong transfer letter and a mediocre one: candidates who write transfer letters like discharge letters (purely retrospective) lose marks here even when every fact is accurate, because the receiving team is left without clear next steps.
Appropriateness of Language (register, tone, is it written for the right reader?)
Written nurse-to-nurse/therapist-to-therapist in professional but plain language — “commenced on aspirin,” “mobilising with a frame,” not ward shorthand. The explicit safety-netting instruction about the stroke clinic follow-up (“please ensure this is not missed”) is exactly the kind of proactive, clinically-judged addition examiners reward under this criterion — it shows the writer thinking about what could go wrong during a care transition, which is the real skill this task tests.
Comprehension of Stimulus (accuracy against the case notes)
Every clinical fact matches the case notes precisely — medication doses, the day-4 swallow assessment, the six-week follow-up. Note what’s deliberately omitted: the ex-smoker history isn’t mentioned, because it’s not actionable for a rehabilitation unit’s immediate care plan. A band-6 candidate typically includes every line from the case notes regardless of relevance; a band-8 candidate selects only what changes the receiving team’s actions.
Linguistic Features (grammar, cohesion, spelling, punctuation)
The letter moves through a clear sequence — presentation → treatment so far → current status → ongoing needs → instructions → social context — with connective phrasing (“He is currently… and continues to require…”) that signals the shift from past events to present/ongoing needs. This tense control (past for what happened, present/imperative for what should continue) is a specific linguistic marker of transfer-letter competence that discharge letters don’t test in the same way.
A second complete example — inter-hospital transfer
Case notes: Ms. Amina Sheikh, 45, transferring from a district hospital to a tertiary care hospital for specialist cardiology input following an abnormal echocardiogram; haemodynamically stable, no chest pain currently.
Dear Doctor,
Re: Ms. Amina Sheikh, DOB [xx/xx/xxxx]
I am transferring Ms. Sheikh, a 45-year-old woman, to your cardiology unit for specialist assessment following an abnormal echocardiogram identified during her admission here.
She was admitted three days ago with atypical chest discomfort, since resolved, and remains haemodynamically stable with no further episodes. Her echocardiogram showed moderate mitral regurgitation of uncertain chronicity, which is beyond what we are able to further investigate at this facility.
She is currently asymptomatic, observations are within normal limits, and she has required no acute intervention during her stay here. Bloods, including troponin, have been unremarkable throughout.
I would be grateful if your team could arrange specialist cardiology review and any further imaging you consider appropriate to characterise the valve finding. Copies of her echocardiogram and admission bloods accompany this letter.
She is anxious about the finding and would benefit from a clear explanation of next steps once reviewed.
Please contact our ward if any information from her admission here would assist your assessment.
Yours sincerely,
[Nurse name], Registered Nurse
(178 words)
This example shows the same handover discipline applied to an inter-hospital transfer rather than a step-down to rehabilitation — the pattern (current status → why the receiving team is better placed → specific ask → relevant patient context) holds across both transfer scenarios.
The three mistakes that cost Pakistani OET candidates the most marks on transfer letters specifically
- Writing it as a discharge letter instead of a handover. The single most common error on this task type. If the letter reads like “here’s what happened and now they’re gone,” it fails the core purpose of a transfer letter — ongoing care continuity. Every transfer letter needs at least one explicit forward-looking instruction (“please continue…”, “please monitor…”, “please arrange…”).
- Omitting the reason the transfer is happening. Examiners specifically look for a clear statement of why this patient needs this receiving facility rather than staying where they are (specialist input unavailable, different level of care needed, closer to family, etc.) — leaving this implicit costs marks under Task Fulfilment even if every other fact is present.
- Losing tense control between past events and ongoing needs. Mixing “was treated with” and “continues to require” inconsistently, or describing ongoing needs in the past tense, confuses the receiving reader about what’s already resolved versus what they need to act on. Read the letter back and check: is every ongoing need in the present tense or an imperative (“please…”)?
Frequently asked questions
How is an OET transfer letter different from a discharge letter?
A discharge letter closes an episode of care and hands the patient back to routine follow-up (usually a GP). A transfer letter moves ongoing, active care to a different facility or care level — the patient’s treatment isn’t finished, so the letter needs explicit instructions for what the receiving team should continue or monitor, not just a summary of what already happened.
Do I need to explain why the patient can’t stay at the current facility?
Yes — this is one of the most commonly missed elements. State clearly why the receiving facility is better placed (specialist equipment, a level of care not available, geographic reasons) in one sentence near the start of the letter.
What tense should I use in a transfer letter?
Past tense for what has already happened and been treated; present tense or imperative (“please continue,” “please monitor”) for anything that needs to keep happening after the transfer. Consistently mixing these up is one of the clearest signals to an examiner of a lower-band letter.
Should I include every test result from the case notes?
No. Include only results that change what the receiving team needs to do — a normal result that requires no action can usually be omitted or summarised in one word (“bloods unremarkable”) rather than listed in full, exactly as with discharge letters.
Prepared personally as part of English Learning Point’s OET coaching — every Writing task submitted by ELP students is marked by hand, band by band, the same way this sample is annotated above. Book a free OET writing assessment on WhatsApp: 0300-6107060
