Requirements for International Nurses who want Register as A United Kingdom Registered Nurse (UKRN) with UK NMC.

Introduction

Good news to all nurses around the who want to travel to the United Kingdom, We are going to explain step by step process of becoming a United Kingdom Registered Nurse (UKRN)

Requirements

  1. International Travellers Passport: Your passport must have more than three months to expiry at the time you submit your application.
  2. Be a Registered Nurse in your Current Country or Home Country.
  3. Pass English Proficiency Test (IELTS) or (OET)
  4. Valid tuberculosis test
  5. Police Clearance
  6. Other Supporting documents

English language requirements

According to the Nursing and Midwifery Council of the UK, A foreign trained Nurse who wants to work in the UK as a Nurse must Present evidence to prove their knowledge of English.

The accepted English Language tests Are

  1. The International English Language Test System (IELTS) Academic
  2. The Occupational English Test (OET).
  3. A pre-registration nurse, midwife or nursing associate qualification was taught and examined in English.
  4. Recent practice of at least one year in a majority English speaking country.

IELTS

The NMC UK accepts an IELTS Academic examination certificate that confirms you achieved:

  • an overall score of at least 7, and
  • at least 6.5 in the writing section and at least 7 in the reading, listening and speaking sections.
  • NMC UK accepts either computer-based or paper-based Tests.

Also, the UK NMC accepts required marks across two test sittings means you combine the results of two IELTS tests taken within 6 months. You can achieve the required mark across two test sittings if:

  • you sit the tests within six months of each other
  • you’re tested in all four sections at the same time
  • all scores in both sittings are above 6.5, and
  • you achieve at least 6.5 in the writing section and at least 7 in the reading, listening and speaking sections in either of the two test sittings.

OET

The OET is another option accepted by the NMC Uk for foreign nurses who want to register with them, The applicant must achieve:

  • at least a grade C+ in the writing section, and
  • at least a grade B in the reading, listening and speaking sections.
  • NMC UK accepts the OET on Paper, OET on Computer and the OET@Home.

Just like the IELTS combination,

You can achieve the required mark across two test sittings if:

  • you sit the tests within six months of each other
  • you’re tested in all four sections at the same time
  • all grades in both sittings are above grade C+, and
  • you achieve at least a grade C+ in the writing section and at least a grade B in the reading, listening and speaking sections in either of the two test sittings.

Submitting your OET as evidence

If you’re submitting an OET certificate as part of your application, you’ll need to give us permission to verify your results through your myOET account. 

Trained in English

Find out how to give a verification institution access to your results on the OET website.

If you have completed an NMC-approved pre-registration nurse, midwife or nursing associate programme, we will accept this as evidence that you have the necessary knowledge of English.

If you did not complete an NMC-approved pre-registration programme we need to be satisfied that your programme demonstrates that you have the necessary knowledge of English

In a majority English-speaking country

If you completed your programme in a majority English speaking country, you will need to demonstrate that your programme meets the requirements set out in our guidance by providing evidence which meets our criteria. Find the complete list of MNC UK Classified Majority English Countries via the read more button below:

Read More

In a non-majority English speaking country

If you completed your programme in a non-majority English-speaking country, you will need to demonstrate that your programme meets the requirements set out in our guidance by providing evidence which meets NMC UK criteria.

If your evidence does not clearly demonstrate the above requirements you will need to provide an alternative type of evidence such as a language test.

Registered and practised in English

To be able to rely on evidence that you have practised in English, you must be able to satisfy us that you have one year of recent practice in a majority English speaking country.

You must have completed an English language assessment or examination as part of your registration as a nurse or midwife outside of the UK, or as a nursing associate outside of England (see below if you are applying to be a nursing associate and your practice was not registered). 

The council may require a confirmation from each of your employers that the practice you undertook was in English and that you have the necessary knowledge of English to practise safely and effectively in the UK.

“By recent, we mean that the end of the period of practice you are relying on must be within the last two years at the point we are considering your complete application.”

