The NMC Announce Employers Can Provide Supporting Information For English Language Proficiency
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), an independent regulator, focuses on nurses, midwives, and nursing associates in the UK and England. Their purpose is to make sure that the practices of nursing and midwifery are secure, effective, and compassionate. They oversee and monitor these professions and the public, to ensure their well-being.
When nurses and midwives register with the NMC, the NMC needs to be satisfied that the necessary knowledge of English is evident in order to communicate clearly and effectively. This is the requirement for all applicants.
There are three types of evidence that are accepted in order to demonstrate this to practice in the UK. The NMC accepts one of these three types, outlined below, without needing further evidence. It is advised to meet these language evidence requirements before applying to them.
These three types of accepted evidence types:
If you have completed an NMC-approved pre-registration nurse, midwife or nursing associate programme that was taught and examined in English. They will accept this as evidence that you have the necessary knowledge of English.
To demonstrate that you have practised in English, you must provide us with evidence that you have recently practised for one year as a nurse, midwife or nursing associate in a country where country where English is a majority spoken language.
There are two language tests as evidence of your ability to communicate effectively in English: the International English Language Test System (IELTS) Academic and the Occupational English Test (OET).
You must achieve the required score in each of the four areas of reading, writing, listening and speaking.
Changes to their English language requirements
There have been changes to the NMC’s English language requirements which were approved by their Council last September. They ensure that the high standards of language skills needed by professionals will remain while keeping the process as fair as possible. Our blog Recent Changes to the NMC Registration Board with the ILETS/OET Exams goes into further detail surrounding these changes.
The NMC has recently announced that depending on the circumstance, employers will now be able to provide supporting information as additional evidence of English language proficiency. This will relate to Trained in English as mentioned above.
If you completed your pre-registration nurse, midwife or nursing associate programme in a country where English is not a majority-spoken language, you will need to provide evidence that you were taught in English and that you can interact clinically in it.
The NMC will now allow you to provide separate evidence for the teaching and interaction elements. The following is required:
1. A training transcript or official letter from your training institute showing that
your course was taught and examined in English.
2. Supporting information from your employer as evidence that you can interact clinically in English.
3. If you cannot provide both of these elements you will need to provide an alternative type of evidence such as a language test.
As stated in point 2 above, in specific circumstances, the NMC will allow you to supply supporting information from your current employer.
What are the requirements?
The above information and more can be found on the NMC website.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council’s requirements will allow nurses and midwives more options in order to demonstrate English language skills. To ensure the necessary standards for our workplaces are in place, knowledge of English language requirements is essential for all healthcare professionals. Servisource advises you to stay updated by visiting the NMC’s website in relation to these amendments.
At Servisource, we place International Healthcare Professionals in permanent positions across the UK in the private sector and NHS, while offering career progression within a supportive work environment.
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