The UK Nursing and Midwifery Council(NMC) Board has accepted a proposal to change the proof of English language proficiency for foreign-trained(Overseas) nurses who are seeking registration & employment as a nurse/midwife in the UK.
A current consultation on this is due to end by the end of next week. The final proposal will be published by late October and will be implemented by the 1st of November 2017.
CURRENT PROPOSAL: A draft proposal as follows: all Applicants outside the UK can demonstrate the necessary knowledge of English in one of the following ways: Evidence type 1: Academic IELTS level 7 or an alternative test (Occupational English Test) that matches our criteria including that it maps to IELTS level 7. Evidence type 2: A recent pre-registration nursing or midwifery program that has been taught and examined in English. Evidence type 3: Nursing Registration and two years of registered practice with a nursing or midwifery regulator in a country where English is the first and native language. (Americans, Australians, Canadians.)
IELTS SCORE: A stage Two consultation on IELTS issue is due to start in October. Where they will particularly focus on IELTS issue. It is likely to reduce writing module requirement from 7 to 6.5. At the moment NMC couldn’t confirm the timeframe on the consultation but this will be updated soon. So far we have received 15350 signatures on this petition. All the supporters’ details and their comments are shared with NMC along with 250 personal statements we received from Overseas Nurses & employers on IELTS issue. NMC will look into this on the stage two consultations. Thanks to all for the overwhelmed support.
Let’s hope for the best. #ieltsnmc