Applying as a nursing associate if your practise was not registered

If you are applying to the nursing associate part of the register and have recently been practising in a role comparable to that of a nursing associate that is not regulated, to assure the council that you have the necessary knowledge of English you must provide evidence that you have one year of recent practice in the UK or in a majority English-speaking country that was:

  • in a role comparable to that of a nursing associate in which you relied on your skills, knowledge and experience gained from the qualification that we considered eligible as part of your registration application; and
  • the qualification that we considered as eligible as part of your registration application must have been taught and examined in English in a majority English speaking country.

Please note 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, we will seek further information regarding the language assessment which your regulator completed.

NMC UK Office Contacts and Emails

Phone Numbers

You can contact NMC UK by telephone at 08:00–17:45 Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Please try to avoid the busiest times which are all day Monday and Tuesday–Friday, between 10:00 and 12:00. UK Time.

  • General enquiries and fitness to practise: 020 7637 7181
  • Registration enquiries: 020 7333 9333
  • International enquiries: 020 7333 6600

Email addresses

Registration

To help us respond to your query, please provide your PIN, PRN or Candidate ID in your email, if you have one.

Please do not send your enquiry to more than one mailbox as this will cause delays. We’ll respond to your email as soon as we can – usually within ten working days. 

  • If you trained in the UK or are registered with us: [email protected]
  • If you started an application through our EU/EEA route and paid your assessment fee by 31 December 2020: [email protected]
  • If you trained outside the UK: [email protected]
  • Reporting a concern about someone on our register: [email protected]. You’ll receive an automatic email response to confirm receipt and an acknowledgement in writing, with your unique case reference number, within seven days.

NMC UK emails may go into your junk email folder so make sure you check this regularly. To stop this from happening, add ‘[email protected]’ to your safe sender’s list.

Please note: if you are sending supporting information by email, They asked that attachments exceeding 25MB are sent in smaller individual batches to ensure they will be received.

“We’ll reply as soon as we can – usually within five working days. It may take longer if we’re working through a large number of queries.

Please do not send your message to more than one team or mailbox as this will delay our response.”

Other ways to contact UK NMC

Discussing your registration with a third party

If you would like a third party (such as a relative or nursing agency/company) to contact NMC UK about your registration on your behalf, The Council must have written confirmation from you.

Once they receive the completed form, they’ll update your file. It can take up to five working days for this to appear on your file.

The council won’t be able to discuss any details with the third party until this process is complete.

Employers are able to access information about your registration date, the part of the register that you are on and whether you are currently effective on the register using the employer’s confirmation service.

If they require further information, then you will need to request this permission for them.

NMC UK Office Locations

NMC offices in the UK are located in many places across Uk, Hence you need to verify the location of your employer to get the nearest NMC Office.

Use the Geographical locator list of the NMC Via the Button Below

NMC Office Locations List

List UK NMC Important links

  1. General Online Registration Portal
  2. Revalidation Link
  3. Online Portal Login
  4. Online Portal Registration
  5. Employer confirmation Portal
  6. UK NMC Register Search Portal

Conclusion

This article was written to help all foreign nurses who want to get registered onto the UK NMC register and proceed to write CBT. It includes General requirements, English language requirements, NMC UK office Locations, Important Links as well as Contacts.

If you are ready to proceed with the Step by Step Process to Becoming a United Kingdom Registered Nurse (UK RN) then Click Here.

List of Related Topics

Frequently Asked Questions

What is NMC UK?

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the professional regulatory body for nurses, midwives and nursing associates in the UK. Their role is to protect patients and the public through efficient and effective regulation.

What is fitness to practise?

Fitness to practise is the process used by statutory professional regulators to handle complaints or deal with concerns made about health and care professionals on their registers.

How long is it going to take?

There are a number of factors to take into account, including preparing the evidence you need to show you meet our registration requirements and how much preparation time you feel you need before your take your CBT and OSCE. It might take 15 -30 days complete the registration application, once NMC UK received your supporting health, character and language evidence, where applicable your CBT and OSCE results, and your registration fee.

How much is it going to cost to register CBT and NMC UK?

Qualification Evaluation fee cost £140

Computer-based test (CBT) cost £83 per test

Objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) cost £794