Objective To assess the inter-observer agreement in assessment of the labour admission test between midwives and obstetricians in the clinical setting and two experts in the non-clinical setting, the interobserver agreement between two experts in the non-clinical setting and to what degree fetal distress in labour could be predicted by the two experts. Design Observational study.Setting The maternity unit of Hammerfest Hospital, Norway.Population Eight hundred and forty-five high and low risk women.Method The labour admission test was first assessed by the midwife or obstetrician in the clinical setting, and was later assessed by two experts. The traces were assessed as normal, equivocal or ominous. Weighted kappa (nw), proportion of agreement (Pa) and predictive values were calculated. Positive predictive values were 0.13 and 0.11. Likelihood ratio for a positive test was 2.30 and 1.92 and likelihood ratio for a negative test 0.86 and 0.83. Conclusion A labour admission test is still routine practice in most obstetric units in the Western world when there is little evidence on its benefits. The results from this study may provide some reconsideration for such practice, and for more research.