ACCEPTED ENGLISH TESTS
NMC Accepted English Language Requirements & Changes:
Education requirements
You need to have successfully completed at least 10 years of school education before starting your post-secondary education nursing or midwifery training programme, which lead to registration.
English language requirements
When you apply to register with us we need to know you can communicate effectively in English. Communication is defined as speaking, reading, listening and writing. You must demonstrate competence in these four skills.
Evidence 1 – IELTS or OET
Evidence 2 – A recent pre-registration nursing or midwifery qualification that was taught and examined in English, the certificate no less than 2 years by NMC Submission.
Evidence 3 – You’ve worked as a registered nurse or midwife for at least one year in a country where English is the first and native language, and an English language assessment was required for registration.
Your evidence of English language will be assessed against the following criteria. It should be:
Recent, objective and independent able to clearly demonstrate that you can read, write, communicate and interact with patients, service users, relatives and healthcare professionals in English authentic evidence that NMC can verify.
NMC New Registration requirements
If the candidate worked as a nurse or midwife in more than one country or state, you need to have been registered with the licensing authority/registration body in all the countries/states where you’ve worked.
NMC will need verification from that authority regardless of the length of your registration. You’ll need to declare all registrations you’ve held, even if they’re now inactive or surrendered. You’ll need to submit all verification documents as well as your registration certificates.
Practice requirements
Previously, overseas nurses and midwives wishing to apply to join our register must have worked for 12 months after achieving their qualification. NMC have now removed this requirement, meaning applicants can apply to join NMC Overseas Nurse register after qualifying.
Only applicants who are using their registration and practice of at least one year in a country, where English is the first and native language as evidence of their English language skills will be required to provide an employment reference as part of their application.
Important
If you can’t send the evidence NMC request, or NMC won’t satisfy with what you send NMC, we won’t be able to consider your application. NMC highly recommend you make sure you can meet NMC’s language evidence requirements before you apply to register. If you feel this is unlikely you may wish to complete a language test before applying to NMC.
For more information on NMC language requirements please refer to annexe 1.
Annexe 1: English language requirements
English language tests NMC accept
NMC currently accept two language tests as evidence of your ability to communicate effectively in English: the International English Language Test System (IELTS) and the Occupational English Test (OET).
The IELTS and the OET are used across the world. They are often chosen to test the language competency of healthcare professionals in the UK.
International English Language Test System (IELTS)
If you have completed an IELTS examination you must provide an IELTS certificate that confirms:
- at least 7.0 in the listening, speaking sections and reading sections
- at least 6.5 in the writing and
- at least 7.0 overall.
Occupational English Test (OET)
If you have completed an OET examination you must provide a certificate that confirms:
- at least a B grade in listening, speaking and reading, and
- at least a C+ grade in writing.
We will only accept results from OET tests taken from February 2016 onwards.
You can achieve the required mark across two test sittings if:
- You sit the tests within six months of each other, and you are tested in all four skills at the same time.
- If you take an IELTS test, all scores in both sittings are above 6.5 and you achieve 7.0 or higher in all four fields when the results of both sittings are viewed together.
- If you take the OET, all grades in both sittings are above Grade C+ and you achieve Grade B or higher in all four fields when the results of both sittings are viewed together.
Test scores are valid for two years.
Trained in English
If you wish to rely on evidence that you recently trained in English you must be able to satisfy us that:
- The course was taught and examined in English, and the programme demonstrates your ability in reading, writing, speaking and listening in a range of environments.
You will need to provide us with the following.
-
- A university transcript of training, and
- A letter of reference from your training institution (or ask your training institution to complete sections 8a and 8b on the form to accompany your transcript of training).
Your evidence must confirm that your programme was composed of at least 50% clinical interaction. At least 75% of that must be with patients, service users, their families and other healthcare professionals must have taken place in English.
Please note, by ‘recent’ NMC mean evidence related to English language competence that is less than two years old at the point of making an application to NMC. If the information the nurse provide is not clear, NMC will need to request further information from the nurse.
Registered and Practised in English
If you who wish to rely on evidence that you have registered and practised in English
You must be able to satisfy us that:
- you have completed an English language assessment or examination as part of your registration outside of the UK
- you have one year post registered practice in an English speaking setting
- your registration is in a country where English is the first and native language.
You will need to provide us with the following.
- A letter of good standing from your licensing authority.
- Details of the English language assessment that you undertook as part of your registration.
- An Employer Reference form (which can be downloaded from your portal). Your reference must be completed and signed by either a senior nurse, another senior clinician (such as a registered medical practitioner) or your line manager.
