Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) has announced changes in its International English Language Testing System (IELTS) requirements for nurses and midwives coming on to the register from overseas and within the European economic area.

This is aimed at making it more flexible for overseas Nurses to acquire the required IELTS score while still ensuring that the appropriate minimum standard is met to carry out their jobs successfully.

Under the previous system, applicants were required to achieve the IELTS Academic Test Level 7 in reading, writing, speaking and listening in a single sitting. Under the new protocols the NMC still requires applicants to achieve Level 7 in all areas, but this can now be achieved over two sittings of the tests. Both tests must be within six months of each other and no single score must be below 6.5 in any of the areas across both tests.

Nurses trained within EEA/EU can take any version of IELTS Academic Test as they currently do not need any work visa to come and work in the UK, however overseas Nurses from outside EEA who want to come and work in the UK must take the UKVI version of the IELTS Academic exam as its needed for processing their Tier 2 General visa.

Separate test sessions are held for UK Visas and Immigration applicants. You must ensure you register for an “IELTS for UKVI” test date.  The IELTS test for UK visa purposes is designed to meet certain administrative requirements that are specific to UK Visas and Immigration. Test Report Forms will be slightly different, to show that test takers have taken the test at an IELTS UK visa session.

There are no differences in the test format or questions. The actual test taken is the same – same content, examiners, format, level of difficulty, scoring and so on. For further details and to book please visit:  http://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/ielts-ukvi/book-ielts-ukvi

We at UK Visa Works specialise in providing immigration and recruitment services to the healthcare sector in the UK. If you are an overseas nurse trained wishing to work in the UK then please get in touch using our contact form. You can also follow us through our facebook page.