Are you a nurse who wants to work in the UK?
Have you taken IELTS or OET, and only just failed to make the necessary grades?
There’s good news if you’re planning to retake your exams:
from next year it will be easier for you to combine your two scores.
If you want to work as a nurse in Britain or Northern Ireland, the Nursing & Midwifery Council is where you must register.
From 2023, they are lowering their English language requirements slightly.
This is to help nurses who narrowly miss out on getting the grades they need.
At the moment, if you fall below 6.5 for IELTS or C+ for OET, you cannot retake your exams and combine the two scores.
This is going to change – but only a little.
Soon, if you score 6 for IELTS Writing, or C for OET Writing in one of your tests, you will still be able to combine scores. (Of course, you will have to get 6.5 or C+ in the other Writing test. But you don’t have to get it for both tests).
This helps you if you only just missed out on getting the right score in one test.
But you will still need to study hard to get your grades the second time.
Have you narrowly failed your IELTS or OET, and you work in a health and social care setting in the UK?
Soon, your employer will be able to fill out a form to prove your English language capability.
The NMC say that this won’t guarantee your place on the register. But it should definitely help.
The new requirements come into place from January 2023 at the earliest.
We’re the experts in helping nurses reach Band 7 for IELTS or Grade B for OET.
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