If you were not required to sit a language test by the regulator because you were taught and examined in a country where English is the first and native language, you will still meet this requirement.
Test scores are valid for two years.
Example scenarios
IELTS Examples
Example 1
| Listening | Reading | Writing | Speaking | |
| Test 1 | 7 | 7.5 | 6.5 | 7 |
| Test 2 | 6.5 | 7 | 6.5 | 8 |
| Listening | Reading | Writing | Speaking | Overall Score | |
| Test | 7 | 7.0 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 7 |
This application would be accepted. The applicant has scored 7 in all categories, and no score is lower than 6.5.
Example 2
| Listening | Reading | Writing | Speaking | |
| Test 1 | 6 | 7.5 | 6.5 | 7 |
| Test 2 | 6.5 | 7 | 7.5 | 7.5 |
This application would not be accepted. The applicant has a score lower than 6.5.
OET Examples
Example 1
| Listening | Reading | Writing | Speaking | |
| Test 1 | B | B | C+ | B |
| Test 2 | B | C+ | C+ | B |
This application would be accepted. The applicant has scored B in all categories, and no score is lower than C+.
Example 2
| Listening | Reading | Writing | Speaking | |
| Test 1 | B | B | C+ | B |
| Test 2 | C | C+ | C+ | B |
This application would not be accepted. The applicant has scored lower than C.
For More Information Available Click Here - https://www.nmc.org.uk/registration/joining-the-register/english-language-requirements/accepted-tests/
A recent pre-registration nursing or midwifery qualification which was taught and examined in English.
Trained in English
Will this Help Indian Nurses to Migrate as Nurse in the UK?
ANS: No, It Won’t! *Please See the Explanation Given Below
If you wish to rely on evidence that you recently trained in English you must be able to satisfy NMC that:
The course was taught and examined in English.
The programme demonstrates your ability in reading, writing, speaking and listening in a range of environments.
You will need to provide us with the following:
A university transcript of training
A letter of reference from your training institution (or ask your training institution to complete sections 8a and 8b on the form to accompany your transcript of training).
*Your evidence must confirm that the programme was composed of at least 50% clinical interaction. At least 75% of that must be with patients, service users, their families and other healthcare professionals must have taken place in English.
Please note, by recent we mean evidence related to English language competence that is less than two years old at the point of making an application to the NMC. If the information you provide is not clear, we will need to request further information from you.
Registration and practice of at least one year in a country where English is the first and native language and an English language assessment was required for registration.
Registered and practised in English
If you who wish to rely on evidence that you have registered and practised in English you must be able to satisfy NMC that:
you have completed an English language assessment or examination as part of your registration outside of the UK.
you have one year post registered practice in an English-speaking setting
your registration is in a country where English is the first and native language.
You will need to provide NMC with the following:
- a letter of good standing from your licensing authority and
- details of the English language assessment that you undertook as part of your registration, and
- a supporting reference from your employer.
Please note that if we are unable to identify whether you completed an English language assessment as part of your registration then we will require additional confirmation of the registration requirements from the licensing authority where you are registered.
List of accepted English speaking countries
We use the UK Border Agency’s list of ‘majority English speaking countries’
Nationals of the countries listed below are considered to be from a majority English
speaking country:
| Antigua and Barbuda | Anguilla |
| Australia | The Bahamas |
| Barbados | Belize |
| Bermuda | British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) |
| Canada | Cayman Islands |
| Dominica | Falkland Islands |
| Gibraltar | Grenada |
| Guernsey | Guyana |
| Ireland | Isle of Man |
| Jamaica | Jersey |
| Malta | New Zealand |
| St. Helena, Ascension & Tristan da Cunha | St Kitts and Nevis |
| St Lucia | St Vincent and the Grenadines |
| Trinidad and Tobago | United Kingdom |
| The United States of America | US Virgin Islands |
We maintain and update our list on a regular basis. When we are advised that a
country’s first and native language is English, we contact the relevant Ministry of Health
and the nursing and midwifery regulator to seek evidence of this.
*Important
If you cannot send the evidence NMC request, or NMC are not satisfied with what you send us, NMC won’t be able to consider your application.
NMC highly recommend you make sure you can meet our language evidence requirements before you apply to NMC. If you feel you are unlikely to do so you may wish to complete a language test before applying to NMC.
To avoid delays, you may wish to include evidence that you meet the English language requirements with your application. In this case, if your evidence meets NMC requirements you will automatically move to step 3 to complete your registration. If you have not submitted evidence of your language competence, NMC will ask you to do so.
www.occupationalenglishtest.org - Click Here to Visit the Official Website.
