The 3 Ways to Evidence Your English Language Skills to the NMC

To work as a nurse or midwife in the UK – you must successfully register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

 
Nurses, midwives and nursing associates play a vital role in the provision of healthcare in the UK. To register, you must make it your responsibility to make the safety and wellbeing of those in your care your primary concern.
As part of the key steps towards your NMC Registration is to evidence your ability to successfully communicate clearly and effectively in English. In this blog post, we’ll set out the evidence, information and documents for you to provide in order to satisfy the English language requirements within your NMC Registration – meaning you have a better chance of meeting the criteria and taking the next steps in your medical career.
 

The Criteria

To have a good chance of meeting NMC criteria, you must demonstrate your competence with the English language in four key areas: reading, writing, listening and speaking.
The NMC will then consider the evidence against whether it’s recent (at least two years validity), objective, independent and verifiable.
 

What evidence will the NMC accept?

1. A recent pass in IELTS/OET
2. A nursing/midwifery qualification that was taught in English
3. Recent practice in an English speaking country

Evidence 1: IELTS

The NMC will accept an overall score of 7 in the academic version of IELTS. You must achieve a score of no less than 7 in reading, listening and speaking, and no less than 6.5 in writing.
The NMC permit you to submit two test certificates to meet the above requirements, if:

• You did not score below 6.5 in any categories in either of the test sittings
• You must also have sat the test sittings within six months of each other

OET

The NMC will also accept an OET certificate that confirms that you achieved at least a grade C+ in the writing section, at least a grade B in the reading, listening and speaking sections. Similarly to IELTS, you can combine two test scores together if:

• You sat them within six months of each other,
• You tested all four sections at the same time and all grades in both sittings are above grade C+ ,
• And you achieved at least a grade B in the reading, listening and speaking sections in either of the two test sittings.

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Evidence 2: A nursing or midwifery qualification taught in English

This evidence must ensure that the programme was:

• Taught and examined in English
• Composed of at least 50% clinical interactions and
• At least 75% of the clinical interaction with patients, service users, their families and other healthcare professionals took place in English

If your qualification does not meet the above criteria, you will need to sit an approved English language test.

Evidence 3: You have been practicing in an English-speaking country

To use this pathway, you must have successfully completed a language assessment as part of your registration.
If you were not registered, you must be working in a role comprable to that of a nursing associate in which you relied on your skills, knowledge and experience gained from the qualification that the NMC consider eligible as part of your registration application.
The list accepted by the GMC includes: Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Beliza, Bumda, British Indian Ocean Territory, Canada, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Granada, Guernsey, Guyana, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jersey, Malta, New Zealand, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan de Cunha, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincet and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, United States of America, The Virgin Islands.
You can find further information here.

The ID Medical School

Our ID Medical School offers a range of CPD-accredited courses, including English language. Our School can help you prepare for both IELTS and OET in partnership Swoosh English and Specialist Language Courses (SLC). Our course includes benchmark tests to allow our healthcare professionals to assess their current competency levels and select the right programme for them.
We’re also in the process of offering a scholarship programme in conjunction with Swoosh, where our healthcare professionals can receive a full refund on any courses purchased once they pass and take up a job via ID Medical.
Further information on the scholarships can be found here.

We can help you secure your first job!

When your register with ID Medical, you will be allocated a dedicated Recruitment Consultant who will support you every step of the way. Once you have cleared your English language exams, we offer you the opportunity to interview with NHS clients across the UK which take place on a weekly basis and include a full OSCE training programme guaranteed to support you to become a registered nurse in the UK.
We can also provide access to our industry leading CBT training platform via the ID Medical School. Our dedicated settlement team will then support you with every step of relocating to the UK including NMC registration support, arranging visas, finding accommodation and making travel arrangements for your arrival to the UK.
By joining us, you will receive: Reimbursement of your IELTS UKVI or OET exam fee, your visa application and immigration health surcharge fee paid, free flight to the UK and transfer from the airport, CBT exam fee paid, free accommodation on arrival, OSCE exam cost paid, NMC Registration costs paid, full OSCE training programme and a free mobile SIM card.
If you’re an international nurse or midwife, who would like our support with relocating to the UK and joining the NHS or a UK private healthcare organisation – please register your CV with us here. Alternatively, hit the button below to register with us today!

References

Nmc.org.uk. 2020. English Language Requirements. [online] Available at: <https://www.nmc.org.uk/registration/joining-the-register/english-language-requirements/> [Accessed 11 May 2020].
Nmc.org.uk. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/registration/language-requirements-guidance.pdf> [Accessed 11 May 2020].