The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is the 2nd and final exam in the QLTS. You must have passed the MCT (Multiple Choice Test- 1st exam) to sit the OSCE.

The OSCE Exam structure, at first glance, is very difficult to understand. In fact, it takes a few weeks to get this into your head. It is also important to remember the time allocated for each assessment. First thing is to understand the exam structure and to also remember the time given for each assessment. (P.S – The more mocks you practice, the easier it becomes to remember the time per assessment)

I have therefore provided a table so it is easier to understand the structure for the OSCE exam.

As you can see from the above table there are 6 types of assessments:

Part 1

1. Client Interview- you get 10 minutes to prepare and the actual client interview is 25 minutes
2. Attendance notes- you have 25 minutes to hand write the attendance notes (which follows the interview you just had with your client)
3. Advocacy/Oral presentation- In this assessment, please note, that it can be either an (Task*) Advocacy OR Oral Presentation. You will get 45 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to either complete the Advocacy (presenting your case to a decision maker) or to do an Oral presentation (examples- client will come to the office shortly so make a presentation to them about some clarifications they have, to do a presentation on a certain topic/s to interns in your firm, oral presentation at client’s offices)

Part 2

1. Legal Research- carry out online research using WestLaw and Lexis Nexis databases- you have 60 minutes to carry out research and complete the assessment (answer all the questions and provide sources of your research)
2. Legal drafting- you have 45 minutes
3. Legal writing- you have 30 minutes

Subjects

The exam assessments are based on 5 subject areas:

1. Business Law
2. Property Law
3. Probate (Wills & Trusts)
4. Civil Litigation
5. Criminal Litigation

However, there are 6 assessments (including Part 1 & 2) per subject. That does not make any sense! Hold on. Let me explain. Even though there are 5 subject areas to be tested, they are divided as follows whether it be Part 1 or 2 of the assessments:

Business law	stand alone subject
Property Law & Probate Law	2 subjects in this one day which means you get 6 assessments (3 for Part 1 & 3 for Part 2) for both the subjects
Civil Lit & Criminal Lit	2 subjects in this one day which means you get 6 assessments (3 for Part 1 & 3 for Part 2) for both the subjects

The total number of assessments (Part 1 & Part 2) for all the subjects in the OSCE assessment come to a total of 18 assessments.

That number is not meant to scare you in anyway. But to understand that you will have 18 assessments (count the ticks in the above table) in total for the OSCE is a good place to start, so you know what you are going to be up against. The more you know about the exam, the better prepared you are.

The next important thing to know is which day you get tested what subject area. As we now know that there are 3 days for the exam for each part, and no matter, which dates in the schedule (May or Nov) you do the OSCE the time table for the exam is as follows:

1st day	Business Law
2nd day	Property & Probate
3rd day	Civil litigation & Criminal litigation

This above information is also available on Kaplan’s website here. I would also suggest that you take a look at the sample questions on Kaplan’s website here– look at the last tab.

[My suggestion is to read the case of Trailer Trash (Business Law) which is listed under legal drafting. Remember legal drafting assessment is 45 minutes in total. You are asked to prepare Board minutes and a precedent board minutes is already provided (see pages 3 & 4). The precedent should help you navigate this sample question. Go ahead and give it a shot. Make sure you start your timer!]

In conclusion, this post should have clarified:

1. the number of assessments in total (18) for the OSCE
2. what subject areas you get tested on (5 in total)
3. that Business Law is a stand alone subject (always 1st day of Part 1 & 2)
4. that Property & Probate are tested together on the same day (always 2nd day of Part 1 & 2)
5. that Civil Litigation & Criminal Litigation are tested together on the same day (always 3rd day of Part 1 & 2)
6. the time allocated per assessment

Leave your comments here below if you have any questions on the structure of the OSCE Exam.

P.S- I am posting more topics on the OSCE. Make sure to subscribe so you are notified when I post something new!!!