*STEP BY STEP PROCESS OF BECOMING A UNITED KINGDOM REGISTERED NURSE (UKRN)*
▪️Get an international passport
▪️ Preferably, write and pass IELTS/OET before starting the process as it is presumed to be the most challenging of all.
▫️IELTS – Minimum Of Listening-7.0, Writing- 6.5, Reading- 7.0, Speaking- 7.0 and Overall – 7.0 .
▫️ Occupation English Test (OET, it is about 587 AUD currently) – Minimum of Reading – B, Writing – C+, Listening – B, Speaking- B.
▪️Open an account with NMC UK via online.nmc-uk.org
▪️Pay £140 (you can pay directly yourself with a mastercard) after filling in the required information. At this stage, you need to upload the data page of your international passport, certificate (notification can be used here if your certificate isn’t available yet) and IELTS/OET result (optional at this point).
You’ll have a personalized NMC portal through which you can monitor your progress all through the whole registration process.
▪️ Contact your Nursing Council for Verification. Alongside evidence of payment, send the photocopies of the following documents
▫️ Notification/Certificate
▫️ License (front and back)
▫️ Letter requesting for verification and good standing (you must include your CRM number here, this CRM number can be found at the top left corner of the mail NMC UK sends after you must have paid £140. The letter should be addressed to your local council and should include your name and the exact thing you want i.e verification and good standing with NMC UK.
▫️ Birth certificate
You might have to wait for weeks to be verified by your council.
▪️Wait to be verified and get an authorization to test email from Pearson (the organization that handles the CBT exam) to book CBT.
Book the CBT (£83) and write the exam. You can buy a voucher for this on https://www.mindhub.co.uk/. You will get a voucher code within 24-48 hours which you can input when you get to the payment stage of your CBT booking on Pearson site.
▪️Fill the final form by NMC UK which includes an upload of name of medical regulator, police clearance, notification/certificate and IELTS(academics)/OET result (without this, you can’t progress beyond this stage and you must have the expected bands) among others.
▪️Pay the final registration fee of £153 to NMC UK. This is needed so that you can get your pin from NMC UK (this pin is more like a license to practice).
▪️ You can start looking for a job at any stage but preferably, start searching for jobs after you must have passed CBT and IELTS/OET. You can either get an agent or apply directly on nhs.jobs, t.racjobs and indeed.co.uk for jobs in National Health Service (NHS) hospitals but for care homes, apply on http://www.carehome.co.uk. The benefits for care home vs NHS vary, choosing one depends on what you want and try researching on both before making a choice. Generally, care homes are believed to pay more but NHS hospitals are better for career advancement. Alternatively, you can send emails to some trusts to show interest in working for them.
▪️After getting an offer you sign the offer letter and send your documents to the trust. Note that when you apply directly, you might have to fund your visa and ticket yourself while you get a refund on getting to the UK (this isn’t always the case though), agents on the other hand pay for these upfront. Just ensure you read your offer letter well to know what the trust is offering. The choice is all yours to make at the end of the day. You might have to try both actually because getting offers isn’t as easy as before.
Hope you find this useful.